What did your summer look like? For many of us, summer meant “business as usual” with teaching, mentoring graduate students, or sneaking in a quick vacation before preparing for fall classes. For others summer meant finally having time for research or writing, traveling, taking students abroad, engaging in creative work that might be difficult to fit in during the school year, or just taking time to breathe. After teaching, I spent a few days relaxing under a beach umbrella with a book in one of my favorite places, St. George Island, FL. Whatever your summer held for you, I hope that you had some “down” time to relax and restore.

IDEC would like to welcome you back to another school year. This will be a historic year for IDEC as we celebrate our 50th anniversary at our March 2012 conference in Baltimore. I hope you will make plans to attend. However, there is much going on with IDEC that you can take advantage of throughout the year. Our social networking is growing with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and our blog, IDEConnect (link to these at www.idec.org).

We’ll be launching the new IDEC branding soon, along with a newsletter in a flipbook format. Our regional conferences will take place this fall, and the calls for scholarship presentations for the annual conference are out—so check out those deadlines on the web site. IDEC will also host the inaugural Pecha Kucha @IDEC at the annual conference, which will feature fast-paced creative teaching ideas. It should be a fun and lively addition to the conference. We also have a number of calls for volunteer positions, so please consider joining the many IDEC members who serve in leadership positions and help us keep the organization vibrant and strong.

Have a great fall!
Lisa Waxman

The election process has begun. Candidates slated by the Nominations Commitee are online. Following the September 21 deadline for write-in ballots, the final ballot will be sent by email to all Professional Members. Voting will conclude on October 29. Thank you to all the members willing to serve!

The IDEC Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Jacqualine McFarland from Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to the board as the new Director-at-Large for Service. She has been an active design practitioner and educators for many years, and has recently served IDEC on the Foundation board. Jacquie is completing the second term of the previous director, Brian Powell.

Each of IDEC's five regions is hosting a conference this fall. Watch the Regions page of the IDEC website for details and link to the online registration system.

Every IDEC member is assigned to a region so you'll have a conference relatively close to home but you are certainly welcome to attend any or all of the conferences.

Regional conferences are a great way to meet fellow members, learn from abstract and poster presentations as well as great speakers, and explore the unique offerings of a great city!

Pecha Kucha Call for Presentations

IDEC is pleased to announce a new format for sharing innovative teaching ideas and projects. Pecha Kucha Night will take place this year during one evening of the conference in addition to paper and creative scholarship presentations. This is a simple presentation format where speakers share 20 images for 20 seconds each for a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. See the new call for presentations on the IDEC website. Submissions are due by October 31, 2011 and if you have any questions please contact Marlo Ransdell at mransdell@fsu.edu.

50th Anniversary Conference Highlights

Plan now to attend IDEC's 2012 Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD March 19 - 22, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore on the Inner Harbor.Yes - the conference is running from Monday through Thursday.

Key conference events include:

• Jo Heinz, Opening Night Keynote, Monday, March 19

• Rosalyn Cama - Morning Keynote, Tuesday, March 20

• Fellows Action Forum - Shaping the Future

• Village Square - Critical Issues Session

• Pecha Kucha Teaching Night

• Research and Creative Scholarship Presentations

• Networks and Networking

• Banquet Celebration with 50th Anniversary Video and Awards

• Tours of Baltimore, DC, and Historic Sites
  And much more…

Reservations at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore are $189 per night (single, double, triple, quad) and can be made online NOW!

Call for Nomination: Arnold Friedmann Educator of Distinction Award

Due September 30, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Partners in Education Award

Due September 30, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Community Service Award

Due September 30, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Book Award

Due September 30, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Media Award

Due September 30, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Teaching Excellence Award

Due September 30, 2011

Call for Special Projects Grant

Due September 30, 2011

Call for 2012 Fairchild Topical Issues Grant (NEW)

Due October 21, 2011

IDEC Foundation Graduate Scholars Grant
October 28, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Fellows (fillable form)
October 28, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Merit Award

Due November 5, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Industry Merit Award

Due November 5, 2011

Call for Nomination: IDEC Institutional Merit Award

Due November 5, 2011

IDEC Annual Conference Call for Presentations

Due September 23, 2011

IDEC Annual Conference Call for Posters

Due September 30, 2011

IDEC Annual Conference Call for Panels

Due October 3, 2011

IDEC Academy Call for Annual Conference Workshops

Due October 3, 2011

Call for 2012 Creative Scholarship

Due October 10, 2011

Call for Pecha Kucha Night at Annual Conference (NEW)

Due October 31, 2011

Call for Student Design Competition

February 10, 2012