Dear friends and Members of GDC/BC,
I hope this email finds you happy and healthy, with lots of fun design challenges to occupy the coming fall in the Lower Mainland.
GDC has enjoyed a relatively quiet summer and now I have some important developments and inspirational upcoming events to tell you about.
Chapter membership and sponsorship growth
We should all be proud to hear that over the last six months our chapter has continued to grow and continues to be the largest and most active in the country, with numerous new members at all levels.
Sponsorship is crucial to a non-profit association, so we were thrilled to welcome Rhino Print Solutions as a Platinum Sponsor recently and are grateful to Byron Dowler, Andy Maier and the committee for their leadership in this area. Please take a moment to browse the fine companies listed below and make sure to include them in your next project. They generously support our efforts and we should return the favour whenever possible.
Discussions are also under way with various groups, such as Ministry of Arts & Culture, Tourism Vancouver, British Columbia Innovation Council and Vancouver City Hall, about collaborating to showcase Vancouver internationally as a "Design City" and the role we can play during the 2010 Winter Games and beyond.
Graphex update
Graphex 2008 was a resounding success. The results were announced at the gala awards dinner this spring and if you haven’t had a chance to see the winners online at gdc.net/graphex/winners, you can see them in print in the stunning catalogue designed by Rethink Communications and printed by Hemlock Printers. Each GDC member should receive a copy of the catalogue any day now (a little late, sorry), and extra copies of this archive of the best communication design in Canada can be ordered online at gdc.net.
The three video interviews capturing the thoughts of the international judging panel that were shown during the Awards Ceremony are featured on GDC’s video.ca page.
GDC Online
Hopefully by now you have seen the recently revamped GDC website designed by Tétro and developed by SmallBox. The site has been expanded with more features for members and executives, including event registration and e-commerce sales.
It also includes a "blog", with a main blog as well as chapter blogs within regional sections. This has admittedly caused some confusion with members and executives alike and needs refinement before it functions as a proper blog for our chapter. For this reason, the local GDC/BC blog will remain active and continue to publish conversations, debate and event announcements for the time being. Stay tuned for more news on permanently migrating this service to the gdc.net site.
Online social media in general continue to play a big part in our networking and community building, and GDC has utilized numerous online tools to expand its reach and influence. You can join other designers online on FaceBook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Video.ca, and YouTube among others.
Another important way that GDC members can keep up to date with what’s happening in our community is to subscribe to the local mailing list and across the country by subscribing to the national E-News.
Recent events
We concluded our very busy spring season with the Salazar Awards, featuring an inspiring keynote speech called "Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far" by legendary designer Stefan Sagmeister.
The sold out event, including an exhibit of the Salazar and Graphex winners, was followed the next day by the first annual POGO Conference aimed at providing Perspectives, Opportunities, Guidance and Open-Learning (POGO) for younger designers; also a resounding success.
The weekend featured design exhibits, a creative workshop, portfolio critiques by senior members of the local design industry, studio tours and valuable networking opportunities, with some designers being offered lucrative employment opportunities as result of their participation!
Look for POGO 2009 next summer!
GDC/BC co-hosted the second annual Associations Barbecue in August with our friends from CAPIC and BCID. Dozens of designers, photographers and illustrators gathered at New Brighton Park to enjoy FREE admission, FREE barbecue, and fun in the sun together. If you weren’t there, we hope you’ll be able to join us next time.
Upcoming events
Practivism: Practical methods for radical sustainability in design, November 13th at Science World.
The next installment of our Designer Speaker Series, Practivism will be an enlightening, rhetoric-free evening of wisdom and discussion as our sustainability experts share their experiences and insights, attempt to demystify green speak and provide attendees with practical answers and strategies they can apply in their lives and design practices. Many have commented that they are weary of talking about the printing techniques or recycled paper, so we’ve asked our speakers, Innovation and Sustainability Expert Marc Alt, Green Graphic Design author Brian Dougherty and Design Can Change Founder Eric Karjaluoto, to challenge the "green" paradigm, questioning the answers surrounding this issue, and to discuss practical choices and opportunities for change within our design community. Tickets are limited and this event WILL SELL OUT, so visit www.practivism.ca for more information and to order your tickets today.
Speaking of events, our volunteer executive is planning the coming year and welcomes any ideas you may have for future GDC/BC events in Vancouver? Please email your suggestions to me directly at president.bc@gdc.net.
Suggestions for Future Events
Our volunteer executive is planning the coming year and welcome any ideas you may have for future GDC/BC events in Vancouver Please email your suggestions to me directly at president.bc@gdc.net.
Portfolio Workshop and Review
Great news! Our Membership Committee led by Marga Lopez will be holding one of their compelling and all-too-infrequent portfolio workshops this fall, with the next official portfolio review scheduled for October 30th. These events are for those wishing to join the GDC or existing members wanting to upgrade from associate or licentiate to professional status. Email Marga at membership.bc@gdc.net for more information and get your applications submitted before October 28th!
Looking ahead
It’s a great time to get involved.
The coming year is a voting year for GDC/BC. This means that the current Executive Board will be disbanded and nominations are now being accepted for those with the drive and passion to volunteer to serve the design community in Vancouver, across Canada and internationally.
I have been very proud to serve our design community as a member of the 2007/2008 Executive. They are an enthusiastic group of dedicated volunteers that believe in the work we are doing and take pride in knowing that we are making positive change in our industry.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 9th and will be in touch with further updates as things progress. If you’d like to get involved as a volunteer (maybe even a board member!), please feel free to contact either our Volunteer Chair, Alex Leynes, at volunteer.bc@gdc.net, or our President-Elect, Marga Lopez, at membership.bc@gdc.net.
Gratitude
GDC/BC is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization that depends heavily on the generous contributions of our suppliers. Please take a moment to browse the fine companies listed below and include them in your next project. They generously support our community; it is only fair that we should return the favour.
Working on your behalf to improve the design industry,
Mark
president.bc@gdc.net
October 9th, 2008 at 8:45 am
“Ministry of Arts & Culture” is not the correct wording… it’s official name is Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts”
Warmest Regards