On Friday I am in an elevator with two strangers.
“So,” No.1 begins, “Any big plans for the weekend?”
No. 2 looks up from his hot bag of takeout sandwich, and starts into a long “Well, my folks are…” answer that I ignore.
Mentally I ask myself the same.
Here I am, riding the corporate elevator in a corporate tower. Here I am, wearing my Monday through Friday Levis and a thrift shop western shirt. Here I am, standing out; a designer with a capital D at the branding agency. So why am I not on my way to Boston, to the AIGA Supershow, like all the rest of my kind?
Because I don’t know if the AIGA wants me there.
If they did want me there, why would the Supershow outprice the budgets of the junior, intermediate designers (reference the AIGA 2005 salary survey)? Why isn’t it economically more inclusive?
I have fond memories of the Supershow. I went as a student in 2001. There was a nice discount rate, and it was one of the more inspiring experiences I’ve had: I got to see Stefan Sagmeister, Dave Eggers and Milton Glaser speak. We got to go on illegal postering raids with Robbie Connal. I sat with my girlfriend in the lap of a gigantic Abe Lincoln sculpture made of white chocolate and took a bite out of his thumb. In a word, it was an awesome weekend in Washington DC.
Then I went pro, and I always found some excuse (i.e. money) not to go.
And now I need to go more than ever.
Every year I practice, I get beat up: clients, bosses, budgets take the breath out of my creativity. It is an event like the Supershow that serves to rejuvenate.
Furthermore, it’s cool to gather together a rather lonely profession into some semblance of unity. By nature we lock ourselves to drafting tables and computer monitors far too often. This is a rare opportunity to let some light in and share with others. It’s a beautiful thing.
Most of all, we’ve got to stick together. When the economy takes a dive, marketing budgets are the first to be cut. The disrespect we grumble about from clients is nothing compared to the disrespect the economy gives us. It is therefore a priority that we assemble in force, and support the AIGA Board’s efforts to spread the gospel of what we do, and why it is essential—not just a luxury to business. Our vulnerability then as a profession should make the Supershow the even more important event than we might realize.
Attendance at the Supershow then is imperative. This is what worries me most about the high cost. And I know there is a steep financial overhead to put on a fine Supershow: rooms and projectors and nametags. And to be fair, the AIGA tries to make it affordable. They know it is a sensitive issue and they delicately address it: “The fees are set to make the experience both memorable and affordable…This year, we have tried to reduce the cost to encourage as many people as possible to attend.”
I don’t want to blame the AIGA. It’s not their fault we aren’t young bankers or surgeons. We’re a smart, stylish, yet broke-ass bunch. And we go into this profession knowing this, yet we love our craft so much that it doesn’t make a difference. Nervertheless, love can only take you so far.
I feel the AIGA has to further address the issue of economic inclusiveness. Broad attendance at the Supershow should be a priority. It should be the evangelical tool to solidify their base. Talk to Ralph Reed. Talk to Karl Rove. It’s your base, stupid. The long term success of any organization depends on that base’s involvement. If the keys to the revival are beyond their means, you’ve got trouble soon enough.
I still wish I would have gone. I can only hope for the next Supershow. I think I’ll start saving now: tap water for Lattes. Brownbagging PB&J….
AIGA. It’s about sacrifice.
Jimm Lasser, Esq. (1974- )
On the stormy morning of Sunday, December 9, 1974, Nancy Lasser, wife of Alan, gave birth to a boy. He was born on a bed of poles covered with corn husks. The baby was named Jimm, after Comedian Red Foxx. The birth took place in the Lasser’s rough-hewn cabin in Winnetka near Chicago, Illinois. Alan Lasser was a dermatologist and a farmer. Nancy Lasser had little or no accounting schooling and could not write french poetry. Jimm spent a short amount of time in a log schoolhouse, before graduating from the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University School of Law, and the Portfolio Center. Jimm attended school dressed in a raccoon cap, buckskin clothes, and pants so short that several inches of his calves were exposed. Jimm earned his first dollar ferrying passengers to a steamer on the Ohio River, and designing T-shirts for the 84-year old James Toast at sharpastoast.com. He was a member of the charter class of John Bielenberg’s Project M, spoke out against the Dred Scott Decision, and has won many decorations for valor in battle.
Seems to me you got something out of the conference. Hell, a guest editorial out of Speak Up at least. Don't let the hype get to you, do it for your self and see what happens next.
On Sep.21.2005 at 12:51 AM