HONOR AWARDS DOWNTOWN RECEPTION FOR RECOGNITION OF DESIGN EXCELLENCE IN ARCHITECTURE

Greetings everyone! It is almost time for this year’s annual AIA Grand Valley Chapter Honor Awards program for 2010. This event will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2010, at 38 Commerce, first floor - south side, or enter through the rear door in the parking deck (level A). All of our members and their guests are invited to join us for a celebration of the great work and design excellence that is happening in our chapter.

This year’s event will have a similar format to last year, which proved to be both engaging and fun for our members and their guests. The night will begin with an opening ”art reception,“ which will showcase the various submissions of our member firms’ work for this year’s awards. Also the Michigan Architectural Foundation will have a display at the event. This reception will include some excellent appetizers consisting of fresh hand-crafted cuisine from a wonderful local chef, prepared especially for our event, along with an open bar featuring select wine and draft beer from a local purveyor.

After this opening reception, we will commence with the individual personal awards. After those have been awarded, we will break for more socializing, and then we will award the building awards. The break between the awards allows us to award the personal awards earlier, and it breaks up the night into smaller portions. The awards ceremony, as always, is intended to celebrate the work and careers of our members. This year, speeches will be reserved for only individual award winners. Project and design award winners will be honored with no speeches regarding the projects. This is the same format as last year.

Upon completion of the actual awards event, we will have a post awards celebration. This will allow everyone to informally mingle, recap the evening, enjoy a decadent dessert, and continue the celebration of architecture at the open bar. We encourage you to stay for this post celebration; don’t leave; create the atmosphere at the event and celebrate with each other.

Please make reservations soon, as they are due by September 17, 2010. Individual tickets are $50.00. Click the link below to RSVP:

Gala Registration Form

Venue: 38 Commerce, southern retail spaces

Parking is available in the attached structure and will be reimbursed

via a voucher to a local business

Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010

Time: Gallery Reception with Food and Drinks: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Individual Personal Awards Ceremony: 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Gallery Reception with Food and Drinks 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Honor Awards Ceremony 8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Post Event with Desserts and Drinks: 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

There is no sit-down dinner this year, so please plan accordingly. Light appetizers only will be served during the gallery reception. Menu for this event will be made available at AIA Grand Valley’s web site. Open bar will remain open during the awards ceremony.

Dress as you are, but if you need a guideline, try business casual, and of course black tie is always acceptable.

Cheers, and hope to see you there!

Greg T. Metz, AIA, LEED

2009 President, AIA Grand Valley

AIA Grand Valley 2009 Honor Awards

Building

Honor Award Winner