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With a New Year Comes a New Board!
I would first like to wish all of our chapter members and their families a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!! With this New Year brings changes to our Board of Directors. I wish to congratulate Carol Cioppa, AIA and Ray Beeler, AIA on their new positions as officers. I would also like to welcome new members to the board as well as those returning board members. I would like to thank Michael Shilale, AIA, for the wonderful job he did this past year as our President, I look forward to having Michael on our Board now serving as our State Liaison. This year our chapter is honored by having one of our “own” members, Russell Davidson, AIA, serving as New York State, AIA President. We are proud to have Russ representing our State chapter and we all wish him well in the coming year.
With that said, all of these position shifts on the board, brings me to the position of President! I am certainly humbled to serve as the chapter’s President and I look forward to a productive year. I appreciate the confidence my predecessors have instilled in me these past few years bringing me to this position. Two thousand seven is a significant year for the American Institute of Architects as we celebrate our 150th anniversary. Component chapters nationally are marking this momentous anniversary with local service contributions. Our Westchester/Mid-Hudson chapter will be making our contribution by offering architectural consulting services towards the restoration of the Armstrong House, a structure belonging to the Pound Ridge Land Conservancy.
Prior to being asked to join the Board of Directors, my involvement was limited and probably typical of most AIA members. I attended a handful of chapter events each year, enough to bolster my C.E.U. obligations. My last three years on the Board of Directors however has brought me to a new level of understanding towards what this professional organization has to offer our members. My attendance at the Grassroots, National and State Conferences, and last year’s State Retreat has enlightened me to realize not only the commitment and dedication that other members have in this volunteer organization, but also the wealth of services AIA has to offer members at all levels. I am looking forward to attending the Grassroots Conference next month in Washington, where among other events, our lobbying efforts on Capital Hill will focus on sustainability.
Steeply committed to its policies of Government Advocacy, AIA National is constantly monitoring Federal bills in the making, which may affect our growing industry. This is additionally true at the State AIA level and this year I urge our members to become active in this process by joining fellow members on Lobby Day this coming April in Albany. You will find our own chapter taking the lead this year issuing Position Papers on projects and policies, which affect our chapter area.
This year we will again be offering our members some very exciting and informative presentations at our chapter dinners as well as a number of “on site” meetings. Once again, our first meeting starts off with our friends at Wood Designe with an always-enlightening presentation by Erika Krieger, AIA from the NYS State Department of State. Erika will be giving her “Code Lite” presentation addressing changes and updates to the NYS Building Code. Going beyond our average activities this year, we will be planning for the NYSAIA Convention in 2008, which our chapter will be honored in hosting.
I urge all members to refer to our newsletter for updates on upcoming seminars and to visit our website, www.aiaarchitect.net where more information is readily available. All members should be receiving “e-NOTES” on a monthly basis, which is an effective tool designed to inform you on our chapter’s forthcoming events.
In closing, I encourage our members to get involved with chapter activities throughout this new year. It is equally as important to contact our chapter office, myself, or other board members with any ideas or concerns you may posses. Once again I am honored to be a part of this brilliant organization and look forward to working with all of you in the near future.
Robert Stanziale, AIA
President, AIA Westchester/Mid-Hudson
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