Volunteer Leaders

Our Mission:

Elevating the architecture profession to design a more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful Colorado.

AIA Colorado’s Imperatives:

• A culture of belonging marked by justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. 
• Environmental stewardship to mitigate climate impacts and protect resources. 
• Attainable housing so our clients, our workforce, and all our neighbors can live here.

Culture Commitment:

Member volunteers embody the mission, vision, and values of the organization and will:

• Attend regular meetings of the committee
• Serve as an ambassador of AIA Colorado
• Use Basecamp for project management and communication with the committee and AIA Colorado staff
• And conduct myself in accordance with the following:
  • AIA Antitrust Statement: It is the policy and practice of The American Institute of Architects and its members to comply strictly with all laws, including federal and state antitrust laws that apply to AIA operations and activities.
  • Pro-Trust Statement: It is the aspiration of AIA Colorado and its leaders to engage in meaningful work in a collaborative fashion. We apply care for fellow colleagues and curiosity for the best ideas to the pursuit of consensus in all we do.
  • As a Chapter of the AIA, our members, volunteers, and staff are guided by AIA’s Policy on Sexual Harassment.

What are the types of work that we create?

• Mission Work
  • Internal dialogues and conversations that are operationalized and lead to better programs or services.
• Knowledge Sharing 
  • A publication or presentation resulting from the collected or curated expertise of our members.
• Connecting and Interfacing 
  • An event or experience that enhances skills or builds networks from within or outside the profession.

As you think about the year ahead, please give thought to the following:

• Identify a Focus or Theme (the Why)
  • Purpose
    • Connect, Protect, Promote, Equip, etc.
  • Objective
    • Career Leadership, Community Outreach, Policy Impact, Practice Advancement, etc.
• Programs/events/resources.
  • For each activity, please ensure:
    • Activity is related to focus or theme
    • Is achievable
    • Budget friendly
    • Planned in advance
• Who is the audience?
  • For example, is the event/program/resources being created for strictly AIA membership or industry adjacent professionals, for emerging professions or emeritus members, for members of a particular affinity group?
• Timeline requirements
  • Advance notice for programs/events/resources: minimum 6-8 weeks
  • During those 6-8 weeks, staff and board can work with committee leaders to support programs through:
    • Timing 
      • Identifying and securing the best date and time for event/program/resource)
    • Promotion 
      • Newsletter, website, e-blasts, peer outreach
    • Registration 
      • Creating form, tracking registration, providing customer service)
    • Logistics 
      • Venue – actual or virtual, catering, security, etc.
• Awareness of other AIA Colorado member activities
  • (Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4)
  • Check the AIA Colorado organizational calendar to see if your preferred date already has an event(s) planned.
  • Contact Rylee Younger, if you have a calendar inquiry

There are 4 main areas to keep in mind when planning an event or tour:

1. Pre-event
2. Continuing education
3. Event check-in
4. Event wrap-up

The following prompts/questions will need to be answered:

1. Advertising/Pre-event:

• Event/Tour name 
• Event/Tour location/address
  • and location directions, if not immediately obvious 
• Event/Tour start time and approx. end time. 
• Parking instructions
  • if not obvious to the location
• Event/Tour summary
  • A 2-3+ sentence project description as well as anything notable that members may find interesting, thus encouraging them to attend. 
• Who is leading the tour/event?
  • can be a firm or an individual
• Is this event limited to AIA members or open to non-members as well?
• what is the allowable capacity? 
• At least 1 high-res image of horizontal orientation
  • Please ensure that AIA Colorado may use for marketing purposes.
  • If image attribution is required, please indicate.
• For a tour:
  • If we all think that the tour will fill up quickly with RSVP’s, is there a possibility that we can add a second tour either before or after the previously scheduled tour?

2. For Continuing Education:

• Name of the Event/Tour
• Duration of the Event/Tour
• 4-5 sentence description of the event/tour
• 4 learning objectives (complete sentences)
• 2-3 sentences for the HSW justification (if you are wanting to submit for HSW)

3. On Site:

• Who will be in attendance, and able to arrive a few minutes early, to check-in attendees? 
• Please make sure this person has been in contact with Jon or Rylee, staff at AIA Colorado, to confirm they have the Eventbrite Organizer app on their phone and that the event has been “assigned” to them.

4. Wrap-up:

• Send photos, written write-up (short or long), comments on how the event went, and/or any thoughts on how to make improvements for future events to AIA staff.

When thinking through future events, please familiarize yourself with with the following event tiers to help outline to AIA staff the scale and potential complexity of the event that you are planning.

