These Olympics have captured the imagination of a new generation, as we hope at the GDC to inspire the same sense of identity, passion and purpose in designers the world over during Icograda Design Week Vancouver 2010 this April. In our profession there are few events that can aggregate the quantity, quality and range of speakers that excite design professionals, students and educators alike.

While our longtime affiliation with Icograda certainly helped Vancouver to win Design Week, it has taken a great deal of commitment from dozens of designers to bring it to Vancouver. For many GDC members and designers in Canada, Design Week Vancouver 2010 is virtually in your back yard, while many designers are traveling here from all over the world to attend. We encourage you to take advantage of this rare opportunity: sign up today, as registration is filling up ahead of projected numbers.

If this isn't enough to get you charged up, Graphex 2010 will be celebrated at the gala and show. And preceding these auspicious events will be the National AGM, complete with envisioning Canada's design future led by your Council, plus nominations being accepted during this election year. National Student awards will be judged as well at this time. Yes, we have been busy working on the behalf of designers in Canada, but we salute all of the Chapters and volunteers that we stand shoulder to shoulder with to make the GDC the gold standard of inspiration, information and professionalism.