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Ideas for Professional Workshops?
I am an undergraduate student, and the professional chair of my university's chapter of Alpha Rho Chi -- the architecture fraternity. Among the programs and activities that I plan for our student group are firm visits and "professional workshops."
I have already begun planning for us to visit some architecture firms this upcoming semester, but I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for these professional workshops. In years past, we have done (or tried to do) portfolio workshops and critiques, digital tutorial programs for Adobe Products, Revit, and AutoCAD, technical drawing workshops, and mock interview practice.
While all of these ideas are great, I would like to think outside the box and plan some new workshops instead of recycling old programs. Some ideas I have are:
1. Business card design workshops -- a quick, easy, and cheap workshop to help students create business cards that are readily available when needed
2. Logo design workshop -- something that we can use to make professional Instagram pages/portfolio covers/etc.
3. Firm email/call event -- an event where our students will research, send emails, and/or make calls to firms that interest them individually. I just want my peers to push each other and "get out of their comfort zone" while pursuing an internship at a firm. Even if nothing comes from it, the goal is that they become more comfortable emailing and talking to architects and principals of real firms.
So, do you have any advice for other professional programs and workshops? Any feedback on my existing ideas? Thanks a ton!
Look into setting up some workshops with various trades. My local AIA chapter holds a very popular workshop every year with some local masons. They demonstrate how to building a simple cmu wall and let each attendee lay a cmu. It may sound overly simplistic but you'd be shocked how many architects with 10+ years of experience don't actually know how this works. We oftentimes draw things incorrectly because of simple misunderstanding with how they're done in reality. This same idea could be applied to many other trades as well.
Do workshop(s) on basics of practice, i.e. contracts, liability, construction administration, business law, etc. Don't waste time with cutesy stuff that you already get too much of in school anyway. Architecture for most of you will be a business and profession, not an artist's atelier, and you need to be prepared for it. Your professors probably don't know shit about daily practice, for obvious reasons.
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