If you are planning to submit an event or a tour, you may utilize the “Submit your event” form on this website. Please also include the name of your committee or group in your description. If you have any trouble understanding what the form is asking, please email Jon Bell.

Timeline 

1. Submitting to National: Educational Programs that require CEUs, will be submitted to AIA National before being promoted on the AIA Colorado website.
2. Acceptance from National: This takes anywhere from 10-24 business days. 
3. Reporting Attendance: Attendance will be submitted once an event is completed. This process is faster if:
   • a) Member numbers are collected from off-site programs
   • b) Names/numbers are properly indicated on Zoom attendees
   • c) Attendance sheets are digitized (via Excel) and submitted the day after the program.

Learning Objectives

• AIA National requires at least 4 learning objectives to be submitted alongside the program description.
  • 2-3 sentences for the HSW justification, if you are wanting to submit for HSW.
• Start your learning objectives with: describe, explore, explain, identify, organize, apply, analyze, investigate, summarize, produce, compare, predict, plan, recall, use, verify.
• Don’t start your learning objectives with: learn, understand, cover, appreciate, realize, be aware of, study, familiarize, know.

Outside Organizations

• AIA National has made a change regarding offering CES credit. AIA Colorado can no longer offer CES credits to outside organizations that are not affiliated/inside of AIA Colorado umbrella. 

How AIA Colorado Can Support Your Committee’s Communications

Plan Ahead!

The strongest committee-led activities are those planned well in advance. It may sound simple, but early planning is the most important factor in creating a successful event or initiative, allowing us the ability to support you more effectively.

Newsletter

All AIA Colorado communications live on our website, but our all-member newsletter is our primary way of reaching members directly. We love highlighting committee activities and want to share your work widely!

To avoid overwhelming members and to ensure they do not miss out on the full range of AIA Colorado programs, we do not send committee-specific newsletters. A single, unified newsletter keeps members informed, strengthens our messaging, and ensures your activities are elevated alongside the collective work of our community.

Events

Events must be ticketed so we can accurately track attendance and communicate important updates such as cancellations, changes to access requirements, or follow-up details.

Events fall into two categories:

• Member only events for AIA members and AIA Colorado Allied Members
• Open to non-members events, where industry adjacent professionals non-members are charged when the event includes continuing education

Committee Webpages

Each committee has a dedicated webpage that can be found through the website’s main navigation. This page should include:

• Committee roster, goals, and committee meeting dates
• Upcoming events
• Recaps of past events
• Photos from activities
• Knowledge sharing, such as articles written by members, media features of member activities, and other prominent resources connected to your committee’s topic

Keeping this page current helps members and the public understand your committee’s value and impact.

snapsight Recaps

For planned events, not including internal committee meetings, we use the AI tool snapsight to generate written recaps and key takeaways. This speeds up editorial work and gives committee chairs a draft they can refine rather than tasked with writing from scratch. Presenting consistent editorial work significantly improves our ability to share your committee’s work with the full membership.

Social Media

AIA Colorado utilizes Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The earlier your event is scheduled and posted online, the more effectively we can promote it on social media. Social media is fantastic for showing evidentiary examples of the activity and work of AIA Colorado members.

Please take photos at tours, events, and activities whenever possible. Sharing this work helps build awareness, boost engagement, and highlight the meaningful contributions of AIA Colorado committees.

Please make sure that you’re sharing upcoming plans with AIA Colorado staff and stay in contact with Jon Bell, AIA Colorado’s Communications Director, to ensure your webpage is up to date and your events are listed correctly!

Use of AI in Committees

AIA Colorado uses AI tools thoughtfully to enhance, not replace, the work of our committees. AIA Colorado will use snapsight to capture discussions and outcomes from planned events when those insights may support editorial content, knowledge sharing, or official record keeping. This tool helps us document the value of your committee’s work and quickly share it with the broader membership.

Outside of this specific use case, AIA Colorado’s policy is that committee members may not record discussions, committee meetings, or any other AIA Colorado business with their own AI program. Our priority is to create an environment where members are fully present, engaged, and comfortable contributing. The strength of our committees comes from active participation, open dialogue, and members sharing their expertise with one another.

For your reference, please refer to the AIA Colorado Calendar to ensure that you’re avoiding big dates such as Awards, Conference, Lobby Day, and recurring committee times. Please note that staff will have final say regarding multiple events occurring on the same day.

For all inquiries about room reservations at The Alliance Center, please contact Rylee Younger.

As always, AIA Colorado Staff is here to help. Please reach out if we can support you and your committee or group in any way!