The mission of the Membership Development Committee is to enhance the membership experience. By embracing the mission, the committee holds activities for members, non-members, and industry partners at the two Chapter conferences, as well as throughout the year, to engage in conversation and networking. With a small group of volunteers, we continue to hold these events and look for additional committee members to enhance and grow the member experience.

During the spring conference in Cheyenne in April, we held an event for continuing education credits and networking by hosting a game of Architectural Cranium. We thank the local architectural firm, Winters Griffith Architects, for hosting this event at their new office space in Cheyenne. The game consisted of questions pulled from architectural history and current Architecture Registration Exam (ARE) practice test study material. The teams consisting of architects, emerging professionals, and industry partners competed for prizes and enjoyed coming together for an evening of laughs.

Additionally, in 2022, the committee crafted a survey and sent it to the membership requesting feedback on members’ wants and needs to help the board of directors plan for future events, activities, programming, and benefits. The survey included questions on members’ engagement in the Chapter and how important our current member benefits and programs are to them. We look forward to the New Year and working on programming in 2023.

During the annual fall conference in Sheridan in October, the members of the Membership Development Committee partnered and assisted with one of the featured speakers on her workshop. Laurel Christensen, AIA from mindful MATERIALS, provided a workshop that explored the journey from industry fragmentation to industry alignment via mindful MATERIALS’ Common Materials Framework, a foundation that will allow sustainability and transparency data to become actionable, enabling the future tracking and reporting of holistic embodied impacts of buildings. The workshop was for anyone who selects or specifies building materials. The idea of the workshop was to mix up the membership of emerging professionals, member architects, and industry partners at each table for a diverse roundtable discussion.

The committee meets monthly to discuss its efforts in recruiting and retaining members. Through our Chapter President welcome during the Chapter business meetings, new members are introduced as they begin to get to know others in attendance. Letters from AIA Wyoming are sent via email to welcome them to the Chapter and identify member benefits to help them get off to a good start in engaging in the Chapter.

The Membership Development Committee is currently seeking an enthusiastic Chair and other volunteers to help ensure the Chapter’s growth and member experience.