Suzanne McKenzie, President

Senior Designer, Continuum
Phone: 617.928.9568
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 currently a Senior Designer at Continuum and I also am an active freelance designer.
 
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

Lecturer: Design + Digital Media, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Creative Director, Nieshoff Design
Phone: 617.372.6880
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 a full-time professor in the Design and Digital Media departments at UMass Dartmouth. 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
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
Phone: 781.276.4099
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!

Jodi Vautrin, Membership Director

Associate Creative Director, MMB
Phone: 617.262.3322
membership@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?
As membership director, of course I want more people to join, but only because I believe that we are a better, stronger, more interesting organization when more people bring their unique experiences and perspectives to the chapter.

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.

Dan Craven, Sponsorship Director

Finlay
Phone: 860.384.5251
sponsorship@boston.aiga.org

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

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I worked for a paper company who sponsored a few events and I learned a lot about the Boston Chapter.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I hope to find sponsors who see the value and reap the benefits of working with our chapter.

What type of work do you do?
I am a National Accounts Representative for FINLAY printing with a primary focus in the Boston market.

Who is your alter-ego?
An elite distance runner like Bill Rodgers.

What inspires you?
Seeing people achieve their goals and dreams.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
The positive energy of meeting so many talented people with amazing goals and dreams.

Chris Grosse, Secretary

Harvard Business School
secretary@boston.aiga.org

Diane Hardy, Treasurer

President, Creative Business Services
Phone: 781.274.6227 x200
treasurer@boston.aiga.org

Matthew Bacon, Director of Community Development

Proteus
Phone: 508.963.6069
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.

Erich Doubek, Director of Education

Phone: 781.956.1431
education@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
I'm a newbie, its been just a few months.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I had constantly heard about AIGA either through word of their events or friends sending me links to the site. Eventually I felt had to see what it was all about.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I hope to further the good work of AIGA  by making design (as a discussion and a community) accessible and inviting to those just starting out.

What type of work do you do?
I am a Professor of Design at Emmanuel College and the primary in my own studio focusing mostly on interactive and motion design.

Who is your alter-ego?
I don't know his name yet, but I hear him in my head all the time and if he doesn't shut up soon I might go crazy.

What inspires you?
Fun. If there's even a hint of fun in something I'm game for it.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Our commitment to the 3 pillars that founded one of the greatest institutions in modern history, McDonalds. Food, Folks, and Fun.

John Magnifico, Student Liaison

Continuum
Phone: 617.558.8346
students@boston.aiga.org

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

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
I want to make AIGA more interesting for students to join.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
My first goal is to create awareness among students that there is a community of designers that they can be a part of.

What type of work do you do?
I am a graphic designer. I work in printed media, interactive media and brand identities.

Who is your alter-ego?
Monsieur Johann Von Bottomtop IV. He is a poet and novelist.

What inspires you?
what doesn't inspire me?

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
AFTA parties fo' sho.

Jeremy Perkins, Web Master

Art Director, iFactory
Phone: 781.734.0365
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
Phone: 617.451.5113 x107
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
Phone: 617.780.6485
special_initiatives@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
7 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 Forrest, Director of Volunteers

Sarah Forrest Design
Phone: 617.827.3082
volunteers@boston.aiga.org

How long have you been an AIGA member?
1 year.

What got you started volunteering with AIGA?
Met some great people at an AFTA and offered to volunteer wherever needed.

What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
I hope to expand our group of volunteers and promote the value of AIGA.

What type of work do you do?
Primarily print design; starting to sprinkle in some web.

Who is your alter-ego?
My alter-ego and I have not been formally introduced.

What inspires you?
I'm inspired by colleagues who take (design) risks.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Meeting new creative people and drinking beer with them.

Brandon Bird, BoNE Show Co-chair

Brandon Bird Design
boneshow@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 do you hope to achieve as a board member?
A BoNE Show '09 that we can all be proud of.

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.

What is the coolest thing about being an AIGA member?
Monthly meetings in beautiful downtown Medford.