This week my snazzy AIGA card came in the mail. This is the first professional association I've joined and I am interested to see if it lives up to the hype. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the idea of a designers community, events and network to tap into - but I am always skeptical of the efficacy / purpose of such organizations. I guess, what it boils down to is my general skepticism surrounding formal groups and their ability to do what they say they formed to do.

The crew we started in high school, Voices of Liberation, operates under the motto "You don't make a difference by joining the struggle, you join the struggle by making a difference." If you take that and apply it to this situation: you don't become part of the design community by joining a group for a membership fee, you become part of the design community by building a community with other designers and artists. Now, that being said one of the benefits of groups is that the purpose of the grouping is explicitly stated, allowing you (in theory) to decide if it is a group of which you want to be a part. I joined the AIGA because 1) they had a sweet student discount, 2) because the group is supposed to do something I want to do, which is build a network and community of creative and design professionals and 3) because all the cool kids were doing it. But that doesn't mean my job is done or mission accomplished. I still think you have to meet some people the old fashioned way.

Thus far, the AIGA has been a great resource in terms of information and I hope I can meet some other folks through it and go see things I might not be exposed to and open some doors which might have been closed, but at the end of the day I know the best network is one you build piece by piece, on your own, over a lifetime.