New AIGA Minnesota Website

Insights 2007: Design Lecture Series will be held every Tuesday night in March at the Walker Art Center.

Tuesday, March 6, 13, 20, and 27 - 7-9 p.m.

The details are not finalized but the cost will be approximately the same as last year and it will me open to members and non-members.

Jim Madson
President, AIGA Minnesota
Member since 1993
AIGA | the professional association for design

With this new design you've added access to post comments but how do I get more information about the Design Lecture Series? How much is it, for example and what are the four events?

I see the first one is March 6, from 7-9pm but where is the rest of the pertinent information? Now THAT is information worth posting, for members and non-members alike. (I hope you haven't taken away access to non-members for that series.)

good job on the site both of you.

This site is horrible, and as the comments show most people think the same way.
The navigation is horrible, hierarchy is bad, all the pages do not flow, no where to focus.

Why make it the smae as the main aiga page? If I want to go the the main AIGA page I go to it, if I want to go to the mn page I can go to it.

looks like many other sites will be getting much more attention then mn aiga.

From the looks of it most of the people who are upset about the job postings turning into a members only service are non members. Personally if you are a non member then you don't have a lot of say in how this organization is run. If you choose not to join then you choose to not have a voice. This organizations goal should be to serve its members as well as it can, it shouldn't have to be concerned with all of the non members being upset because they want the services without paying the fees.

If a client came to you and was upset that you were unwilling or unable to provide some of your services for free what would you do? There are not a lot of places that offer services for free any more. Yes, it was a great service when you could look at the job postings for free but times change. It really looks like AIGA Minnesota is making a real effort to create value in the membership in more areas then just restricting job postings. In the end AIGA and the Minnesota design community will be better off with these changes despite the anger of a few of you.

If all you want is to find a job then maybe paying the $200-300 is not an option but when you look at all the benefits as a whole then maybe you will see the value.

Thank you for your feedback. A few weeks ago when I saw that many of the posts in the website feedback were about nonwebsite issues I started a "Feedback Forum" and "Design Jobs" discussion that you can access on the home page. I am monitoring the posts carefully and I am hoping that it will be a space where, as you say, "design practioners can discuss broad or local events, issues or pitch ideas."

Please continue to use it to give us feedback to help us make enhancements to the website and to shape future programming.

President, AIGA Minnesota
Member since 1993
AIGA | the professional association for design

Well its nice to see petty attacks are on the rise.

Jim - Why doesn't the site open up a general forum, so that us design practioners can discuss broad or local events, issues or pitch ideas.

This controlled conversation method employed across the AIGA sites is nice for lamenting the years since Paul Rand's death, but why not build and implement a forum that can possibly push interest in AIGA and the local design community all in one.

The reason i ask is because I am already tired of seeing people attack each other. Lets either start some new posts for what your members and non-members would like to see from AIGA MN.

If this site, our community and the profession of graphic design is to grow larger and more influential, I believe you need to be communicating with the people regardless of your status as an AIGA member.

I would like to comment on John Leschinski's following comment regarding freeloaders posted on 09/19/2006:

"Nor has anyone presented a reason for it to be available to freeloaders". Posted by: John Leschinski on September 19, 2006

Dear John-
Be careful not to offend and lump fellow designers, art directors, production artists, etc. into a category as "FREELOADERS".

I feel very sorry for you that you find the need to judge others you know nothing about. I have been an active AIGA member since 1992. Unfortunately this past year has been a different situation. I have not been able to afford the dues as a professional member. My husband was diagnosed with an illness in 2004 and I have been without a job since December of 2005. I pay $1224.00 in COBRA fees to keep my family insured. Unemployment benefits do not cover the basic costs of living.

I find your comment insulting, immature, and ignorant. I do not believe this is the place for this type of judgemental, narrow-minded attitude. You are a very small person and must forget this is a very small town. I certainly hope other professionals keep their eye on your name - if you were my employee or firm - I would fire you due to your lack of concern, compassion and empathy towards others... and lack of professionalism.

Grow up.

Great work on the website. It has a lot of super features (many of which are free - the discussion board / comment section) that will aid the member and non-member alike.

I do empathize with the non-member, graduate looking for a job and not wanting to pay the membership fees to search the job listings. I have been there - and was grateful that the section allowed all to see to the postings.

