Before we forge ahead, we must dish out some additional kudos. Though Sheree, Martina and Tysana surely gave themselves carpal tunnel syndrome while working on this event over the last six months, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that they had a few more helpers across the globe: Kelly Garcia (Monterrey, Mexico), Lori Solomon (New Jersey, USA), and Rebecca Hoff (Utah, USA).

So how were all of these students so comfortable with and even arrive at the idea of a purely online format for an educational symposium” They are students of Rhodec International, the online distance learning educational design program out of Brighton, UK and Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The concept of learning online was as natural to them as talking on the telephone or cracking open a book. We’ll let Tysana explain:

The idea of the symposium came about when our Rhodec ASID Student chapter first began to put together an initial 3-year plan. Students began talking about ways to visualize designs online and then get together somehow to talk about it. There were tons of ideas that tried to accomplish this, and we pursued as many as we could. There were possible ideas to use a television show from a design related program from HGTV, real estate visuals that offered panoramic views and even hotel websites that offered zoom options of their spaces.

A post in our forum in May of 2004 proposed a plan to use a television show and an organized round table type discussion. The post was read over 239 times, so obviously Rhodec Students were interested. Due to the unique nature of our chapter, our vision became a global one to benefit students and designers alike with stimulating and thought provoking discussions of design related topics.

All the brainstorming paid off. Plato’s proverb stating that necessity is the mother of invention definitely applies here, and it doesn’t hurt that the applicable technology was so readily accessible, not to mention free. The tools were there, but this Tremendous Trio took the vital next steps: they researched, began formulating a plan, asked for input and help, and then actually acted. Now it’s Sheree’s turn to fill in the gaps:

A Yahoo group was set up October 9, 2004 to do the planning. To date we have 1658 posts in there, 24 uploaded folders of information and who knows how many files, (had to delete some as we ran out of space). We have a 6-student symposium team who have worked in the Yahoo Group, but countless more contributed via our forum all along the way to keep the ball rolling and get us where we are today.

Another issue was finding on online design source that could offer visual, audio, and interactive type media for an interesting and stimulating discussion. Our efforts continued into the autumn of 2004 when we discovered the Architectural Record website. [That is when] a relationship was established to provide a great site for our needs and a sponsor for our event as well.

Sponsors: quite frequently one of the keys to the implementation of almost any event, large or small. Possibly because we embrace and epitomize the online format – a medium that Rhodec students utilize everyday – the team reached out to PLiNTH & CHiNTZ from the moment we launched back in September 2004.

As Founder Laura McDonald said in her World Design Day Keynote Address, when Sheree first approached her with the idea of a symposium conducted completely online, she was…

– surprised, since she had never thought about the existence of such an event;
– impressed, due to its innovation, as well as the fact that students were attempting such a large undertaking;
– and interested, because of the potential impact of the project and its future incarnations.

Sheree describes the relationship: “PLiNTH & CHiNTZ is another sponsor who has proved to be an invaluable resource for us. Laura McDonald has become a mentor for our vision, and has been very supportive and active in helping us recruit designers, as well as advertising our event. She was our obvious choice for the Keynote Speaker, as she has been our most supportive sounding board, and has helped us address some details that as students, we may have overlooked.”

So after all of the HTML code, caffeine and all-nighters, their hard work finally paid off. The first World Design Day took place on Wednesday, April 27, 2005. Eleven design professionals from three countries led 10 online discussions, the topics of which were available from the sponsor site, Architectural Record. Who are these pioneers, where are they from and what ideas did they address” Here’s the lowdown on the impressive group:

• Dalia Berlin, ASID: Berlin Designs, Inc. – North Miami Beach, Florida, USA; Topic 8: From Current Floor Plan to Design Plan – Which Way Do I Go”
• Charla Blake, ASID, IDEC: Art Institute of Dallas – Dallas, Texas, USA; Topic 11: Green Products – Everyone is Going Green
• Susan Boelman, IIDA: Created Design – Littleton, Colorado, USA; Topic 15: Application of Universal Design Standards
• Sheryl Breze: Juno Lighting – Savannah, Georgia, USA & Andrew Beldecos: Andrew Beldecos Lighting Design – Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Topic 3: Lighting – Sure, I Can Do That – Not!
• Tarek El-Akkad: Department of Performing & Visual Arts, American University – Cairo, Egypt; Topic 13: Worldly Design Vanguard – The Global Emergence of Some Very Different Interior Spaces
• Gail Madison-Goodhue: Madison Interiors – Santa Cruz, California, USA; Topic 14: Great Spaces, Fabulous Objects, and a Design Concept – The Elements of Design and Purposeful Composition
• Jo Macleod: Susan Llewellyn Associates – London, UK; Topic 2: Mirrors – Never Underestimate the Power of Reflection
• Jan Parker, FASID, IDEC: Art Institute of Dallas – Dallas, Texas, USA; Topic 4: Designing for Demographics – New, Contemporary, And Aging
• Victoria Schomer, ASID, LEED AP: Interior Concerns – San Rafael, California, USA; Topic 12: Residential Green New Construction – Big, Art Friendly, Healthy, Simple, and "GREEN"
• Johnnie Stark, ASID, LEED AP: Anzea Textiles – Dallas, Texas, USA; Topic 9: Furniture and Textiles – Whoa! Look at that!

The organizers smartly persuaded the Discussion Leaders to stagger their chat room sessions throughout the day so that students from a wide variety of time zones could be accommodated. Their goal was to offer the symposium to participants spanning the globe, and they were most successful in doing so. Just take a look at the countries and U.S. states that were represented…

14 countries:
Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, India, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, USA

19 states within the USA:
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin

Can you visualize the group photo” We’re imagining a United Colors of Benetton ad.

So after such a strong start, what’s next on the horizon” Martina speaks:

We have several ideas for future events. Tysana has been wanting to do an online Portfolio Workshop. This symposium has laid some great foundations for us to look into doing something like this in the upcoming year. We were also thinking of inviting a ‘guest’ lecturer every two months to discuss a hot topic for our ASID chapter members. We were so inspired by all of the discussion leaders that we would welcome the chance to learn from them again in the near future. And the ideas keep coming!

Sheree sums up the whole experience nicely when she says: “Trying to make this dream a reality has been a welcomed challenge. The Rhodec ASID Student Chapter Online Symposium is an event our chapter can really be proud of. Although we are a diverse group of individuals, we have come together to create an event that will truly benefit our chapter, our school, and the students.”

The sky’s the limit, and why not” These three dynamos prove that you can make anything happen if you set your mind to it, and that goes for all of you students out there. Learn from their persistence, tenacity and ambition… future employers will be impressed, and you might just impress yourself.

If you have any questions for our STAR POWER subjects, drop them a line:
Sheree Schold: schold@sprynet.com
Martina MacGreevy: martina.macgreevy@aurainteriordesign.com
Tysana Faure-Mullen: tysana_mullen@yahoo.com