Interior Designers Request Stronger Advocacy from ASID

With the Houzz petition going strong, the Interior Design Revolution continues to discuss struggles in the industry and what we can do to strengthen and repair the many misconceptions of this technical and creative profession.

The representation of the interior design profession most strongly lies with ASID (American Society of Interior Designers)... or it should. Designers want to continue to be members of this society whose aim is to strengthen the profession but feel that they are failing at this goal due to a large disconnect between national and local chapters. 

The IDR (Interior Design Revolution) have written a letter to the staff and board at ASID, which was delivered Wednesday, April 11, 2018. We have already heard back from the staff and are awaiting a board/staff meeting and discussion about the letter so that they may respond.

We are optimistic that we will be heard and our suggestions will help the association to strengthen designers nationwide. 

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Dear Mr. Fiser, Staff and Board at ASID,

“ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) advance the interior design profession and communicates the impact of design on the human experience”  

- Opening statement on the ASID website.

There is currently a “disruption” to the industry and ASID is sitting back and watching in silence as the designers band together feeling the need to develop their own representation outside of ASID and talk of canceling membership.

Mr. Fiser, the Interior Design Revolution community asks for consideration of the following:

EDUCATE THE PUBLIC:

Advocate for Interior Designers:

• National directory website: “Find a Designer”, SEO Optimized, and with “do follow” badges for members to post on their websites.
• Informational advertising: Develop videos providing a definition of what interior designers can do for homeowners. Videos and radio ads can be published on YouTube, HGTV, and radio/podcasts.  Print ads in home magazines.
• Vlog/Blog featuring designers: Consider a vlog or blog with interviews from local chapters featuring design members.
• Truth in Pricing: Develop pricing guides by area, allowing homeowners to see average and high-end costs of projects similar to their own as well as furnishing pricing expectations. Share the reality of Home Improvement Networks inaccurate pricing.
• The pursuit of Legislation:  Suspend for the time being.  This goal will be indirectly achieved by educating the public.

CHOOSE APPROPRIATE PARTNERS:

Partners should be chosen based on the mission of ASID. We believe the following actions are needed:

• Establish a vendor code of ethics: It would advance the profession if we knew that we had a fully vetted list of manufacturers (whether paying industry partners or not) who followed an established code of ethics that protects designers.
• Advocate for closed to the public markets/no transparency in pricing:  In no other industry does the public have access to know what retailers pay for wholesale pricing on products.  We need our pricing and exclusivity to products to remain strong for the future of interior design.
• Dissolve the partnership with Houzz: This is an absolute must to retain the respect of interior designers.  Houzz ethics have been called into question.  This partnership alone is causing interior designers to reconsider their membership in ASID.  

EDUCATE FROM WITHIN/RESOURCES FOR THE TRADE

While designers utilize the CEU offerings, the Interior Design Revolution would like to make the following suggestions to further improve the education offerings from within:

• No Free Interior Design Campaign: Designers give away too much for free. Free in-home consultations. Free time comped because the client expected it to cost less. Free specific advice on forums or Facebook.
• Emphasize the importance of working with a contract: Too many designers do not.
• Establish Guidelines: NKBA has drafting standards. What if ASID upped this game with larger scale drafting standards and specification presentation standards.
• Clarify the undisclosed income guideline: Commissions are not kickbacks and should not be treated as such. No other retailer has to disclose their income sources, why would a designer?

In order to stay current, the Interior Design Revolution strongly feels that ASID needs to become more resourceful digitally:

• Welcome Packet with Resources: Guide to starting a design business
• Offer member-exclusive discussion forums/virtual networking: Designers are desperately seeking to break out of their isolation by participating in online groups that are not secure. These forums can be national and local.
• Provide more webinar/online CEU’s: Of course, many products need to be touched and experienced in person. However, there are a lot of topics that may be covered virtually.

The suggestions and advances mentioned in this letter will benefit ASID in the following ways:

• Increase in membership: Most prospective clients do not know ASID and do not know to ask if a designer is ASID due to a lack of brand awareness. These changes will increase brand awareness, encouraging designers to join to please their clients.
• Add value to members: Designers will no longer be left to seek knowledge in Facebook groups for pricing structure, accounting practices, vendors, etc. Designers today are full-time working parents and live in secluded locations.   Most designers are small business owners that do not have the staff to manage while they run off to a networking event.
• Increase the pulse on what is happening in the design industry: Helps ASID meet the needs of the design industry in a more direct fashion.
• Preservation of interior design: With the push for the latest in low cost, free interior design, we need to preserve the exclusive luxury nature of “to the trade only” and full custom interior design.

The Interior Design Revolution is one of the groups responsible for the Houzz petition that is currently circulating. We are facing this disruption head-on and request that ASID act as our advocate and do the same. The local chapters are struggling to provide the support we need, but with no voting rights and limited support from national. Many of these solutions are simple, while others will take time. ASID has the utmost respect from the design community and we want to keep it this way. Stop sitting and watching in silence. Spring into action and start by making a statement to the members.

Thank you,

Interior Design Revolution Administrator and Moderators:

Rachel Waldron, Allied ASID

rachel@waldrondesigns.com

Christina McManaway, Former Allied ASID

c.mcmanaway@hotmail.com

Jennifer Hyman, Allied ASID

Jennifer@hymaninteriors.com

And our 370 members including chapter presidents, growing daily.