Fusion Focus: Calling All Presenters

Present at the 2024 Tri-State Fusion Conference!

AIA New Jersey, AIA New York State, and AIA Pennsylvania are proud to announce the 2024 Tri-State Architectural Fusion Conference on November 18-20 in Hershey, PA. The three states have come together once again to share design excellence, practice ideas and emerging technologies that are redefining our industry. Note: You must set up an account to submit your program.

For submission requirements, you can view our guidelines here This year's conference will offer in-person educational sessions that highlight how design excellence can improve the built environment, the latest firm leadership strategies to maintain a successful firm, and the technology trends affecting your firm and the industry. These sessions should specifically aim to incorporate projects or topics representing the northeast region or their locale. Creative ideas will be considered in all areas, including, but not limited to the following suggested topics:

Innovative Design

Aging in place

Cultural institution

Historic preservation

Residential

Resiliency

K-12 School or University

Sustainable/carbon neutral/net zero

Urban

Practice

Bridging between community involvement and a profitable practice

How firms are evolving and changing

Recruiting, retaining, hiring good talent from an Emerging Professional and Principal view

Mentorship

Strategic business planning

Meeting client's expectations

Architect & contractor relationships

Maintaining your role in project delivery

Emerging Technology

Using AI in today's practice

Tech tools for small firms

Trends in project management software

In the spirit of inclusion, we encourage you to consider the importance of diversity in geography, ethnicity, gender, and experience when selecting potential speakers and panelists. Simply hearing someone say "I believe you are a great fit for the topic" can be a great confidence builder for a potential speaker and giving less recognized voices a platform to speak helps elevate us all. We hope you take this into consideration by carefully selecting who may enhance the value of your presentation.

Rating Criteria for Each Proposal:

• Originality | It is essential that we offer attendees unique and insightful sessions to fulfill a learning program that reflects our evolving and dynamic community/industry.
• Relevance | AIANYS, AIANJ and AIAPA seek session content that is applicable and transferable representing diverse perspectives and solutions to support the advancement of association professionals energy, time, and investment.
• Program Design | AIANYS, AIANJ and AIAPA seek sessions that incorporate good practices for adult education with clear learning objectives/outcomes that are measurable and achievable.
• Ability to Inspire Action | AIANYS, AIANJ and AIAPA seek content leaders who offer diverse capabilities - inspiration, subject matter expertise, facilitation skills, and the ability to evoke action. We want participants to return to their respective firms to implement and share what they learned.
• Overall Quality | AIANYS, AIANJ and AIAPA are dedicated to ensuring that all the conference sessions meet the highest standards of excellence based on: originality, relevance, program design, and the ability to inspire action.


Presentation Format
Seminars will be in-person and 90 minutes in duration. Each speaker and/or panel member must be listed separately with all contact information provided. If you feel you have a dynamic three hour workshop that you feel applicable, please contact Michael Cocca at mcocca@aianys.org to discuss your presentation.

AIANYS, AIANJ & AIAPA will retain a complete set of materials (including PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and a list of samples) on file for each seminar. Seminar and workshop presenters will be required to submit a master copy of their visual presentation materials in electronic format for CES review at least 6 weeks prior to the presentation for review of relevance of content, learning objectives and appropriate required information.

Continuing Education Submittal
Once selected, AIANYS will submit your program to the American Institute of Architects CES to ensure that the appropriate LUs and HSW credits within AIA and New York State mandatory education guidelines are applied and to avoid any possible confusion of credit.

Speaker Technology Requirements
We will provide microphones, LCD projector, and screen for the presentations. Speakers are asked to make time for a brief run-through before the presentation to check all technology requirements.

Evaluations
The final step in the program design and delivery process is evaluation. To better implement future programming, participants will evaluate your session on the following criteria:
• How well did the content match the published description?
• How clearly stated were the learning objectives and were they met?
• How effective were the uploaded material and did they add value?
• How fulfilled were the attendees’ expectations?
• How valuable was the topic to the attendee?

Speaker Selection
Programs will be selected by a jury of architects and other experts in the design and construction profession. The deadline for submission is May 17, 2024. After the deadline, the jury will meet to deliberate on programs that fit the criteria of the conference and speakers will be contacted shortly thereafter.

To begin the submission process, click ‘Create Account’ and enter your contact information. Your confirmation email will provide you with login credentials, as well as a link to access your submission should you need to complete it at a later date. If you are logging back in to complete or edit your submission, enter your email address and password under 'Already a User'.