IDSA's new Prez

For the last 10 years I feel like I have been hearing the IDSA promising big changes. I’d like to see some follow through. Maybe this new leader can help. Time will tell.

IDSA has identified it’s strengths and weakness’ and needs to find ways to motivate vounteerism to make change happen.
New guy is supposed to be an expert at it.

How important is it to have a national organization that represents Industrial Designers?

some countries have National Design Policies… They recognize, as a country, that design is an important part of global competitiveness, which they need, and put their money where their mouth is.

Instead of trying to lure designers in with a bad deal, their business model is to push good, free content out for designers and companies. That’s what the IDSA should be like.

If you’ve never gone there, you should check out the Design Council’s web site- it’s extensive, useful, and doesn’t require yearly fees.

PS - I think the new president’s background is entirely appropriate and wish him luck

Volunteerism? There is little to no wifm. And on top of that, they want me to pay a dues to be a volunteer? I’ll take two kicks to the crotch please.

I could see having volunteerism as a substitute to paying a dues to have a membership. That is a most interesting idea.

I belong to several medical associations, including at one time IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America, funny, huh). They provide two things, knowledge and contacts - both huge wifms. I can go to any conference and see the latest and greatest thinking in papers and posters. I can meet and add to my contacts list the kols who wrote the papers and posters.

That is all IDSA needs to do. It ain’t rocket science.

iab,
straighforward enough, why havn’t designers been doing that all along?

Seems to me that is the million dollar question. I certainly don’t have a definitive answer.

But if I were to hazard a guess, atmo, designers tend to be myopic and have over inflated egos.

The myopia limits designers in scope. I don’t need continuing education on ripping a hot sketch or CAD short cuts or modeling techniques. But I do require more knowledge about the overall new product development process. How strategy, branding and even things like supply chain management impacts industrial design. I was at a medical conference where they had game designers speaking to behavior change. They had no problems looking outside. But a lot a designers are stuck talking about looking at that clean line. Almost afraid to look outside. Quite ironic, atmo. And if I hear one more word about the genius of Dieter Rams or whoever the designer du jour is today, I’m going to wretch.

The ego problem contributes to the myopia. Since the whole world revolves around design, why bother with anything else. Also, the ego makes them think what they do is the secret sauce that can’t be shared - it’s special. Well, I’m here to inform you it is not. What you are doing is not rocket science and is most definitely not a trade secret, get over yourself. And the notion that your product has some life-changing emotional impact on people is just sad.

Straightforward enough?

Okay, so hears my 2cents and insight…

We keep cycling through leaders - but i always hear rumors that the board of directors are very controlling so is IDSA missing on who they need to change and who is getting it wrong?

It makes sense to have some one in charge who is trained in running an non-profit organization which is different then running a design office or a studio or being a vp of a company (I don’t care what name is behind it), and my question is why did it take IDSA so long to figure that out.
I equate it to the time IDSA hired a Design firm to do a study on what IDSA members want… what did they do but go out and hire a high price design firm that cost 60-80 thousand and who in turn interviewed 12 people, 8 of them being in one region. Why I can only guess, because Designers can do it all type approach vs hiring a firm that specializes in this type of study (which is not a ID firm no matter what the website says they can do)…

I once challenged IDSA to answer my question - “what does IDSA do for me” i was told that that was the wrong question and i should be asking “What can i do for IDSA” - i took that to heart and dove in head first and spent 4 years doing a variety of things only to see things continue to digress. And if at anytime I challenged the IDSA way of doing things i got my hand slapped. So here we are no back to a new person in charge and i will watch to see how things progress as a non-member, due to the fact that i can not find value in IDSA at it’s current rate… (this may be different if I was in Chicago where IDSA is extremely active) or if they were doing value added webinars. Something i did when i was in charge of the chapter 8 in 2 years with attendance always well above 200 people across the nation - And IDSA asked me how i was so successful and i spent several hours talking with them about that and yet they have not picked up the ball and ran with it even though i provided them a great foundation to build upon.

Lets be honest if IDSA one a month provide at the national level a webinar that provided continuing education on various topics (iab had a few that would be good, and yes even skills and techniques) that alone would add value.

Okay i am done with my rant… I will now wait for someone from IDSA to email me and ask why i posted this instead of coming to them directly to talk about my concerns…

Here in SD we have a linked in group that puts together regular local happy hours and barbecues. The CE designer group on linked puts together an annual CES get together. I get most of the design news I need from various blogs, websites, and forums.

When I lived on SF I paid a lot more to be on the SFMOMA accessions committee and it was completely worth it. It was stacked with great people to get to know. Each quarterly meeting was like a 2 Hour design and architecture history seminar presented by curators who thoroughly researched key pieces of our profession’s history.

So what is the compelling reason for me to pay dues? Where is the value in it? I think they should explore moving away from a membership model all together. Instead they could move to a product model. Imagine if you could buy a kit with everything you need to start a consulting group, contracts, proposal forms, tax forms tailored to the laws in your states, formulas that helped you develop a fee structure based on your overhead. Imagine if you could purchase tickets to design leadership courses that helped you to move off the boards and taught you hot to create a tailored process and cultivate the propper environment for your team. Courses that would teach you how to better demonstrate the value of design to your corporation. Workshops on how to present concepts in ways that are relevant to the c-suite executives at your company or client. Give us something useful that we didn’t learn in school. Give us value.

