Explore Your Passions!

Did you know that AIA Virginia depends on 36 advisory council and numerous committee volunteers each year to accomplish our strategic goals? Diverse voices from all over the Commonwealth are needed to move the organization forward in the areas of Education and Member Services. Click on the links below to read more about the duties and experience you can expect on these Councils.

If interested, you can self-nominate yourself. Simply send a brief letter of interest and resume to AIA Virginia Executive Vice President, Paul Battaglia, at pbattaglia@aiava.org. If this service opportunity isn’t right for you at this time, please do share it with others. Fresh voices are welcome and encouraged to serve!

Time to Renew Your AIA Membership for 2024

AIA members like you, plus others across the country and throughout the world, create the places where people live, learn, work, and play. To support you, your firm, and the architecture profession, AIA works for you at all levels to advance our nation’s quality of life and to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare through advocacy, professional development, relationship building and public outreach. We look forward to having you continue to be part of this global community and while standing with AIA to enact positive change through design – Renew your membership today!

If you are having difficulty paying your 2024 invoice and would like to continue your membership on an installment plan or need to discuss other ways to keep your membership viable in 2024, please contact Cathy Guske to set up a time to discuss your 2024 membership.

Current AIA Membership Incentives

  • Join or rejoin for 2020 by December 31, 2019, and you could win an iPad Air 64 GB or one of three Visa Gift Cards.
  • Pay your dues in up to six monthly installments with the Dues Installment Program. Enrollment begins October 1, 2019, and is available through April 30, 2020.
  • Join the AIA now as a new member for 2020 and enjoy free membership for the remainder of 2019 and free registration for A’20 conference in Los Angeles.
  • Architecture school graduates receive complimentary AIA membership at the Associate level for up to 18 months upon the date of graduation.

Learn more about these incentives at www.aia.org/pages/22941-current-aia-membership-incentives

If Not Me, Then Who?

While traveling for AIA business recently, I called up a close friend and confidant in the profession to let him know that I would be in his town.  With excitement, we synched our schedules and connected over dinner and a libation or two.  As I was sharing with this individual how proud I was of all that he had accomplished in the profession and community, I asked him an important question.

My question was, “Why are you doing all of this?”

His response was, “if not me, then who…

Corey Clayborne, AIA

This answer resonated with me.  As I look around, I see that architects struggle to remain relevant in today’s world.  Some may disagree.  But how do you explain the United States of America having a neurosurgeon instead of a design professional as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development?  Locally, why are there Planning Commissions with no appointed architects?  How come the majority of the general public has no idea this is Architecture Week?

Perhaps, it is because we work our 9 to 5 and go home.  We don’t have any more time to give with the competing priorities in our lives that are already tugging on us.  Perhaps, we think other people are going to raise their hand and step up.  The fact of the matter is that it is not happening.  Maybe, we believe the timing is not right.  Let’s wait for this to end or that to pass.  The reality is that there is never a perfect time.

This leads me to ask you, “Why are you an AIA member?”

I’m hopeful the answer is deeper than “my firm pays for it” or “I need some letters after my name”.  If that is your answer, then you are short-circuiting the power of what you can accomplish through your training as an architect.  As the membership renewal season just closed, my challenge to you is to find one way you will use your skillsets this year to make a difference in your firm, the profession, or the community.

When you determine the answer, use the AIA as the vehicle to achieve those aspirations.  Start small.   Join a local AIA event committee that has a finite start and stop duration.  Volunteer to be a design critic at one of our universities.  Attend a Meeting of the Roundtables to discuss pertinent practice issues with your colleagues.  This is the true value of membership.

Individually, let’s take control of our own destiny.  If we all do that, we will collectively control the destiny of the architecture profession.

R. Corey Clayborne, AIA
Executive Vice President

Is Your Information Up To Date?

Have you moved, changed jobs, or otherwise need to update your contact information in the AIA database? Dues invoicing for 2018 will begin this month, so please take a moment to check your contact info at: www.aia.org/myprofile.

