The IDEC 2011 Annual Conference is fast approaching. It's a time when we all look forward to visiting with old friends and making new connections. We'll share great talks that get our minds racing with new ideas but when we leave the conference how many of those ideas will get lost in the shuffle of our day-to-day academic duties?

Now the IDEConnect blog, along with a growing IDEC presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, offers the opportunity for members to continue after they leave Denver.

Last month we asked IDEC's Facebook fans what courses they would love to squeeze into their programs. Yelena McLane replied, "Creative Thinking" while John Turpin added "Historic Preservation." But the conversation didn't end there. "What would a course in beauty look like?" tweeted Kristyn Ivey, linking to IDEConnect's post about a recent CABE study.

IDEC social media is more about the conversation than the technology; we're waiting to hear what you have to say.

To learn about getting engaged with IDEC's social media efforts, stop by the IDEC Communications Committee booth at the conference. You just might walk away with some IDEC flair!n

submitted by Communications Committee member Lindsay Clark Tan

Two ways to get involved!

• The 50th Anniversary Committee is looking for a video presentation expert. Please complete the linked form and return as soon as possible.

• Sign up for an IDEC History Minute - an oral history project at the Annual Conference in Denver. This session of recordings will focus on members who have joined after 1995. Click here to reserve your 15 minute interview time.

• The most recent JID issue (Vol. 36, Issue 2) is now online. IDEC members can log-in to the member section to view the full issue.
  
  
• Attend the JID-sponsored IDEC pre-conference symposium "Design for a Small Planet - Environmentally Responsible Interior Design: Theory, Practice and Pedagogy" on March 15 and 16. The program includes scholarly presentations, discussions, lunch and tour. Details and registration online at www.idec.org.

Details of newly posted positions at University of Manitoba, Utah State University and University of Nebraska - Kearney are online at the IDEC Employment page.

CIDA Announces 2011 Innovative Interior Design Education Award Compettion

The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) announces the second annual award competition celebrating innovative teaching and program-related practices that advance the cause of excellence in interior design education. The competition is open to faculty members and collaborating teams at CIDA-accredited interior design program. Awards up to $3,000 are available. Award submissions due September 15, 2011.

Congratulations to:

• Kathy Ankerson from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, a merit award winner in the 2010 competition. Click to view Kathy's entry.
• Nancy Kwallek from The University of Texas Austin, also a merit award winner. Click to view Nancy's entry.

Virginia Design Medal 2011

The Virginia Design Medal, now in its eighth year, is a unique design association program between Hanbury Evans Wright Vlatta + Company, an architecture and planning firm in Norfolk, VA and a full-time faculty member in architecture, planning, landscape architecture, historic preservation, interior design, or related design filed. The program is intended to enhance the relationship between the academy and the profession. Deadline to apply is March 1.

In.Form Call for Authors

In.Form, a peer-reviewed journal of Architecture, Design and Material Culture invites you to assess design and the design process for an upcoming volume. The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2011.