SAVE THE DATES

January 15th-     Chapter Meeting – 1 LU
                            How to Gain Recognition for Your Projects
                            Presented by Constructive Communication
                            Alagasco Midtown Business Center
                            20 South 20th St              
                            Members $15, interns $5, non members $25
                            11:30 – 1:00

February 12th     Sponsor Seminar
                           “Effective Ways to Get an Architect’s Attention”
                            9:00 – 10:30
                            Alabama Power (600 N 18th St Bldg)
                            Free to all sponsors who have paid their sponsorship fee by February 8th, 2008
                           There will be a panel of 4 architects, Mediator will be Pat Conrad

February 20-23    GrassRoots Conference, National AIA

February 26th –   Chapter Meeting
                            Announce the Design Competition Winner’s
                            Venue & Speaker TBA

March 11th            Sponsorship Appreciation Luncheon
                             FREE, Venue TB

March 25th       Chapter Meeting, Speaker Doug Rye www.dougrye.com
                        Alabama Power Auditorium (downtown)
                        600 N. 18TH St.
                        11:30 – 1:00
                        $15 members, $5 interns, $25 non- members
                        Sponsors of the Doug Rye Seminar:
                        Alabama GeoThermal, Inc.     www.algeothermal.com  (seminar registration online)
                        Alabama Power Company      www.southernco.com
                        NuWool Insulation                 www.nuwool.com
                        Waterfurnace Company          www.waterfurnace.com

Market Your Firm
The January Chapter meeting will help your firm gain a sense of:
How to identify news or stories that will interest the media
Provide tips and guidelines as to how to present projects and items of interest
What information you should be prepared to release about a project to the media
How to develop a PR program 

The content also will help participants in identifying projects and news items for award competitions. 
Alagasco Midtown Business Center
20 South 20th St
Members $15, interns $5, non members $25
11:30 – 1:00

A Cold Meeting
Thank you G & L Marble for hosting our December chapter meeting.  It was a cold meeting, but the food was great and we learned so much. photo gallery

The Smorgasbord by Danya Humaideh

For 2008, I have decided to give you a little bit of everything this year – viewpoints from across the board:

• Personal interviews
• Industry questions
• Fun and random questions
• Young and old
• Husband and wife teams
• Experienced and inexperienced
• Male and female

I will be calling on all members to volunteer opinions. The more members respond, the better it will be! Feedback is always welcome (danya@aiabham.org). The topic for this month is the future state of the architecture industry.

Where do you see the state of the architecture industry in the next 50 years? 100 years?

Response from Studio i Chair Mike Gibson of Place Design Studio, LLC

“In fifty to one hundred years the project delivery process will be governed by quality and environmental efficiency as the LEED system or a system like it will be part of the building code. This will be accomplished by architects and builders who will partner to provide the required quality and efficiency. Contract documents will no longer be rolls upon rolls of documents but will be digital models accessed on site by sub-contractors using a type of hand held device. This process will be environmentally friendly and will ensure that only quality projects can be realized. The architects who are proficient in the adaptation of their process to LEED, BIM, and Design Build will be the ones who prosper, while firms that refuse to adapt will fade away.”

AIA Birmingham makes it a point to provide members with the resources to keep the industry in Birmingham alive and on its toes. This is why we encourage the ideas of LEED and sustainability. The industry is headed in a “green” direction and Birmingham has the talent and the capability to compete. In fifty years and in one hundred years, architects have the power to make the world a better, cleaner place to live!

Have You Turned in Your Entry Form?
AIAforShelter is a committee of the Birmingham Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The goal of the committee is to work towards reducing the number of homeless people living on the streets of Birmingham and surrounding areas.
AIA Birmingham’s AIAforShelter committee is sponsoring a design competition for a single family affordable home on a vacant site in the Historic Norwood Neighborhood of Birmingham.

The Norwood site is owned by Aletheia House, a non-profit organization that provides substance abuse treatment and support along with transitional housing. The purpose of the competition is to provide Aletheia House with an exemplary affordable,  sustainable and livable, home design that fits in the neighborhood context. Aletheia House has funding to purchase three more sites and build three more affordable homes on them in the near future and as such the 2nd through 4th place entries in the competition may also be adapted to similar sites and their designers contracted with as well to produce the construction drawings.

Cash prizes of $1000 and $500 will be awarded to 1st and 2nd place respectively, 3rd and 4th place designers will receive non-cash prizes and it will be the intent of Aletheia House to contract with each of the four designers to finalize the documents for their designs.

The fee to enter is $75 for AIA members and $100 for non-members.

For more information and registration please visit the competition website at www.aiabham.org/forshelter/introduction.html

Auburn Internship Fair
The Auburn Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) will be hosting its annual Internship Fair at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center in Auburn, Alabama, on the 11th and 12th of February 2008.  The Auburn University AIAS Chapter would love to see your firm there!  
Auburn students majoring in architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, community planning, industrial design and interior design will be available for interviews.  Registration packets were mailed out a few days ago. If your firm has yet to receive a registration packet, you may email internshipfair@auburn.edu and the AIAS Chapter will send one to you.  Early registration (postmark by January 1st) receives the discounted rate of $300 for registration [After 1 January, the fee is $350].  Registration ends 25 January 2008.  Space is limited, so please register early.  There is a block of rooms reserved at Auburn University Hotel at a discounted rate of $99/night (space, again, is limited).  Firms are responsible for making their own arrangements through the Hotel.

Even if you cannot attend, you may still order a resume book for $20, in which every resume submission for all year-levels and majors is included.
Please email Jennifer Smith at internshipfair@auburn.edu with any questions.

Alabama Council Design Awards Gala
The Design Awards Gala will take place on Thursday, January 31st, 2008, at the beautiful Birmingham Country Club.  For those of you wishing to stay in Birmingham on Thursday night so you can attend the First Quarterly Council Meeting on Friday morning, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Embassy Suites. You can call (205) 879-7400, and let the Embassy Suites know you are with the Alabama Council AIA to reserve your special price of $162.  This is the first meeting of the 2008 year, and we encourage all new officers to attend.

Design Awards Gala invitations have been mailed.  If you did not receive an invitation, prices are $100 per person or $1000 table of eight.  Contact the Alabama State Council at 1.800.239.5545 for more information.