Good day

I just wanted to be a positive voice here. I think the new site works. And from a members perspective I'm happy about the password job listings...it's a perk that a member has access to, and thus well worth my membership fees. If your commited enough to this industry to work in it then be commited enough to pay the membership fee and support your local branch of the AIGA, now the fees are worth it because there is one thing that is members only. Plus I've heard complaints from perspective employers that they use to get 100's of applicants...literally. And thus would consider other routes of advertising for a job (IE: head hunters). This way it helps both sides of the fence...the interviewer and interviewe.

Next thing you know, they're going to want us to pay for fonts.

The job postings change delivers just enough information to a non-member to find the job and the company. Providing non-members with an inconveninece and members with no real competitive advantage or exclusivity while at the same time undermining the value of the site for those who are posting a job. Kudos!

I agree with Sweet Kuni -- this is a step backwards. Sorry guys.

The way to build loyalty (in any endeavour) is to provide value. There are a lot of great reasons to join AIGA, but the job board wasn't one of them. Thus, the decision to restrict access to members only seems paranoid and covetous. It's a move in the opposite direction from where the web is headed.

I'll probably renew my membership, but I don't think I'll be using this (rather poorly designed and executed) web site very much. This was a step backward for AIGA.

Completely agree. I just moved here from another state where the local AIGA already had this policy in place. In the past when the jobs were available to everyone we received great response to our job postings. However when we posted a job for a designer under these new restrictions not only did we have to pay to post the job, but we only received 2 (very bad) resumes. We ended up demanding a refund and using a diffferent creative job site to find a candidate - one that doesn't charge people to view job postings. The response was through the roof. I hope AIGAMN reverses this decision to charge for postings and restrict job board viewing.

While a membership to any organization has its benefits, I feel that the new policy for both posting and viewing jobs is complete and utter nonsense. As a seasoned veteran in the design community I see no benefits in paying such an exorbitant sum to basically view jobs. As for the price of posting job openings, employers will surely be turned off, while posting here once guaranteed a definitive and talented audience, now only a small percentage can ever see those ads. AIGA's MN Chapter has definitely shot themselves in both feet.

That's what I meant.

Membership is $300 per year.

Do you know how many pints I could buy with $300 a month? Now I remember why I cancelled my AIGA membership years ago.

If the the only perceived value of an AIGA membership is the job board, ---I think we've got some work to do.

One of the posting brings up many good points. I want to thank that member for reinstating their membership. I am also very pleased that this new website offers us a way to have a dynamic conversation with members and non-members alike.

The most important goal of AIGA Minnesota is to develop programming that provides value to our members. In our recent member survey we asked for your input on what programming you find valuable. Some of the suggestions were:

- Bring back Breakfast and Business lecture series
- Have discussion of design theory, history or future trends
- Develop more opportunities for designers to network with different kinds of vendors/partners
- Partner with user groups around town (Flash, Indesign, Photoshop, etc)
- Have events that are located in other parts of the state

But most people wanted more free events for members.

Today we will be announcing a meeting at the Walker Art Center with Ric Grefe, the Executive Director of AIGA, on October 20th. He will be discussing the goals and successes of AIGA and will end with a questions and answer session. This will be a free event for members only. In addition, we plan to restart the networking mixers at local venues in the next few months and we are working with Adobe to host a series of workshops that would be free for members.

These are all great ideas but as a volunteer organization we need your involvement to make them happen. Please go to http://minnesota.aiga.org/about/volunteering_1 to see a list of the committees that we have and are forming to see if one would be of interest to you. Also send us ideas for events that you would be willing to help organize.

The value of your membership goes far beyond job posting and local programming. Your membership dollars go to support AIGA that proactively advocates the value of design nationally and internationally. Please go to http://aiga.org/content.cfm/memberbenefits to see the full list of benefits and http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=membershipinvestment to see what your membership dollars support.

I am also a long-time member but found that I began getting the most out of my membership when I became actively involved. I want to encourage you to take this step to make a big difference in AIGA Minnesota and the local and national design community.

