How amazing it will be to return to our annual gathering of friends and colleagues in November as we assemble for Architecture Exchange East 2022! For the post-pandemic ArchEx, we are retaining the best bits from the past, refining other bits, and adding new bits to create (and curate) a lighter and brighter ArchEx as we explore the conference theme of “(re)Building Community.”
“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.”
~ Eliel Saarinen
As I contemplated possible topics for this month’s newsletter article, I decided that concentrating on our largest gathering of architects was well worthy of the space and attention. Mr. Saarinen’s quotation seems the perfect representation of our intentional ‘redesign’ of Architecture Exchange East. We are doing more than reinvigorating this significant member event; we are enlivening it in a way that will have our members and stakeholders departing genuinely uplifted, with their batteries fully recharged.
Energizing all aspects of the conference aligns with our desire to make it more aspirational and inspirational for everyone through enhancements to the exhibit hall, educational programming, marketing and promotions, hospitality, social events, and other major components. Foremost in our minds, in each and every way, is elevating your experience as an attendee.
Arriving in your inbox this week was your invitation that explains all of the opportunities for networking collegially, growing professionally, and rebuilding societally. We hope this stimulates your interest in participating in a wholly redesigned user experience – one that promises to be awesome for attendees, vendors, exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers alike.
Join in the newness … join in the coolness … November 2-4 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. I cannot wait to see you there for “(re)Building Community!”
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA
Interim Executive Vice President