A guest post by Kevin Keady, Associate AIA
15th annual Young Architects Awards Gala (YAAG) Friday May 9th @ OZ Architecture
The long days, temperate weather and the sound of hipsters washing the dust off their fixies makes one want to throw their arms up and rejoice!
You might even want to do something crazy, like get together with a few of your pals (and a bunch of people you have probably never met) and give out some awards to people who are doing great things in our little world. You may even want to have these awards with a side of adult beverages and some hardy conversation… and maybe meet a few new friends.
If this is exactly what you were thinking (and I know you were!) you are in luck. Because spring is time for the annual Young Architects Awards Gala (YAAG)!
YAAG has a special place in hearts of young designers. It is the only event tailored to the emerging professional community and aims to celebrate their achievements. It is also the 15th anniversary of this special event! Over those fifteen years, this event has taken on all types of formats from punch and cookies in a school gym to big budget extravaganzas with gold painted ladies (seriously.)
In light of this, we did some soul searching. We had conversations with hundreds of people from all corners of our little architecture world. Three things were apparent. (1) This event holds a sacred place in the hearts of the young design talent in our community. At its core, (2) this is a celebration of the great work being done from students through associates and into the young architects. Finally, (3) the conversation and the loose salon style atmosphere is what makes these events great.
This year’s event looks to get back to the roots of YAAG, when things were less complicated and the three previously mentioned values rang true. We also proceeded with an eye on the next 15 years. Most of the changes made focus on the awards categories. This year there are ten categories that will be awarded by you, the people, voting online. There are then ten separate awards to be judged by a panel of esteemed jurors. The important thing to remember is that it is FREE to submit! Is that clear folks? FREEEEE! Here is the link to submit… But you still need to buy a ticket.
So submit early and often and then bring all your friends down to OZ Architecture on the evening of May 9th and celebrate your achievements as you are solidified in the history of YAAGs of yore.
So, the bottom line is this. We made a few changes; we’re going to try some new things. It may be weird at first, but we hope they work and we think they will. I hope to see you there. The first round is on me.
…and thank you to the great people of OZ Architecture for allowing us to use their beautiful courtyard.
Online voting http://aiacolorado.org/events/COArchitectureMonth/YoungArchitectsAwardGala.aspx
Submitting for juried awards
http://aiacolorado.org/resources/site1/general/2014/COXX_2014_YAAG_JuriedSubmittalGuidelines.pdf
Purchase tickets
AIA Colorado Emerging Professionals Blog 