President, AIGA Minnesota
Member since 1993
AIGA | the professional association for design

Ahh!! I just realized that you DO have to log in to see more job details, but at least the name of the company is available. You might look a little less credible if you're not applying directly from the AIGA website, but there's no reason non--members can't do a little research. It may not be conveniant as it could be for people who aren't paying for it, but still it's not a bad deal.

Hey, it looks like the job postings are open to the public again. There's only one thing I'm nervous about.

I'm worried about is that AIGA Minn might drop their surveys with the addition of comment boxes. Comment boxes are a great addition, but I really hope they keep up the surveys, otherwise any useful feedback could be lost in the rantings of comment boxes.

People need to loosen up a little. This isn't some giant corporation trying to steal your souls, it's a board of people volunteering to help local designers. And I met Jim Madson, our new president, and he seems like a really good guy who cares a lot of what we think. People have been stressing out about job postings, and now they're open in only a couple days. Has anyone taken a trip to the AIGA Wisconsin site? Be sure to check out the date on the top.

$295 a year to read the job postings??? Are you kidding me? Get over yourself AIGA!

As a previous long-time member of AIGA all through college, and now, newly rejoined member, I have to say I was a little apprehensive in reinstating my membership. When I was a member, I did not feel that the membership completely lived up to its extremely costly fee. The main advantage was the job searching, but, of course, that was a free perk of the regional Minnesota site.

As a member, I participated actively by volunteer and attending AIGA-sponsored events such as the Insights Lecture series, Design Show, and Design Camp. These are all worthwhile experiences as well as great things for the design community. These events, however, were not much more pricier for non-members and, as I recall, there were not too many free events exclusive to members where I felt that the $300 was a pay off.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that with the newly enforced members-only access to the job resources, are there going to be other benefits to rejoining/joining that were not there before to draw those people back in, rather than just the prospect of job-seeking? I also feel that by requiring employers to pay a fee to post a listing that they may be discouraged and seek other means of posting employment, therein losing the benefit of having an exclusive and vast job database for those who ARE AIGA members.

How are these sorts of issues going to be addressed with this new structure to keep RETURNING and EXISTING members feeling satisfied with what they are getting for their dollar?

Dear Members and Non-Members,

I don't know which of you have dropped money to be part of AIGA or not, but both sides have vaild points.

Robert - First off i believe the website is kept up by the office secretary(i could be wrong)and she is paid for her time. The rest of the board members are unpaid.

Local Business Owner - You did not speak one word of false information in your post. There are many things designers invest in and perhaps a AIGA membership should be seen as money well spent. Yet, you can't speak for all and in particular to minorly disparage the commentors' personal value based upon your opinion whether they would "invest" money In AIGA is a bit unprofessional.

If we focus on the issues, I think for students and professionals alike a mixture of free(or low cost) gatherings or full-blown events need to happen on a monthly basis.

The events we have are great as is right now, but what about in between Design Camp and Insights?

What about the students beyond Portfolio 1 on 1?

Bueller........Buelller

As for the jobs....I would like everyone to slow down a bit on that.

Students probably shouldn't even look there because there hasn't been a large number of valid post for your experience level. (Yet i still feel it should be free for students especially).

Current practiioners...I guess you move on or join up. The old fashioned way is a hit or miss kind of thing, but if students are encouraged to do it, then you should already be all over it. Otherwise as others mention, you have some other sources to choose from.

The website in general i could take it or leave it. The addition of feedback has already proved its worth.

hear hear.

Harsh comments. Sometimes you have to look deeper than what you see on the outside. What does it take to keep a website updated? Does this new format allow for more time to be dedicated on other things? Does it bring new content? Job postings should be viewed by anyone, if not they can just go to Yahoo! and find job postings there. But to sit here and criticize someone for volunteering their own time is plain ignorant.

Your AIGA chapter works hard for your community to just get bitched at by non-members. If you don't like what is going on, become a member, speak your pain and make a difference. Instead of just hiding behind a comment box.

Get out of your hole and make a difference. Stop your whining. Support your chapter. Give it a chance.

Honestly, this site is now completely useless to me. It has lost all that made it local and relevant.

Well put CAT!

Hmm, this is lame. Since when should you have to pay to look at a job posting?

