12.18.12

Let's Make a Resolution Together

Ho, Ho, Ho. ‘Tis the season to…make resolutions. And this time perhaps to keep them. As a design community, we have a tumultuous year ahead, one filled with both potentials and pitfalls. So let’s make a vow:

It’s time we look after one another. We are engaged in a profession that WE understand, but seems forever to be a mystery to the populace and sometimes even to the people who require our services. To remedy the problem, it is up to us to work together to make sure we project a positive, professional image in all we do. This year, let’s work with our fellow design organizations to speak with a unified voice on the issues that are critical to our collective future. It’s in our best interest to be sure that the pending state legislation stays on the books, and does not sail off into the sunset of forgotten possibilities. Should it disappear, it may be years before it returns, and we would have no one but ourselves to blame.

It will take time and effort on all our parts to convey the message that what we do deserves recognition, protection, and encouragement by the state because we act in the public interest, and what we do is not duplicated by any other profession. Those who work in larger design offices may not feel the urgency of this issue, but (bite my tongue) should that same person  become a “sole practitioner”, the problem will become crystal-clear the first visit to the Building Department with that handsome set of CDs only to be told to come back with a stamp of a state registered architect or engineer. Bad situation, but one we can rectify.

So let us together find the energy and resource to ensure our profession–the one we constantly seek to elevate–has a prosperous and merry new year, and, indeed, prosperous and merry decades to come.

Scott Johnson, IIDA 
IIDA SoCal Chapter President
Wolcott Architecture
Arrow Created with Sketch. Back to Blog