March is the month of momentum, movement and forward motion. 

This is the ideology of the Vancouver Island Chapter executive committee as we work towards 'Discovering our strengths', as stated by our new President Aaron Heppell.

2010 has brought about renewed energy and incentives with which to progress and evolve, improving our chapter with a focus on the following:

• Increase our overal influence

• Improve our membership experience

• Increase awareness of the GDC VI Chapter.  

To achieve the above the VI Chapter Exec Committee is placing additional effort in a few areas (as listed below) that we expect to have considerable impact on the membership experience and help further establish our presence and involvement in the creative community. This includes connecting transparently and diligently with members and designers of all areas of practice to support and encourage mutually beneficial relations. 

Events

Engage > a monthly casual, social gathering hosted by the GDC, for all creative professionals to attend. The last Engage Event was held in Victoria at the Legacy Art Gallery and was well recieved and attended. Join us in Nanaimo, May 2010 for an opportunity to connect and knowledge share with others from various areas of design practice. For more info go to: Facebook Engage Page

VIU > will be hosting several events in the next month in regards to their annual Progressions exhibit. We will be attending and promoting these, and encourage you to support our designers of tomorrow.

April 15th: VIU Beer and Burger night Fundraiser @ Old City Station Pub. 6-9pm (Hollywood Theme)

April 22nd- May 8th: Emerge. Graphic Design Degree 4th yr Graduation Exhibition @ Nanaimo Art Gallery Downtown. 150 Commercial St. Opening night Monday April 22nd 5 - 7pm.

Monday April 26th: Art and Design Awards Ceremony @ VIU Theatre. Doors open at 6:30pm.

April 22nd- summer 2010: Graphic DEsign exhibits years 1, 2 and 3 @ the VIU Art Building.

GDC AGM> Will be held this year in Vancouver from April 23rd-25th.

ICOGRADA> Directly following the GDC AGM, also hosted in Vancouver, April 26th-30th.

Membership

All membership communications and information is undergoing an update to improve member access and chapter relations.

Student membership is under review in persuit of creating a new package that will include a 4 year reduced rate option. This will be implemented for the beginning of the academic year, Fall 2010.

Sponsorship

Innovative concepts and clear objectives are driving our sponsorship relations into new territories and presenting alternative methods with which to build stronger, more mutually beneficial arrangements.

Resources

The Design and production of a student and graduate student resource handbook is in progress to provide learners and recent graduates access to various forms of valuable information. These handbooks will be available to student and graduate members, connecting young talent to the ins-and-outs of the industry.

Communications

A Chapter communications plan will be underway and completed by the end of 2010.

Monthly Executive Committee meetings

As a GDC Member, you are cordially invited to attend any of the Exec Commitee meetings. The next meeting will be held on Saturday May 8th at noon.

Please RSVP to the following e-mail, and to acquire location address: communications.vibc@gdc.net

NATIONAL GDC NEWS:

National Sustainability Survey coming soon — watch for it in your e-mail

The GDC National Sustainability Committee will soon be launching a survey for graphic designers. This survey will gauge our profession's level of awareness, perception and understanding of the environmental best practices in regions across Canada. As part of this national, and now local initiative, GDC VI will be e-mailing its membership to invite them to participate in the survey. The plan is to repeat this survey periodically to track changes and the influence of the National and Chapter Sustainability Committee initiatives over the next decade. A link to the online survey will arrive via e-mail in the coming weeks. A report on the survey results will be published on GDC.net in the sustainability section. 

For more information on sustainability as it applies to your design practice, or the work of the sustainability committee, please contact sustainability@gdc.net

We wish you a productive and rewarding April.