Episode #41 - An Update on AIDC

Join us on this episode of All-In Design for a quick update on AIDC (Alabama Interior Design Coalition). Andrew Aho, with KPS Group, comes on the podcast to discuss the new initiative with AIDC and the importance of becoming a member and getting involved. For more information about AIDC, you can check out their website at www.al-aidc.org . 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

From a comfy sofa in the IIDA Alabama recording studio, this is All In Design. Hello and welcome to All In Design IDA LMS Podcast. My name is Chad Moore here with my co-host Mark Griffo. Hey

SPEAKER_01 0:32

everybody.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

And today we have a special episode. Just came out of the AIDC meeting and we have a guest here that's going to talk to everyone kind of about what's going on with AIDC and kind of the new initiative that's going on.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yep, for sure. It's a return guest. Our really good buddy, Andrew Aho of KPS Group.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Andrew, woo! Crowd

SPEAKER_01 0:57

goes crazy. Hey, everybody. So, yeah. So, Andrew, tell us everything you know about AIDC, starting with what is AIDC?

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Okay. So, AIDC is the Alabama Interior Design Coalition. It is a sort of third-party organization that is not affiliated with either ASID or IIDA. And it exists mostly as the legislative arm of the interior design community in the state of Alabama. It was founded in 1995, I think. I don't remember. I wasn't there. I wasn't there, I'll be honest. Chad was. Chad, what year was it founded? We can get fact-checked on this later. We'll tell the producers. So, basically, AIDC exists to keep a finger on the pulse of legislative that might affect the interior design community and to work through the sunset reviews for our current legislation, which was passed in 2010. This gives registered interior designers who have passed the NCIDQ exams and met other qualifications set by the Alabama Board of Registered Interior Designers, ABRD for short. It rolls right off the tongue. Oh, it does, yeah. This bill gives registered interior designers interior designers the ability to submit for permit, seal, stamp, sign documents for buildings of non-assembly purposes and non-healthcare functions under 5,000 square feet as long as they're in a building whose total area is over 2,500 square feet, the ability to do non-structural drawings independently of a licensed architect. And if that sounds confusing. Sounds boring.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

And like a lot of qualifications. So what times was train A arrive? 436. Yeah, I

SPEAKER_00 3:07

think that part of the problem about talking about these things is you get into it and it's just like, okay. You start to glaze over a little bit. But there's a big initiative, I guess, that AIDC is now pushing, right, going to next

SPEAKER_02 3:21

year. I mean, if you were confused by all of that, good news, we're trying. Trying to make it simpler. 4,999 square feet. That's just not your jam. So in the 2026 legislative session, which will run from, I believe, January 13th through April 30th-ish, we are looking to introduce a bill to hopefully be enacted into a law that would edit the previous interior design Registration Act of 2010 to remove the cap on square footage, remove those occupancy restrictions. I think I already said this, actually. We'll have this stricken from the official record. When we go back and edit the

SPEAKER_01 4:42

tape.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Which we never do. We don't have tape. Super edited. What's that machine in the corner with the two reels spinning? Anyway, so What does this mean for you, the listener, our audience worldwide, millions of people? Good news, if you live in the state of Alabama, you're affected by this, even if you're not a registered interior designer.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

So what should people do now that live in the state of Alabama or interior designers? How can they help?

