June 14, 2023

A’23 Conference on Architecture Wraps Up

By: Ronald C. Weston, AIA, LEED AP, AIA New Jersey, 2023 President

AIA New Jersey was well represented at the A’23 Conference on Architecture held in San Francisco, California this past week. Over 70 members from our chapter made the trip west to attend what is the largest single annual architecture event in the country, and worldwide.

EVP and CEO, Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, reported that A’23 Conference attendance exceeded 15,000, an increase of 26% over last year and higher than the pre-pandemic 2019 numbers.
Speaking of numbers, in 2023 AIA membership is at an all-time high with over 96,000 members in 200+ chapters across the nation, as well as extending around the globe.

With over 185 seminars and workshops and 110 curated tours, A’23 offered a wide range of programming for attendees. While climate action is at the top of AIA’s mission, little did we expect
that the weather back east would be a focus of discussions out west. The dystopian scenes of the orange haze and unsafe air quality in New Jersey contrasted with the crisp air and sunny skies
conference attendees experienced in San Francisco.

Current AIA New Jersey president, Ron Weston, AIA, and National Strategic Councilor, Verity Frizzell, FAIA, were voting delegates at the Annual AIA Business Meeting, and cast candidate and policy votes on behalf of our AIA New Jersey Chapter. Weston and Frizzell, together with AIA NJ Interim Executive Director Matt Halpin, also represented our Chapter at the AIA Large States Reception and Tri-State Fellows Reception, hosted by AIA NJ. Tributes and toasts for our late Executive Director, Joe Simonetta, Hon. AIA, were offered in his memory.

Kudos to our own Jessica O’Donnell, AIA, who stepped up and ran for an AIA National Board At-Large Director position in a highly competitive 5-person race. Jessica has served in various national
roles with the Institute, and while she did not win the seat, she was a formidable candidate and gave excellent speeches to a national audience of AIA leaders at the conference.

Our 2021 Chapter Past-President, Josh Zinder, AIA, serves on the national Small Firm Exchange (SFx) committee. Josh presented a seminar session at the A’23 Conference titled “Progress
Through Storytelling: Small Firms Winning Approvals for Innovative Design.” Josh was also recognized with a Faith and Form Award for his innovative Sukkah Village program.

Social media posts and photos were shared by many AIA NJ attendees, including on our chapter media channels [INSERT IG, FB, and LI links here or below]. Special thanks to our Public
Awareness Committee co-chair Bill Martin, AIA, who was ever-present at A’23 with his #FlatArchitect photo campaign, as well as Architects League Past President, Joe David, AIA, who provided daily photos and commentary from his tours of San Francisco.

The A’24 Conference on Architecture next year will be held June 5th to 8th in Washington, DC. The Mid-Atlantic location and more affordable lodging options should make A’24 accessible to a larger number of our AIA NJ members. Mark your calendar now and stay tuned for more details early next year from AIA.

Photo credit to Lauren Harris, Associate AIA; Terri Cummings, AIA; Josh Zinder, AIA; William Martin, AIA; Ron Weston, AIA; Verity Frizzell, FAIA; and Joseph David, AIA; for the images used in this article.  

By Stacey Ruhle Kliesch, AIA, AIA NJ Advocacy Consultant | Posted in AIA-NJ News | Tagged: #JessicaMODonnellAIA, #JosephASimonettaHonAIACAE, #JoshuaZinderAIA, #lakishaannwoodscae, #matthalpin, #RonWestonAIA, #sanfrancisco, #VerityFrizzellAIA, #WilliamMartinAIA, A'23, AIAConference | Comments (0)