Bio
Chris Parke’s involvement with IDSA over the past several years has opened many doors for him and has given him the unique opportunity to network with other members of his profession.
He believes his growth as a designer is owed in part to those connections as well as his involvement in various events and conferences. Parke says IDSA has helped him so much that he would like to give back to the industrial design community. He would like to assist IDSA members by providing useful design content as well as getting members to mingle. His ideal goal would be to cross the barriers in design and have it be one big design community—not just an industrial design community.
As chapter chair for the past three and a half years and a seasoned volunteer, Parke joined the IDSA Board understanding the importance of the Southern District VP position and the time and energy required to get the job done effectively.
He would like to bring real value to the industrial design community so that the question members ask is, “What doesn’t IDSA do for me?”
Statement of Candidacy
I have had the privilege of sitting on the Board of Directors as the Southern District VP for the past five years. During that time there have been quite a few changes at IDSA, including major changes such as including putting in place a strong leadership team and launching a new website that I think all IDSA members can be proud of. There have been a number of smaller changes as well; some, that most people probably wouldn’t even notice like moving the national office to their new home in Herndon, VA.
Change takes time, and it may seem that there weren’t enough ‘big’ changes, and probably too many small ones, but believe me when I say everything that was done over the past few years were huge milestones and helped to set the direction for the future of IDSA.
Despite all of the changes, we are far from done! In our 50th year we are in a great spot and positioned for growth and I feel that consistency in leadership will be a positive, contributing factor toward growth. I have had the honor of serving on the board with some very talented designers and design educators who, together, have helped right the IDSA ship and I would like to continue on this journey.
Over the past five years my planning team and I have tried to make the content we bring to you at the South District Design Conferences the best that it can be. In order to do that we need to continue to ask the members of our district what they want and what they feel is important in the design industry today. I have worked with many of the local chapters, both professional and student, in the South District and also served as the Carolina Chapter chair for two years prior to my joining the Board of Directors. I would like to take the next step and continue the great work that Julie Heard has done as Chapter VP.
My goal if elected is to give our chapter leaders the tools they need to create great events for our members, and become good leaders. In addition, I want to continue to bring our membership together and make everyone feel that no matter what level they are in their career, or in their affiliation with IDSA, they matter to IDSA!
The past five years have been tough, but also great for IDSA and I wouldn’t change a thing. I appreciate the vote of confidence from my South District Members, but this year I am asking everyone to see fit to trust me again with the position of Chapter VP.
IDSA is in a great place and I hope you will continue to trust me, and give me your vote to help continue to drive IDSA toward great success.
