President’s Message

January 13, 2008

Legislation is the biggest challenge we face as an organization as we begin this 2008 year. Our bill “Tennessee Interior Design Consumer Protection Act” (House Bill 84 / Senate Bill 210) is being re-introduced this year. We need everyone’s help. I encourage you to write your legislatures and let them know that this is important to you. It is about protecting the public. Decisions that we make as interior designers affect the life safety and the quality of life. It’s important that our legislatures realize this about our profession and support this bill. The bill seeks, through licensing, to ensure that interior designers are qualified by education, experience and examination to practice interior design in Tennessee. TIDC has made it easy to contact your legislators. Simply go to the link below and follow the instructions. It only takes minutes to find you legislators and send a letter. I also encourage you to contact your legislators by phone. If you have a personal connection with a legislator, then that is even more important that you personally contact them. Get your family members and vendors involved. What affects us also affects them as well. http://www.tidc.org/asp/contact_my_legislator.asp

Although it is early in the year, we are looking ahead to next year. We need to select leaders now for our districts and our state. If you would like to become involved or know of someone who would be interested in a leadership role, please contact one of the board members, district directors, or Donna Komisar, our administrator. Someone once told me that looking from the outside the leadership seemed “clickish”. This has been on my mind a lot. It is so far from the truth, but I understand the perception. As leaders on the chapter level and the district level, I can tell you that we spend a lot of time trying to think of people who would be interested in leadership roles and how to get more members involved in the organization. So, if you are interested in helping in anyway, we want to know. If you would like to become involved but are afraid it will take too much of your time, let us know. We will try to work with what you are prepared to give without pressuring you for more.

I’m learning how to do surveys, so you will probably be seeing some e-mails from me asking you to complete a short survey. It’s a good way to find out what the membership prefers, instead of just guessing. I hope you will take a few minutes and let us know what you are thinking. I love to get e-mails any time if you want to let me know what you think we should be doing. Just contact me at egammon@gouldturner.com or call me at 615-297-3122.

Sincerely,

Evelyn Gammon, ASID
Tennessee Chapter President