Suzanne McKenzie, President

Creative Director, Buoy
www.buoy-inc.com

Phone: 617.928.9568
E-mail: president@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
I've been an AIGA member since 2004.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
Craving inspiration and a way to connect with our visual communications community, I read an AIGA e-mail blast that called for volunteers and decided to respond. I was connected with the Field Report Series team, and helped develop the concept for an event based on design in advertising. I helped secure design directors from local agencies Arnold, Mullen, and Fort Franklin to discuss how design plays an imperative role in the advertising field, and I helped produce the creative for the event. It was a blast! Since then, I've been hooked on the impact you can have being actively involved with the AIGA.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
As President, I hope to help build the groundwork for our Board, committee members, and volunteers to inspire our community with new and fresh creative content, and to help reiterate the value of membership. I love our AIGA Boston Board and am moved by how much energy and passion they have. I am so excited about our plans for this season!

What type of work do you do?
I am Creative Director of Buoy.

Who is your alter ego?
It's a toss up between Diane Von Furstenberg and Jem.

What inspires you?
I love art – all types. Make up art, fashion, music, dance, industrial design, textile design, and graffiti. These mediums all influence each other, and certainly affect my work as a designer.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Besides having Debbie Millman as a Facebook friend? I've found that collaborating and exchanging ideas with inspired people is completely invigorating.

Heather Shaw, Vice President

Assistant Professor, Graphic Design, Curry College
www.heathershawdesign.com

Phone: 617.372.6880
E-mail: vicepresident@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
On-and-off for 16 years. More "on" for the past 3.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
Since 2004 I have volunteered my time and design efforts for the Annual Student Portfolio Review. That event connected me to the board as Education Director in 2006.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
To broaden our audience and continually stretch the boundaries of what we call "design".

What type of work do you do?
I am assistant professor in graphic design at Curry College. I also freelance, both web and print.

Who is your alter-ego?
Chaka Khan with a dash of Nigella Lawson. Good soul + great food!

What inspires you?
My students. And difficult projects – I often learn new things via the process of working through a difficult task.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Being surrounded by people who like Chaka Khan as much as I do.

Tracy Swyst, Director of Operations

Phone: 781.395.1327
E-mail: info@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
15 years

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
The very first BoNE Show in 1995.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
Exciting, effective, and efficient leadership for our design community.

What type of work do you do?
Project Management for design programs of all types.

Who is your alter-ego?
Julia Child; a chef!...a spy!?...who really knows. But she lived in France for years and, had her own TV show, and got to have cocktails on the job. What's not to love!

What inspires you? (Perhaps some insight into the picture?)
That SPARK of the right idea. You can practically hear it!

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
The incredibly smart and interesting people that I get to meet.

Kathleen Byrnes, Director of Events

Monadnock Paper Mills
www.mpm.com

Phone: 781.276.4099
E-mail: events@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Since 1999.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
My Professor at Mass College of Art.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
To inspire and be inspired.

What type of work do you do?
Specification Sales Rep at Monadnock Paper Mills.

Who is your alter-ego?
Winston Churchill.

What inspires you?
My dogs Quinn and Fender.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Ethnographically speaking, I'm too old to be cool!

Colleen Baker, Membership Director

Freelance Graphic Designer
www.colleenbakerdesigns.com

E-mail: membership@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
I just joined AIGA this year but have been volunteering since 2008.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
Working for small agencies and freelancing is isolating. I felt a need to expand my design community.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
Short answer: increase membership. Long answer: I want impact each new member's experience with the AIGA. I'd also like create an exciting destination for anyone in the design community.

What type of work do you do?
Graphic Design for print and web.

Who is your alter-ego?
Nancy Drew.

What inspires you?
Traveling. To visit and learn about other cultures has a deep impact on my work and my imagination.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
On my driver's license it says "organ donor" and "AIGA member". That's pretty cool.

Brandon Bird, Director of Partnerships

Brandon Bird Design
www.brandonbirddesign.com

Phone: 617.233.1842
E-mail: partners@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Not long enough.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
BoNE Show '07 (thanks to Christi Gorelli).

What type of work do you do?
Design: interiors, exhibitions, graphics.

Who is your alter-ego?
George McTurvish: stubborn yet spirited; often causes trouble.

What inspires you?
Opportunity + caffeine.

Chris Grossé, Board Secretary

Freelance Designer + Art Director
Faculty Assistant (+ Assistant to Senior Associate Deans), Harvard Business School
www.hbs.edu

E-mail: secretary@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Since 2005.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
Having been on the receiving end of AIGA, MIMC/MITX + BDA's events, I was looking for a meaningful (and fun!) way to give back to my profession. Volunteering on Laura Sauter’s Prof. Dev. Committee led to a position on AIGA's all-volunteer board.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
This year I’m focusing on AIGA's transition to Basecamp – we’re 17 board members working in 17 different locations, collaborating to deliver 40+ events/year.

What type of work do you do?
Cross Media Brand Building. I have served in roles that include design director for NBC Television Network, interactive designer for the launch of Monster.com, and off-air designer for an edutainment network at Starz! Entertainment.

What inspires you?
The creativity of Creation.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
AIGA’s creative community! Having called NYC, Minneapolis, Denver, and Boston my home, AIGA’s local chapters provide a community of comrades – whereas, its national events have provided on-the-spot reunions.