YO, can you compare that to DMI?
If you were to prepare a seminar (or webinar) how much would you have to get paid, and why would you give a cut to IDSA? why not just let your employer sponsor your time/cost it and get the credit?

One comparison is that DMI has an itemized product model, and IDSA does not
(you could count the conference and Innovations magazine however)

There was a DMI webinar series every month, $100 a pop, and you could watch with your team

I ordered “Making Research Actionable” from Stuart Karten Design and it was completely worth it.

It shared some of their in-house techniques, helped inspire us, and raised my opinion of the
company - I didn’t know much about them before.

Win-Win

I know I used to defend the IDSA alot and I’m still a member, but I agree with all the critiques. I hope they can improve the situation.

I never got into DMI for some reason. Seemed almost too far in the other direction to me for some reason? Maybe a little too cut and dry? I’m only basing that on some vague impression. Travis’s testimonial is more of a prompt for me to check it out more thoroughly though.

I like a little eye candy too. “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down” :wink: Plus it needs to respond and support to designers of all levels. Technical skills and career networking are more important in the early years. Strategic thinking, cross disciplinary tool kits, and client relationship guidance are more important in later years. As iab mentioned, bringing best practices from other industries should be encouraged, especially with that second set. I’d be more interested in how a lawyer lets say attracts, retains, and bills clients in some ways. Those guys seem to have those aspects of their business pretty dialed.

I don’t see the whole ego angle. It is not like the big names in design are apart of the IDSA, that would be more interesting frankly… if Karim Rashid was president of the IDSA the way Teague used to be, that peak my interest. I think there maybe a lack of ego, and by ego I mean the definition of the word that comprises a sense of self and how that self reacts to the whorl around.

I just went through the last 2 years worth of DMI Review. A few things stuck out, but not enough that I would pay for a subscription. Maybe this weekend, I’ll read a few articles in depth and change my mind.

If you’ve ever used academic/business journals, DMI has excellent stuff - far superior to IDSA in that way

IMO, DMI memberships are expensive - I don’t see the point unless you go to conferences and the savings balance the cost

plus you can purchase whatever article/journal and attend the webinars without memebership

you should check out DMI yourselves but I find it to be the cross-discipline version of IDSA.
The presentations tend towards shameless self promotion, but the Journal is very academic (as opposed to “Innovations” fluf peices).
That said, just like IDSA, there are jems to be found - but you already have to have a good idea of what’s going on to identify and appreciate them.

No comments on the Core77 news?

It’s not every day two organizations come together to create something even greater than the sum of their parts. It is with great excitement that we announce a strategic partnership between Core77 and the Industrial Designers Society of America.

Over the coming year Core77 and IDSA will work together to mutually promote programming offered by both sides to our respective audiences. In keeping with tradition, Core77 will host the portfolio review and a social event at the annual IDSA National Conference (taking place this year in Chicago, from August 20-23). Core77 will implement a new job board at the IDSA web site, welcoming IDSA as a partner into the Coroflot Job Network.

IDSA is the voice of the industrial design profession, advancing the quality and positive impact of design, so a partnership with Core77 is a natural fit. “An official collaboration between our organizations makes perfect sense,” said Stuart Constantine, cofounder of Core77. “Our motives are well aligned and we are both committed to providing the broader design community with unparalleled professional and creative opportunities.”

“While IDSA and Core77 have been cooperating informally for several years, we are happy to have a formal agreement in place to share job board postings and promotion of events that will bring value to designers and the design world,” said George McCain, IDSA’s chairman of the board. “IDSA has the utmost admiration for the online community that Core77 has built and is honored to become an integral part of it.”

Maybe our hopes are becoming reality…

it’s a natural fit, so why duplicate efforts? but
Would an ID only job board and ID only portfolio list be worth dues? probably not, would that drive traffic to IDSA.org?

Untill recently I didn’t know Core’s Moderators were all- vounteer, I’d thought Core77 generated income sufficient to pay staff. And earlier here, iab compared paying dues and voluteering to support IDSA to 2 kicks to the crotch. I wonder how these changes will impact that attitude (widespread and not restricted to iab of course)

I recently stepped down as moderator, and yes it was volunteer, but there were some benefits. I still have my blu foam sneakers and a nice box of snack foods for Christmas was also a nice touch. Those are the physical benefits but volunteering for for Core77 and IDSA have been more than compensated with non-tangible benefits. The worldwide connections I have made will be there my entire life. I gained valuable management experience (try convincing non paid people to do amazing things). Don’t want to make it sound like I am done with it. I am just taking a breather and allow the next generation to have a chance.

no-spec: I don’t think us moderators add enough value to the C77 empire to merit a salary. There are people in the office that I’m sure are paid. If not, they should strike! hehe

Tim, how do you convince the iab’s of the next generation to contribute?
I’ve been following the “certification” discussion over on Linked In and agree that continuing education is they key value that people can measure in exchange for dues. (the intangibles you mention, though valid, make a tough value proposition)
Over here on Core, where the next generation expects the “free economy” to prevail, nobody see’s IDSA as having anything to offer. When (on aonther thread) I asked a moderator how much time and effort a seminar would take to prepare, how much would that cost and why would you give the PR to IDSA instead of thier current employer - like on a consultancy blog, I never got an answer.