SPEAKER_02 5:17

So the best way to help right now is, for one, ensure you're an AIDC member. It is fabulously inexpensive and those numbers really help to show that interior designers are a force to be reckoned with in the state because for the average legislator interior design is not something they think about a lot they may have a family member or a friend who's a designer but generally what they're concerned about is voters support this year is an election year for the legislature so something that 26. 26, yes. What will really help us a lot is just sheer numbers showing that we have a voice, that we exist, that the voting population of Alabama includes you. And going off of that, another thing that will really help is just emailing your legislators. And we're hoping to send out template letters and scripts for phone calls calls for you when the time comes in that sort of January to April period. So be on the lookout for that. We're hoping to send these not just to all the registered designers in the state, not just AIDC members, but also the ASID and IIDA populations. And if you want to be more involved, which we would be happy to have you, contacting someone who is on the committee and board for AIDC is a great way to be involved we have seven or eight committees that are active so there are a number of different things you can do being ranging from just talking to the community getting public support to actually working on writing the bill I'm proud to say that that's a committee I'm on I get to read all the fun words it's not boring I promise um No, it's actually really interesting. I like it. I'm into that stuff. But if you want to be involved, reach out. We have a freshly revamped website that looks beautiful, operates great, designed by the wonderful Laura Harris. Shout out to Laura Harris. I believe the address is al-aidc.org for the people out there that

SPEAKER_01 7:57

sounds right and I wasn't just texting I was making myself a note to be sure to boost our graphics for the release of this episode so we can include some additional information so we'll have I'll get with you on that and

SPEAKER_00 8:13

membership it renews in October right so probably if you're going to join AIDC might as well wait until October 1st right

SPEAKER_01 8:25

so

SPEAKER_02 8:25

I mean, we'll take your money either

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way. You can do it now and then re-up again in October.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

October 1st is the big date for everyone. And that is meant to be sort of in alignment with RID renewals. Although we can't send them out together. That's a whole legal thing. AIDC is not officially affiliated with the Alabama Board of Registered Interior Designers.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

And as far as I know, there will be a booth for or at least a table or stand at the show on October 9th. So if you're listening to this and you do want to sign up for AIDC, there'll be information and people there that can talk to you about that. You can reach out to Andrew. You can reach out to myself or Mark. We know people on the board. We can also get you hooked up with the various committees that are being worked on to kind of get this off the ground so that we're ready for January. Anything else we need to know or tell the listeners?

SPEAKER_02 9:25

You know, I think it's a really important thing to remember to stay hydrated out here. It may be September, but it's

SPEAKER_00 9:35

hot. I do have one final question, if that's the end here. Of course, of course. Blue or black ink?

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. You know, it's almost like we've discussed this before.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

As he takes a sip of water. Yeah, I'm staying

SPEAKER_02 9:49

hydrated. So, you know, blue or black ink is really a reductive question. because you know how many colors there are. Thanks for listening, everybody. There's so many colors, and you can have inks in all of them. Personally, I use fountain pens. I refill them with different inks, so at any random time, I'll probably have every color of the rainbow represented.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Oh, okay. I thought it was going to go longer. So we did have the AIDC meeting right before this episode, and as we sat down, Andrew sat down next to me, and I guess The podcast came up and he turned to me and he did say he was like, I was really disappointed when I was on that you didn't ask me Blue or Black Ink because he was about to, I guess you were writing in your notebook there. So you got to correct that. We got to correct that with this episode. Just kind of a quick, this was just kind of a quick one to kind of give a shout out to AIDC and update everybody on that.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

For sure. And it was good because it's a big deal. Yeah. It's a big deal. I was, we joked about this before we started recording, but I I, while this was going on, I was actually a listener because I missed the meeting. And so the initiative was new to me. So very exciting. And we'll do what we can here at All In Design to boost those membership numbers. Get those millions of listeners. Yeah, you have our support. We're going to make this happen. Well, good deal.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Great. Thanks for having me on. Thanks for coming on and talking to us about it.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

See you, man.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

All volunteer, we lead with pride Coalition power, by our side Firms, independents, students too Montgomery Halls, our voices rise Protect the act and modernize Year-round work, we stay engaged Interior design takes center stage Membership strong, that's how we win Coalition family, let's all join in The mission is clear Sign up now, it's easy to do. I laid 8c.org for you. Be part of the change, let's make it real. Together we'll strengthen how design can feel. When a movement raise your voice Together we've got one choice To date the law, let's set it free It's time for change with AIDC