Much of the AIA’s discussions in 2015 were about the repositioning of the organization. While it was a challenge at times, the underlying value was well intended. The goal of the effort was to be sure that AIA members across the country all receive an equally-distributed minimum set of basic services. That is not an easily achievable task when you consider distributing services efficiently to chapters that are vastly different in their size and density, such as the Metro Detroit area versus the Upper Peninsula. Deciding whether the chapters or AIA Michigan expend funds and efforts to provide certain services was by no means an easy discussion. In the end, the Detroit chapter has remained in its current form, AIA Detroit, without changes to the boundaries or its basic structure, all of which were discussed throughout the year last year. The size of the AIA Michigan Board was reduced through the changes to their bylaws, which were voted on at the AIA Michigan annual meeting last November. Hence the AIA Detroit board was reduced in size by virtue of the fact that our representation on that board was reduced from five to three directors. (more…)