Some people are comparing this membership fee to text books and a design education, and that if we're not willing to invest then we are "FREE LOADERS" . I'm confused by this rational. It was a nice service that was offered to everyone. Now it is a privaledge for the paying few--apparently so that they will have even nicer looking posts in the future.

I just don't understand this decision to link up with the national AIGA site, and thereby require the same fees, when the national site offers very little in terms of jobs in MN. There doesn't seem to be any benefit in doing it. And it certainly ostracizes those (like me) who see very little value in paying $300 so that they can have the *privalege* of looking for jobs.

So, in conclusion, those who already have memberships finally feel like they're getting something for their money--less competition. Why is it again that I should get a membership?

I like the new, clean design of the web site. Although I liked the old, too, but quite frankly I was getting tired of it. It is nice to finally see an update. Long time coming if you ask me.

And such a fuss over the logging in to view job postings. I realize free is always nice, but I am so releaved to see that my membership is finally adding some value, especially after see how many non-members have been utilizing it. Makes me feel like my membership is finally giving me the advantage.

And reminder, students and entry level designers get a HUGE discount.

I do not think I agree with charging to post a job, though. My concern is that it will become nothing but job placement firms posting now. But I am willing to optimistically hope that what we actually get is more quaility postings and less fulff.

Change is good, but not final. Without trying new things where would we be today? Carving rocks? Stripping? Film? I am shocked at the archaic logic in the postings

Kudos AIGA for taking a scarey step forward. And good luck!

Mara

Wow, I'm very surprised at this overall response. Students are willing to pay thousands of dollars on their education, but not $100 on a membership to help in obtaining a job? (...the very reason I assume they were willing to pay for their education?) "Local designers" who work for a living can't afford $300 to be a member to assist in helping to find employement? Astounding!!! They must be wildly talented and successful designers! (Sarcasm in case they missed it).

If you are not willing to invest in your business, you will never succeed. Do you not buy software, computers, paper, pens, pencil, etc. in the name of obaining your income? These tools are worthless without the job itself! Ask any successful design firm owner in town if they were able to achieve their success without any investment of capital into their practice! A professional association membership is an investment. Homebuilders, Doctors, Financial Planners, Accountants, Realtors all belong to professional associations to advance their careers.

Where does this sense of entitlement from these vocally unhelpful freeloaders come from? It took a lot of hard work and money to get my business where it is today. I am extremely dissappointed in what I am seeing here and hope that I never have the misfortune of hiring one of these people by my firm.

But, I will agree that the site design is not exactly exciting...

Once again the AIGA shows how powerful it is by restricting information to the general design populace by tying itself into the national DRM'd AIGA site. "Give us money, and we'll advance your career...promise."

Thank you for your comments on the new AIGA Minnesota website. We appreciate your feedback and are glad that you have taken advantage of our website's new comment-posting feature. Your thoughts and opinions are important to us and will help us improve the functionality and value of our website.

Our newly designed website is now powered by AIGA national's back-end technology, making it a much more robust website. Because it is linked to the national website, we now follow AIGA design standards and policies on access and pricing. The money from the job postings will go to further enhancements of the Design Jobs website - aigadesignjobs.org.

We believe that being part of AIGA's national network will be of great benefit to all of our members.

Because our website is connected to AIGA national, you can now dynamically connect to the national AIGA website and to the national network of AIGA chapters throughout the country.

You can post jobs or work-for-hire offers that can be viewed by over 18,000 AIGA members at 55 chapters throughout the country.

As an AIGA Minnesota member, you can now search local and national listings directly from our website. You can also post your resume and portfolio at a aigadesignjobs.org. If you haven't done this, I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes and complete your profile.

We're confident that our website will continue to provide you with new benefits over time. With your continuing feedback, we'll do our best to assure that it remains a useful tool for you to use in advancing your design career.

Jim Madson

President, AIGA Minnesota
Member since 1993
AIGA | the professional association for design

It would be interesting to see how many people opposed to the member only restriction are not paying members.

I'm glad someone took care of the commenting layout. Thanks.

As a recent graduate I checked the AIGA job boards everyday. I can't afford the AIGA membership fee. Thanks for taking away one of the best resources minnesota designers or soon to be designers had.

Who decided to barricade non-members from job listings? That's really not cool. I'd be ok with signing up for the free account if not for the fact that my name and address will be displayed for all the world to see. That's really not a safe feature, you know...