Address changes

Members may update their information online at www.aia.org/myprofile.  You may also send address changes to us at memberservices@aia.org.   

Status changes

Members recently licensed can complete the status change form at www.aia.org/statuschange

Additionally, if you are aware of any members that are now deceased, please notify us, so we may make the necessary updates.

Chapter transfers

Members are not required to transfer chapters when they move and this is optional and at their discretion, however, should they wish to transfer, they must complete and submit the Transfer Request Form

Please feel free to contact AIA Virginia Member Services Director, Cathy Guske at cguske@aiava.org or (804) 237-1763 if you need any assistance or have any questions.

2017 Architect and Associate Dues Renewal

If you are an architect or associate member and have already renewed your AIA membership for 2017, thank you! We appreciate your continued commitment to AIA, and look forward to working with you this year.

If you are an architect or associate member, and you haven’t renewed yet, you can access your personalized renewal invoice and pay online at www.aia.org/renew and select sign-in to renew. The interface is new this year so please allow additional time to navigate the new system. You can also contact Info Central at 1-800-242-3837 and select option 2 to pay over the phone.

Need a copy of your invoice or have a question? Contact Cathy Guske, Member Services Director at AIA Virginia, cguske@aiava.org or (804) 237-1763.

New Member Services Director

Cathy Guske, Hon. AIAVA

After serving AIA Virginia in the roles of Sales Administrator and Communications Manager, Cathy Guske, Hon. AIA Virginia has been promoted to Member Services Director.

Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, Executive Vice President, commented, “Cathy is intimately familiar with our members, our organization, and our operations.  Throughout her twelve years of service, she has consistently exhibited her dedication to our membership and her devotion to our mission.”

Please help us welcome Cathy to this new position!

Feel free to contact her with any membership questions at cguske@aiava.org or (804) 237-1763.

 

Early Renew and Join Incentives

Architect members who join, reinstate, or renew from October 1 to December 31, 2016, will be entered into a drawing for one of eleven prizes.

Grand Prize: 2018 Annual national, state, and local only Membership Dues.

Second Prize: a choice between a free annual subscription to Black Spectacles software tutorials or a free annual subscription to AIA ARE® Prep: Powered by Black Spectacles.

Join or Renew>>

Reminders to Members

As we get closer to the start of the 2017 membership renewal cycle, it’s important to update your member profile to ensure renewal invoices and other AIA materials are received. If needed, also complete the membership status change form or chapter transfer form.

If you have any questions or need assistance updating your records, please contact Rebecca Lonadier at (804) 237-1760 or rlonadier@aiava.org

A Fond Farewell and a Hearty Hello

Shanelle Calvin
Shanelle Calvin

Membership Manager, Shanelle Calvin, will be leaving AIA Virginia on August 1, 2016. Calvin will be moving on to spend her time as a Process Improvement Coach. Her firm SC Coaching, LLC is committed to helping women entrepreneurs implement systems that save them time, money, and headaches. The firm provides service to women entrepreneurs across the country through strategy calls, facilitated mastermind sessions, and interactive events. Her new virtual coaching academy will launch on July 30th and be broadcasted to women in over 120 countries.

Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, shared, “Shanelle has been with us for over ten years in a variety of roles, most heavily and recently in the membership area.  She has advanced this program in many ways, and we are indeed sad to say farewell to her.  Of course, we wish her nothing but the best and we are excited for her successful future!”

Rebecca Lonadier

Members will be glad to hear that current Manager of Special Projects, Rebecca Lonadier, will be stepping into the role of Membership Manager. Lonadier has been with AIA Virginia since August 2015 and came to us from the Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce. Her special experience in preparation for her time with us includes serving on the staff team at AIA Austin. I hope you’ll join us in welcoming Rebecca to this new position at AIA Virginia! You’ll see more of Rebecca in the weeks to come, but if you have any questions about your membership after August 1, feel free to contact her at rlonadier@aiava.org.