Dear SEGD Community,

"Say two zero zero zero party over, oops, out of time!" No, you have not just stepped out of a time machine while listening to Prince singing "1999."

I am proud to announce that SEGD has broken the 2,000 member mark for the first time ever! In fact, SEGD is going to close 2017 at over 2,100 members! Furthermore, our membership has never been stronger or more diverse as I step down as President of your design association.

It has truly been an honor and a privilege to serve as your President. I am grateful for all of the relationships I’ve formed, the incredible people that I was able to work with and the initiatives we’ve achieved for our organization. Due to the generous support of our members, sponsors and partners, SEGD continues to strengthen our position as the global authority for experiential graphic design.

I can’t believe that it has been two years already; time certainly flies when you are having fun. I’m sure that if you attended SEGD events over the past two years, you are probably sick of seeing my face (and hearing my voice!), but I really appreciate the strong support from all of you.

I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished during the past two years:

• In addition to reaching 2,100 total members, our student membership is also at an all-time high of 268! We understand how important it is to get students involved in the profession and that building awareness for our profession will help all of our practices grow in the future.
• We continue to increase our digital design-focused members. As our profession adapts and we all integrate more technology into our projects, SEGD has adapted to provide compelling content and services for the sign—and digital design community—through our events and workshops. More than half the projects featured on SEGD.org this year were inclusive of a digital component.
• Our chapters are the engine which keeps our organization moving forward. We now have 32 chaptersthat have hosted 163 events in 2016 and 2017. I was thrilled to welcome new chapters in Salt Lake City, Richmond, Raleigh, Phoenix, Omaha, Sydney/Melbourne and Seoul! Thank you so much to the Chapter Chairs for all of their hard work and dedication.
• We held our first international conference in the Asia Pacific region—"Off Grid" in Australia and New Zealand in February of 2017. It was a fantastic conference that experimented with an unusual (and highly enjoyable) format. Thanks to our Wellington Chapter Chairs Nick Kapica and Jo Bailey for being so welcoming to us "Yanks" and putting on such a strong international event. Off Grid ’18 is now planned for February 2018—I highly encourage you to attend!
• We continue to attract a global participation with members in 29 countries. In 2017, 16 countries submitted work for our SEGD Global Design Awards and we had winning projects in 10 countries!
• Most importantly, we have made the organization more vital to our profession with an incredibly robust (and constantly evolving) website, which received over 370,000 unique visitors in 2017. The SEGD website is an incredible tool for the experiential graphic design community and especially for members, who (when logged in) have access to powerful education and networking resources. Over 220 SEGD Talks videos allow members to see all of the presentations from all of our events.
• Referrals! I can’t begin to tell you how many times clients and colleagues have told me that they found their consultant or fabrication partner through the Firm Listings on SEGD.org. If you haven’t created a Member Bio or Firm Listing, I strongly encourage you to  do so. They are a super easy and great way to market your services.

 

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the SEGD Staff, Board and Chapter Chairs for their commitment to meeting all of the SEGD Strategic Plan goals, and I want to extend special thanks to our CEO, Clive Roux, for his determined leadership during my tenure.

I’m incredibly excited to pass the presidential reigns on to our current Vice President, Bryan Meszaros from OpenEye Global. Bryan's background designing digital experiences will be key to helping SEGD grow our connection to the digital design community through collaborations with a variety of different disciplines including branding, environmental graphics and exhibit design firms. He understands the varied needs of each branch of our community well through his work with them. As my term on the Board will continue until 2020, I am excited to retain a presence in the leadership of SEGD as an advisor to our new President.

I wish you all an incredible and prosperous New Year—and please know that even though I will no longer be your President, I will always be available if you need advice or recommendations.

Warmest Regards,

John