jake ... ask yourself the following question ... why would the AIA have any interest whatsoever in giving a design award to a non-member?

generally, local components issue a Call for Submittals to their members.

doesn't appear to matter in california, digger:

http://aia-awards.com/AIACC/info/eligibility.php

nor in kentucky:

http://www.aiaky.org/memberHonor.php

it's promoted as a member program, but the eligibility requirements don't limit participation to aia members.

of course it's always easier to disparage the aia than learn about it....

The National AIA Honor Awards Program also is open to members and non-members alike.

As bad a rap as AIA receives here on a continual basis about its lack of concern for anything other than a narrow protection of its own members, I've found the AIA to be more focused on the profession as a whole than any other professional organization about which I have personal experience.

quizzical, is that why the AIA lobbied against health care reform and for contractors instead of architects recently?

holz - don't you think that egregiously global statement a tad unfair?

I presume you refer to the AIA"s opposition to a provision in HR 3590 that excludes the construction industry from the small business exemption contained in the bill. The AIA position on this ONE provision is as follows:

"H.R. 3590 exempts employers with fewer than 50 employees from the fines levied on those who cannot afford to provide their employees with the federal minimum standard of health insurance. However, the Manager’s Amendment singles out the construction industry by altering the exemption so that it applies to only those firms with fewer than 5 employees.

This narrowly focused provision is an unprecedented assault on our industry, and the men and women who every day make the bold decision to strike out on their own by starting a business. Our members’ benefit packages reflect the reality of their business models, and they proudly offer the best health insurance coverage that they can afford. It is unreasonable to presume that small business owners can bear the increased cost of these new benefits simply because Congress mandates that they do so.

In the real world, where the rhetoric surrounding this legislation will meet the stark reality of the employer struggling to make payroll, this special interest carve out is simply another bill to pay in an industry that, with an unemployment rate exceeding 18% and more than $200 billion in economic activity lost in the past year, already is struggling to survive.

And, we would be remiss if we failed to question the justification for singling out the construction industry to bear such a burden. We are unaware of any data or evidence that suggests that the needs and struggles of a construction contractor with fewer than 50 employees are so different from those of small business owners in other industries, and absent such convincing evidence, we are left to assume that this specific provision is merely a political payoff to satisfy the desires of a small constituency."

Hardly lobbying "against health care reform and for contractors instead of architects"

Wow, quizz, thanks for that. So who put the proposed provision (Manager's Amendment) into the bill, and did it pass? I'm clueless.

Donna: The health care legislation passed by Congress included a provision - added by Senator Harry Reid during the Senate's debate on the bill in late 2009 - that would expand the employer mandate on construction companies to those with as few as five employees. The AIA joined with its design and construction industry partners to oppose that provision.

I believe - but am not 100% certain - that the reconciliation bill intended to fine-tune the just-enacted law eliminated that special rule for construction industry employers.

However -- we're on the verge of hijacking this thread and really should turn it back over to the question jakethesnake first posed.

Yeah...so...anyway, back to the AIA question at hand. What is the best way to get a project nominated for an award? Should I just send some PDF's and say, "consider me for unbuilt design of the year?"

jake, they do have an official submittal process - forms, a binder, required info, required images, client contact info, etc. AND it costs a couple-few hundred dollars. So no, don't just send them pdfs out of the blue!

step 1 - find a "Call for Submittals" that accepts unbuilt designs

step 2 - look at the submittal requirements

step 3 - comply with the submittal requirements

step 4 - send it in by the deadline

Thanks, Quizzical, for the usual measured and informed response. That's becoming a lost art around here....

I just saw this thread.

I'm not an AIA member. The fact that non-members "are eligible" doesn't mean that the AIA actually gives awards out to non-members.

An attorney for the AIA wrote me a letter, stating:

"...an award is retrospective in nature...an award or nomination for an award recognizes an achievement that was accomplished not for a contest, but for independent reasons". If an award is made in recognitions [sic] for past achievements out of affection, respect, admiration, charity, or like impulses, there is no contractual right to receive anything. The Court in Yari specifically noted that an application "for an award did not create a contract, or a promise, on which reliance was reasonable."

Elsewhere, he wrote that I would be banned from future contests:

"...based on your lack of good faith and refusal to respect the fair and partial aesthetic decisions [my emphasis] of the design awards judges."

In other words, according to the AIA's own representatives, entrants to design awards contests cannot expect that the AIA or its judges will perform anything, or that they will be impartial. Entrants cannot expect that the AIA will give awards based on an entrant's work, submittal, design or project. In fact, they seem to be saying just the opposite, that the entry form does not create a contract, and that the AIA can give out awards to their friends.

I considered this letter to be an insult and a challenge. Fighting words. An attorney's way of saying, "We stole your money fair and square. Now go piss off, jackass."

So, yes, I sued them in small claims court, and eventually was awarded $1000 that they still won't pay.

I assume, at this point, that you did not get an award? You might consider writing a letter to the AIA. Tell them you submitted your best work, and that your aesthetic opinion is just as good as the judges'. Ask them for an award or your money back, and see what they say. But don't expect anything but complete BS, politely written. I've had a judge order them to pay me, and these deadbeats are defying the Court.

waaaaaaaaaaaah wah wah

the fact that the aia was ordered to give you an award or compensation based on some legal reason probably reinforces the chapter's original reason for NOT giving you one: a jury of professional peers who were convened to recognize what they felt was the best work shown to them didn't pick yours. it's, of course, an opinion. an opinion from people selected specifically to have opinions. there is no obligation to award everyone, nor should there be.

if you were to receive an award based on a legal decision, the whole awards process would become meaningless. it's meaning is in the peer recognition, not the legalities of the process. the aia should only be obligated to give awards on its own terms.

i'm kind of amazed that anyone could over-estimate the value of their own work so much as to sue an organization for not recognizing it. takes some moxie - and some delusions of grandeur.

give it up, eje. could you not accept bad reviews in school either?

@Steven - The court ordered the AIA to pay me $1000 because the AIA filed a meritless lawsuit against me to shut me up, intimidate me, humiliate me, punish me, silence me, and run the statute of limitations.

I sued colleagues over legitimate professional issues in a venue where attorneys are not even allowed, and you retaliated against me with a nasty suit by a large legal firm where the architects don't bother to show up.

I have a legal right not to be subject to the kind of harassing, abusive and punitive suit that you pursued against me for over 14 months.

The AIA has 80,000 members, and I am one guy. The California legislature enacted laws - of which you are clearly ignorant - specifically to prevent the kind of abuse the AIA heaped on me. Your action against me was illegal, OK?

Now you won't pay court-ordered fees, mandated by California legislation. That isn't a subjective damage award, it's a statutory award.

Since it's been proven - this isn't my opinion, it's now a matter of public record - that the AIA is run by court-defying deadbeats, why should anyone believe that the AIA is run by honorable people? Why should I believe anything you have to say?

Now, please reread that a few times until you understand that much, at least?

Until then, please SHUT UP?

Thank you.

eje - you're such a major league loser - move on bub - nobody's buying your lame ass view of the world, court or no court.