Also, I hope you didn't pay $$$ for this new "design." Black text on a white background with a green block for a menu...?

MN AIGA used to be a daily view for me, especially the jobs section. Change is usually good, but login is usually...

a. Someone or a group of people behind the scenes of a site want to collect data on their users to "better" market them with useless e-mails, reminders of events, or some money making product or event that is "valuable" to the user.

b. A way for site admins to track useless click throughs and page views to "valuable" content.

c. A way to promise content that will come in the future that will be so amazing that you'll need to set up your paid account right now to take advantage of future updates that never come.

The WWW has turned into a privileged space ruled by credit cards and marketing schemes that alienate their users. Allowing posts like this is one step in the right direction, but ultimately comments like mine only end up pleasing myself and are never taken seriously by the decision makers behind the scenes.

Why bother even being a member then? Everything can be had for free. The only downside is events which would cost a little bit more to attend then if you were a member.

Reasons to keep things open to the public:

a) Increase your membership base by making sure designers are employed.

b) Keep people coming to AIGA as a resource, establishing value to the general design public, bolstering your image to members and non-members alike.

c) Employers will find it more valuable to post to a larger audience, yes targeting skilled candidates is valuable, but AIGA isn't the only place to do so. Adfed, MIMA, Commarts, etc.

d) Eliminate an elitist attitude, it can be a turn off to people.

e) You catch more bees with honey than vinegar

This site design is horrible. Why did you go backwards 5 years? Also, it's completely unfair to not have the job boards available to non-members.

I'm going to reiterate my comments on the comments. This is quite the mess of letters.

Additionally I don't see a reason why the jobs board should be available to non members. Nor has anyone presented a reason for it to be available to freeloaders.

I do however disagree with the posting a job fee. I think that's going to curb the amount of jobs posted.

I like the new site. There is much more information including more about what the national group is doing.

I don’t see what the big fuss is about the job postings. I have been a member for over 5 years and have used the job postings a lot. To me it is one of the things I get with my membership.

Also Mike, Sam and Matt, I think you should use this as a place to give CONSTRUCTIVE feedback, not a place to blow off steam.

If you feel that strongly, how about contacting the office directly and having a discussion with them?

I didn't see that Sam! It is a $100 if you a member, $200 if you are not a member. I can forsee that there will be less postings from employers at those prices. That makes me feel better about not being able to view postings without a membership. Nice job AIGA Minnesota!

Now you have to pay to post!!! I can't believe it costs $100 to post a job. That is a rip off. What are you thinking by instituting this?

Great point AT! At least there is one website that doesn't sell out!

Soon we might have to pay to comment on the website. That is okay.. adfed.org is free!!

BOOOOO! I think the new site is horrible. I too liked the clean design of the old site. What is with the job postings? Why would make them only accessible to members? Bad decision. C'mon bring them back!

I agree with Mike. Bring back the free job postings!!!! I've been fortunate (and very grateful) to have found my last 2 places of employment through the AIGA job site. I first moved to MN wihout a job and didn't have an extra $300 to send the AIGA so I could look at job postings.Could it be that the job postings are the only thing of real value that the AIGA offers its members and that is the reason for this switch?

I understand the need to align the look with the national standard, but the old site had much more charm. I will miss the cycling floral headers... [ sigh ]

Brand standards VERSUS pure aesthetics.
At the Metrodome! Tickets on sale now!

It is unfair to those who are members for non-AIGA members to be able to have access to the same resources, I think it has been a good move to make the job details members only. Its important to get more for our membership, and students pay a heavily discounted rate which is more than worth it just to see the job section. :)

I think it is unfair that you now have to pay to post a job offer or work-for-hire offer. This is one of the main reasons I paid my dues was to be able to post my availablity as a freelancer.

The new site sucks. Why would you take away the fact that people now have to be a member to look at jobs?? I understand you may be trying to increase membership but how about those that can't afford the $300? Have you thought about the students? Bring back the free postings!!! Who is with me??

Looks nice, comments area could use some work to separate peoples comments a bit better, but overall I like it much better then the old one.

this new site is horrible, major pain to search, especially looking at jobs

I can't believe that you have now made the jobs password only. That hurts.