Diane Hardy, Treasurer

President, Creative Business Services
www.creativebizservices.com

Phone: 781.274.6227 x200
E-mail: treasurer@boston.aiga.org

Matthew Bacon, Director of Community Development

Senior Creative Director, Proteus
www.proteusdesign.com

Phone: 508.963.6069
E-mail: community_outreach@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Since 1998.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I worked at a 2-person firm. The other person was the AIGA Chapter president. So my volunteering, it was her fault.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
To be a part of creating a vibrant, inviting, energetic design community.

What type of work do you do?
I'm senior creative director at Proteus. We combine consumer insight, branding, and product design. My job is to get out of the way and let good ideas come to life.

Who is your alter-ego?
A cross between Simon and Paula: I can deliver the straight talk but try to leave people feeling on top of the world.

What inspires you?
Everything and everyone. As I look at it, it's really my responsibility to find inspiration in whatever happens to present itself in any given moment.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Being connected to a network of people who are bringing about a more public understanding of design and it's contribution to the world we live in.

Michelle Bowers, Director of Education

Assistant Professor of Typography and Design, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
www.umassd.edu
www.michellebowers.com

Phone: 616.633.6347
E-mail: education@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Off and on for over 15 years.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I got involved in Student Portfolio Reviews and hosting speakers for the Detroit Chapter when I was in grad school at Cranbrook.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I hope to create a design community that is inviting and exciting to those who are just starting out.

What type of work do you do?
I am a full-time professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at UMASS Dartmouth. I also freelance, specializing in multi-disciplinary work for arts, academic and non-profit organizations.

Who is your alter-ego?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

What inspires you?
Books and music. I am a total junky.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
The people I have met and friendships formed.

Chiranit Prateepasen, Professional Development Director

Senior Designer, Continuum
www.dcontinuum.com

Phone: 617.928.9573
E-mail: professional_development@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Since 2005.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I started to volunteer after I attended Professional Development events and was inspired to get involved.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
As Professional Development Director, I look forward to bringing inspiring events and get the community involved.

What type of work do you do?
I'm a Brand Experience Designer.

Who is your alter-ego?
Edna Mode.

What inspires you?
People's quirks.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Being involved with the design community and learning from other designers.

Jodi Vautrin, Director of Emerging Ideas

Freelance Graphic Designer

Phone: 617.262.3322
E-mail: emergingideas@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
On and off since being a student, around 1992. (However, my card says since 2001).

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
Two people on the board whom I really like and respect reintroduced the positive potential of AIGA to me.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I'll be developing events, lectures, and workshops that I hope inspire people to broaden their view and capabilities as a creative professional evolving into the next decade and beyond.

What type of work do you do?
All forms of graphic design, but primarily have focused on interactive design. I find design that must take an ongoing dialog with an "end-user"  into account pretty fascinating – and challenging.

Who is your alter-ego?
Debbie Harry.

What inspires you?
Mid-century design, especially architecture and furniture. I love what Charles and Ray Eames and their contemporaries did for design in their lifetime by bringing it forward as an important part of industry and living. And, the more I get out and away from the desk, the more inspired I get.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
That it's the common thread throughout your career from being a student to different jobs to different cities you may move to – you always have this design organization family as foundation.

Jeremy Perkins, Web Master

Art Director, iFactory
www.ifactory.com

Phone: 781.734.0365
E-mail: webmaster@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Since 1999.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I attended our chapter's Membership Roundtable in 2005. At the end, I signed up to help with the web site. A year later, I stepped onto the board.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
The web site is our primary communication tool. I hope to see it become the online destination for the New England design community, with a focus on social networking and member-contributed content.

What type of work do you do?
I've been an interactive designer my entire career. Most of my projects these days involve higher education and publishing.

Who is your alter-ego?
The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Now you see him, now you don't, he always knows what's going on, and he's immune from pressure.

What inspires you?
Good conversation, quiet contemplation, loud music, and soft colors.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Having direct access to the most talented design leaders, and being able to speak with them as peers.

Jason Rubin, Communications Director

Libretto
www.libretto-inc.com
www.dovenestedtowers.blogspot.com

Phone: 617.451.5113 x107
E-mail: communication@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
Months, not years.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I like designers. They dress funny.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I want to encourage people to start pronouncing AIGA as "Ayeega."

What type of work do you do?
Being that I am a writer, I generally do written work.

Who is your alter-ego?
The Thing, from the Fantastic Four. The real me would never go out without a shirt all the time.

What inspires you?
I don't know where inspiration comes from, or where it goes. I just try to grab it when it comes a-callin'.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
I get to put on a black t-shirt, mess up my hair, and pretend I'm a designer.

Laura Sauter, Special Initiatives Director

Agency Bel
www.agencybel.com

Phone: 617.780.6485
E-mail: special_initiatives@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
15 years.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
When I moved to New England in 2001 for a job relocation, and thought it would be an excellent way to get acquainted with some new folks.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I strive to piggyback on the excellent work and programming done to date, and with energized teams, elevate the caliber and reach new audiences as well as appeal to our existing members. 

What type of work do you do?
I run my own agency specializing in corporate identity and branding, as well as teach as an adjunct at the New England Institute of Art.

Who is your alter-ego?
stay tuned...

Sarah Wilkins, Director of Volunteers

Senior Business Development Manager, Onward Search
www.onwardsearch.com

E-mail: volunteers@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
July 2009.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
A phone call!

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
To grow the number of volunteers we have and convert them to becoming members!

What type of work do you do?
Recruiter for creative professionals.

Who is your alter-ego?
Seeing as I am the love-child of Kathy Griffin and Dennis Leary – that's the ego I default to?

What inspires you?
Creativity. Too obvious? How about Tacos.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
The buffet.