A Peek at Richard Saul Wurman’s “33″

Months ago I blogged about a work session we had here with Richard Saul Wurman as he launched into the creation of his newest book. 33: Understanding Change & the Change in Understanding is now almost complete.

How do I even begin to describe it? It’s a fable. It’s a fable wrapped around a 33-year-old illustrated keynote address Wurman delivered at the 1976 AIA convention. It’s a 33-part television script. It’s a fantastical allegory. It’s thought-provoking and charming.

Here’s a look at one of the spreads.

Sample spread from Richard Saul Wurman's "33"

Hoping to go to the printer with this any day now. Look for it in September. Here’s a bit more about it from our press release.

How Much Better Could the AIA Convention Be?

Quite a lot it seems. Here’s my 2009 report card:

Registration process: A-
Professional development programs C
Theme presentations: B
Fellows investiture ceremony: A
Awards ceremony: D
Business sessions: C
Exhibition hall: B-
City location: A
Weather: D

Am I too harsh? Let’s take a closer look at five propositions that could put this convention into best-of-class zone.

1. While overall convention attendance was respectable, especially considering this economy, attendance at the annual awards presentation was embarrassingly low. Only a handful of people were at the late afternoon program on Friday — and those who attended were mostly there to receive awards. I felt bad for those architects who brought clients. Even modest expectations for this event were missed. There was so much talent in that Moscone Convention Center and yet so little pageantry and celebration. This is one of the big missed opportunities of the national convention.

Solution: Celebrate and present the National AIA awards in a big public ceremony — perhaps the auditorium affiliated with one of the influential museums in the city. Sell tickets. I believe it would sell out and year after year become the hottest ticket in town. And why not? Global stars and emerging design leaders convene. This could be the most soulfully important event of the convention and one of the signal events of the year for AIA. And to add the frosting on the cake: Celebrate the top 10 architectural highlights of the host city. (In the case of San Francisco, there was so much new and noteworthy architecture. Furthermore, that’s true for every city AIA will meet at in the future.) Keep this unveiling of awards a secret until the program unfolds. This would make the AIA convention the thought leading as well the news making event on design excellence in each city. Let the host city be reminded of the importance of architecture to quality of life.

2. The professional development programs were again of uneven quality, and the system itself lacks user friendliness to both session attendees and presenters. One high-profile architect told me that he would personally boycott any further AIA events because of the shabby treatment he received by convention staff who micromanaged every issue that was of lesser importance while ignoring the opportunities to create a world-class professional development experience.

Building quality content to higher levels will be the lifeblood of the future for the convention. AIA staff need not see themselves as the PowerPoint police; instead, they should facilitate quality and provide top-notch personal service to speakers. The professional development staff should model themselves around the great service provided by the VIP lounge staff. What a classy group they were in SF. Make that the standard for service everywhere at convention.

And why not share session evaluations with all AIA members after the event? Make the improvement opportunities and the high points transparent. What were the top 20 sessions? What was the mean score for all events? How many tanked? And then address what the quality expectation metric is for the future. And then compare three years’ worth of data. And then … celebrate all the improvements!

3. Why should convention attendees walk across the street for exhibits? Splitting the exhibit hall to accommodate every company that wants a presence is organizational greed. Rather than maximizing exhibitor attendance, the AIA should optimize the exhibitor and architect experience of place. There should be dialog, a sense of community, and robust interface on trends, shifts, products, processes. The exhibitors are great resources to the profession. To treat them as second-class citizens misses the point. They are critical to the delivery team.

The exhibitors I talked with had mixed experiences of satisfaction because the convention was fragmented between north, south, and west halls, and there was second tier (second-class) space, some of it rarely visited by architects. While the exhibitors got to know each other well, many reported not having the level of traffic they thought they should get. These companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring freshly designed exhibits and technical and sales staff, rent space, provide inventive hospitality, and try integrating their value proposition into the fabric of the convention. Many were let down. AIA can do better.

The truth is that the AIA convention can be the best place for product manufacturers and service providers to mix with leading and specifying architects. With good design in mind, traffic patterns should not inhibit but instead maximize value. Furthermore, exhibitors should never be treated like second-class citizens at the convention. They should be given access to the educational programs, the design awards, and visiting (but non-voting) status at the business meetings. This industry is integrating. AIA should not just talk about it but should live these concepts in dozens of ways with the entire team. The barriers to correct this old-school system are similar to the barriers that have limited the growth of the architectural profession itself. It’s time to change the set points, the value propositions, and the delivery model of the national AIA convention.

4. There was a dark cloud over this entire meeting. Call it an emotional recession. Architects were gloomy due to the economic recession and the high expenses of the convention.

Solution: Recognize that the economy is going to get better. It will unfold in ways that will be highly beneficial to the architecture profession in the long run. The vision for the future of the profession needs to be stated and re-stated at every opportunity. The AIA is in many ways a role model for firms — or could be. And the leadership at AIA can have the clear messages that reinforce the unfolding new value propositions of the ascendant profession. The convention should not be an opportunity to cry on shoulders but to lift the spirits, our knowledge, and strategies to make things better. Hour after hour, the AIA missed this opportunity to focus on the future.

5. Without ever intending to do so, the AIA can come off like a rather defensive trade association rather than a leading and very special professional institute that holds the body of knowledge that will set the pace for this industry in the future. AIA is a national treasure, not a self-interested, self-serving trade group.

After sitting through the business meetings, I wondered about better governance and addressing empty politics. And I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to have a two-year presidency term with compensation for the architect leader rather than the current one-year revolving door. The AIA presidency is not unlike having a partner on loan from professional practice. Governance could easily be streamlined — 49 board members is not the perfect governance design for this role model organization.

What was the biggest missed opportunity of the convention? Well-designed complimentary umbrellas for every delegate. Too bad one of the exhibitors couldn’t give out those umbrellas. It would have made a lasting impression and put smiles on architects’ faces during what was otherwise a somewhat gloomy experience.