By Taryn Barrett, AIA

Part 1: Gathering Information

In 2018 the Board of Directors asked “Who is AIAVT?”  The process began with available data from AIA National's Net Forum Member Database (at the time with 251 members).  The data resulted in a series of graphs showing location, position or job title, age, and gender. There are still lingering questions such as how does gender correspond to position and age, what about ethnicity, and what would we learn if we overlaid salary?  AIAVT members will have the opportunity to contribute and fill in the gaps of this initiative, so be on the lookout for the 2019 survey!

Part 2: Taking Action

Once we identify who we are, what will we do?  For example, when we see location data it is clear that we live and work many miles apart.  We reside in clusters in all quadrants and are faced with the challenge that the time it takes to travel to a meeting, LU, educational tour, social gathering, or award banquet might be twice as long as the event itself.  Could access to technology and transportation bring us closer together as a group?

When we take a look at age and position it is apparent that to sustain future membership we must do two things: welcome those with an interest or desire to enter the profession, and retain the knowledge and relationships of members that might be planning a little more time off in their futures.

Finally, gender can not be ignored, there is a glaring disparity between the number of male and female members - so where do we go from here?  Stay tuned and take part…

“Who is AIAVT”  is part one of a two part segment that will be looking at AIA Vermont’s current membership demographics and using this information as a basis for discussion, planning, and programming for our chapter.