If any of you have even the slightest creative bone in your body, you should get involved in this one. All you have to do is submit a visual entry (can even just be a photo), the theme is “WOMAN” and there are some huge prizes to be won ($11k’s worth!), free entry too so you’ve got nothing to lose.

For more details visit: http://www.australianinfront.com.au/involved

Simon Mundy, the Victorian President of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA), has written a blog entry on his desktop blog in response to Andrew Moffitt’s opinion piece in desktop magazine’s May issue, where he posed the question ‘To join or not to join AGDA’.

For various reasons, AGDA was why I started The Australian INfront in 1999. I’ve never paid to join AGDA, mainly because I’ve never been convinced of the value of joining (no offense intended).

In the late 90′s I worked at a few design companies that were members of AGDA (all you have to do to be a member is pay their yearly fee) and they admitted to me that being allowed to have an AGDA badge on your web site (along side your Microsoft Certified Partner badge!) made them ‘look good’. In fact one of the AGDA councilors in the debate writes the following on the value of being an AGDA member:

Kudos: Put “Member: Australian Graphic Design Association” in your email signature and on your website. It’s (perhaps not) surprising how many clients take note and take you more seriously. Use it like a qualification or like accountants use “CPA”. And the more of us that do it the more powerful it becomes.

That’s pretty hilarious as it confirms this idea of paying to be a member, just so you can say you’re a member, to somehow make your design company seem more legitimate.

I’ve been around public forums to know how they work. There might only be a handful of people fighting in a room, but the fact is that thousands more people are reading the debate, and they’re making up their minds about who’s side to be on. I’m feeling sorry for Simon Mundy, who initiated the debate to try and convince everyone that joining AGDA is well worth the $250. The responses made by AGDA representatives read very defensive, which is a shame as they’ve got a golden opportunity here to listen to what people really want (IE: digest the feedback, have an AGDA meeting and then reply post meeting).

I tried my best to stay out of the debate, but in the end I had to chime in (couldn’t help myself!).

You can read, or join the debate here: http://desktopmag.com.au/blogs/agda-give-it-a-try