A Year to Thrive

Summer Salutations –

Thank you to each of you who attended VIBRANT: The IIDA Oregon Chapter’s Annual Celebration and Fundraiser. What a breath-taking evening of celebrating in bright attire; imbibing in zesty cuisine and sparkling spirits, enjoying live music, impressive raffle prizes, and best of all, your vivacious company!IIDA Party 2016 (80 of 163)


The IIDA Oregon Chapter is honored to encompass such an inspiring and elevated community. I personally thank you for your many kind words of encouragement and thanks, enthusiastic volunteer efforts, event attendance, paramount sponsorship, support, and dedication to the profession. The theme VIBRANT could not have been a more appropriate descriptor of each of you; the tight-knit, unique, pioneering community that is so colorfully alive and brimming with growth and potential.IIDA Party 2016 (100 of 163)

 

To those of you who missed VIBRANT, my name is Elsa Long and I am the 2016-2017 IIDA Oregon Chapter President.

Here are the initiatives that I shared during the event, which the IIDA Oregon Chapter will pursue together over the next year as we seek to further our mission; “to be the face of professional Interior Design in Oregon.”

  • Legal recognition for the Profession of Interior Design will be a continued priority in the upcoming year. Public outreach and education are critical to demonstrating the value of Professional Interior Design. The impact that the talented, educated, and highly qualified individuals who are practicing in the code-impacted environment have on shaping places will be felt by Oregonians over the next several decades. Our Advocacy, Forums, and Communications teams will work hard to educate and inform the public through IIDA Oregon Chapter blog posts, forums and events. We will seek support from our Members and community supporters to meet in person with Oregon legislators to champion a bill that will create a Voluntary Registration of Professional Qualified Interior Designers in the State of Oregon. Especially in a season of rapid growth throughout the state, now is the time to influence the policy process that allows Professional Interior Designers to advance the quality of life for their clients and the public.
  • Our Advocacy team will send representatives from the Board of Directors to participate in the Second Annual IIDA Advocacy Symposium held in Denver in September 2016. We will join with leaders from across the nation to discuss recent success cases where  bills have passed, as well as strategies for other states who are actively pursuing legislation, including ours.  
  • Our Communications team will diligently seek out greater media and public exposure of examples of excellent professional interior design through inclusion in industry publications and increased online voting for the IIDA Oregon Chapter Design Excellence Awards. We will seek inclusion of the IIDA Oregon Chapter Design Crawl event, (during which three award-winning projects are toured) in the greater Design Week Portland festival to increase public awareness of excellent commercial interior design.
  • Our Executive Leadership and Student Affairs teams will continue to collaborate as an active participating chapter in the IIDA Western Region*, growing local leadership skills, sharing resources, and developing long-term programming for implementation over the next 3 to 5 years. Our Student Members will benefit from the opportunity to advance to the the third Annual multi-chapter collaborative event; the IIDA Western Regional Student Design Charette. (*The IIDA Western Region includes the Northern Pacific, Oregon, Northern California, Southern California, Rocky Mountain, Southwest, Innermountain and Hawaii Chapters).  
  • Our Membership and Sponsorship teams will seek out opportunities for Philanthropic contribution on behalf of IIDA Oregon Chapter Members, be it in education and solidarity, monetary donation, donating surplus food after events, or volunteering pro-bono professional interior design services to organizations in our community.
  • Our Forums and Educations teams will continue provide excellent educational content that will enhance the skills and knowledge of Members at all levels. Topical focuses will include accessibility in design, health and wellness, healthy material specifications, technology integration, small business skills, and the environmental impact of interior design.

IIDA Party 2016 (120 of 163)

We are proud to kick-off this year for the third year running with a full Board of Directors and look forward to seeing you as an event attendee, volunteer, engaged participant, and valued Sponsor over the upcoming year. We work tirelessly to provide content and opportunities to uphold our profession to the highest standards and support legal recognition for the interior design profession in Oregon. We hope you will join us in our vision for Oregon to “enhance the quality of life through excellence in interior design and to advance interior design through knowledge, value and community.”IIDA Party 2016 (126 of 163)

 

Thank you to each Member of the IIDA Oregon Chapter, we are so proud of your contribution to this community and look forward to thriving together over the next year.

Sincerely,
Elsa Long, Associate IIDA
IIDA Oregon Chapter President