Volunteer Leadership

AIA Colorado’s Imperatives

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.

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 2025 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 the general public, 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.)
• Identify when you want each program/event to take place 
  • (Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4)
  • Contact Rylee Younger, if you have a calendar inquiry.

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.

New Developments

• 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. 

There are 4 main areas to keep in mind when planning an event or tour: pre-event, continuing education, event check-in, and event wrap-up. Here’s a helpful list of prompts/questions to keep in mind as an event or tour opportunity develops:

Advertising/Pre-event:

• Event/Tour name 
• Event/Tour location/address (and directions if not immediately obvious) 
• Event/Tour start time and approx. end time. 
• Parking instructions (if not obvious to the location) 
• Event/Tour summary that includes a 2-3 sentence project description as well as anything notable that members may find interesting, thus encouraging them to attend. 
• Who is the architect/firm that is leading the tour/event (can be firm or individual) 
• Is this event limited to AIA members or open to non-members as well?
• For a tour, what is the allowable capacity? 
• 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?
• At least 1 high-res image of horizontal orientation that AIA Colorado may use for marketing purposes. If image attribution is required, please indicate.

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)

On Site:

• Who will be in attendance, and able to arrive a few minutes early, to check-in attendees? 
• Please make sure that 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.

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, please 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.

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 Third Thursdays and Second Wednesdays. 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!