At this time of year most of us are trying to wind down a bit so we can relax and enjoy some festivities of the season. Spending time with family and friends is a natual way to move the pressures of our work onto the back burner for awhile. It also gives us some time to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and put some thought into plans for the coming year.

As we close the book on another year of design Society work, I would have to say it’s been an interesting one. Over the past year, the GDC made significant changes to our membership categories, changes that will provide the GDC with a streamlined application process and an enhanced Certification process. We’re striving to make it easier for designers to join the GDC and encouraging them to continue to progress through to certification.

One of the items that allowed the National Council to complete business outside of an AGM was the introduction of conference call meetings coupled with website functionality to record voting. This was the first time we’ve done this and I’m pleased to report that your National Council met twice under this format to get work done that would have otherwise been postponed until April 2011.  We’ve stepped up the bar on improving our functionality and accountability as an Executive and as a working National Council.

In partnership with HarrisDecima, the GDC conducted the first design survey of the business community in over ten years. There were some very interesting results and feedback that will help guide us over the next few years as we continue to build the GDC brand. We issued a press release to publicize the results, which has been picked up by Icograda, AIGA and Design Edge Canada. We’re hoping we get some coverage from business media as well.

We have an annual report in the works after a year's hiatus. The GDC executive is working with Foundry Creative in Calgary whose team has created a engaging format that we’re anxious to get completed and into the hands of our members. We’ve taken extra care to be sustainable in our approach and Foundry has come up with something unique that we’re sure you’ll all find quite interesting. Look for it in your mailboxes in the new year.

Get Behind Design has raised over $1000 in the past few months thanks to the efforts of Peggy Cady, FGDC. This brings the Foundation’s seed capital to over $12,000.  The GDC Foundation has flourished under Peggy’s guidance. We’re investing a significant amount of time in 2011 looking into not-for-profit status so as to take the Foundation to the next level.

The new membership kit we’ve been discussing over the last couple of years is finally getting some traction. The membership committee and communications committee are working with SubPlot in Vancouver to bring this project to fruition. A number of initial meetings have taken place, and actual work is underway.

We’re also working on a few things to help us protect our brand. We’re in the process of trademarking “GDC” in Canada in order to obtain exclusive use of the acronym among similar organizations. In addition to that, we’ve applied to have “CGD” recognized as an official Certification Mark.  This is very exciting in that the GDC will be able to offer graphic and communication designers in Canada a certification mark in the same family of other certification marks such as ISO, CSA, CGA, CA, PMP, etc.

We have new website changes coming in the new year that are a result of feedback we’ve received from members and chapter executive users. The GDC Listserv is as active as ever and a huge resource for our members and non-members alike.

Over the next couple of months we’ll be preparing and planning for the 2011 AGM in Banff which will be accompanied by the Pica 2011 Design Conference. We’ll roll out our new membership package next year as well, which we hope will be a catalyst for growth. Our membership numbers are holding steady with new members keeping pace with those not renewing. Considering the impact the economy is having on our profession, we feel good about our membership numbers.

GDC National, as well as most of the Chapters, have embraced social media and are using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to announce meetings, events, and happenings. Those tools are helping bring us closer together as a design family and I see this trend continuing.

In closing, I hope all our members, sponsors and supporters have a fantastic holiday season filled with love, friendship and harmony. Rest well everyone, we have a lot of work ahead in the new year.

Jim Hudson, Bdes, CGD
GDC National President 2010-2012
 

Header image: Closeup of the visual and braille typography on the information panels in the US National Park Service’s flagship visitor center in Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Design firm: AldrichPears, Vancouver, BC. Read the full Project Profile here.