2019 Directory

6 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .19 | www.aia-wyoming.org AIA WYOMING PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Thank you all for the opportunity to serve as your AIA Wyoming President and reflect on a year of growth, prosperity and passion for the industry. A s I am writing this message to you, it strikes me how busy everyone in our profession has become. My professional life, as well as my personal life, seem to keep getting busier and busier. Just when I don’t think I can fit one more thing in, something worth- while will come up and I find some way to squeeze it in. Most of my colleagues that I tell stories about being too busy will one-up me with stories of how swamped they are too. With this letter I encourage you to continue to participate in the events, programs, and activities of your professional organization, and ask that you join me in celebrating our Chapter’s accomplishments. You will see that our Standing Committees and other member vol- unteers are doing great things for our profession. I continue to be impressed by how many activities and services tiny old AIA Wyoming provide for our members, and I am honored to be part of something as great as our Chapter. I hope you and your firm continue to pursue your passion for architecture in 2020 by engaging in your professional organization. Your Board of Directors are simply awesome. I can brag up our Board members in ways that they can’t without sounding arrogant. These volunteers focus on providing the 30,000-foot oversight to AIA Wyoming and steer our Chapter in the right direction. Nearly every board member serves two terms, which is their maximum limit according to our bylaws. Some Board members have found it so rewarding that they have come back for a second round or have volunteered to come back on the Board for a different position. AIA Wyoming is blessed to have these dedicated people and I appreciate their commitment to the profession. This year our Chapter hosted the Western Mountain Region (WMR) Conference, as well as our Spring Conference. Both conferences were successful because of the efforts of our dedicated volunteer members. We were pleased to invite the NCARB Board of Directors to a portion of the WMR Conference. AIA Wyoming was honored to host them as the WMR celebrated their 60th Anniversary. The conference planning team members for each conference deserve great recognition and thanks for their time and efforts. Their only rewards are a modest thank you from AIA Wyoming and a great sense of pride in knowing that their efforts and volunteerism have a positive impact on many people. I also want to thank our annual sponsors, conference sponsors, ex- hibitors, and industry partners for participating in our events and activities throughout the year. The vast majority of these people contribute their time and money repeatedly. I am pleased that they see value in supporting our organization and our mission. Their partnership is appreciated. The Chapter held a Film Festival around the State hosted by our member volunteers. This is a great opportunity for our members to provide education on health, safety, and welfare to the gener- al public. I want to thank the Wyoming Board of Architects and Landscape Architects for their continued partnership, providing this educational opportunity to the general public, and elevating the continuing education for professional licensure. I can’t say enough great things about our Executive Director, The Great Menghini (Susan Menghini). AIA Wyoming is truly the envy of other components, if for no other reason than we have someone of such skill and commitment. Susan is more than just the keeper of the institutional knowledge of our Chapter, or the person you call when you have a question about your membership. The ever-in- creasing demands made on her by AIA National, AIA WMR, as well as AIA Wyoming, are always handled with great professionalism. I am appreciative of her efforts on the requirements by AIA National of the seven categories of Chapter Accreditation and am glad to re- port we are accredited for another three years. I am always delighted to see her love of the profession, and of our members. In closing, I want to sincerely thank everyone associated with AIA Wyoming. I encourage more of our members to volunteer for a planning team, a Standing Committee, or a vacant Board position to make AIA Wyoming better. Even providing a tour, entering the calendar photo competition, or submitting for a Design or Honor Award helps make our Chapter better. You can take on as much, or as little, as you can fit into your busy life. Please join me in 2020 by engaging in AIAWyoming. b BY CLINT TAYLOR, AIA