Kelsey Soderberg-
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a nationwide association for interior designers and students. There are 350 chapters of the organization nationally, and University of Wisconsin–Stout is home to one of them. According to ASID’s national website, the goal of the association is to “collaborate with others to promote the value of interior design. We prepare our members to excel in a dynamic and evolving profession.”
Alyssa Horstman, the UW–Stout chapter president of ASID, said that the goal of the organization is to network with professionals in the interior design industry and get a sense of the overall field. “In interior design, the more connections you have, the better your projects will be,” says Horstman.
ASID attends firm tours and invites numerous guest speakers to meetings throughout the year. The purpose of the firm tours is to visit many different firms who specialize in different types of design. Horstman says that in doing so, ASID is able to cater to many students’ preferred type of design and make it fun for everyone. Guest speakers come to campus to teach the members of ASID more about the professional world of interior design.
“They bring in guest speakers for us to get a small taste of what it’s like in the real world working for various firms,” says ASID member Katelyn Schiltz. Each June, ASID also attends NeoCon – a three day event held in Chicago where new design products for the year are presented. According to the official NeoCon website, “NeoCon has evolved into one of the most recognized and attended trade shows in the industry.”
This year is the 50th anniversary of NeoCon, with over 500 companies and 50-thousand design professionals attending. “We also attend PIQUE, which is where we tour firms, and attend Minnecon, which is a smaller version of NeoCon,” said Horstman.
Though the org meets on a biweekly basis, each week there is a time set up for members of the org to meet and do homework. “You’re able to come in and work on homework for any class, whether it be interior design or not, and upper classmen are there to help and bounce ideas off of,” said Schiltz. This presents students with the opportunity to learn from their peers and have support on projects they are currently working on.
Anyone is welcome in ASID, not just interior design students. “Being a part of ASID will give everyone a better understanding of what interior designers do,” said Horstman. Though everyone is welcome, there are definitely many benefits of ASID specifically for interior design students. “Any student in the interior design major would benefit from being a part of Stout’s ASID because of the endless resources that are offered through the club,” said Schiltz.
ASID holds meetings every other Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Applied Arts 219. They host study nights every opposite Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the same room. If you have any questions or want to learn more about ASID, visit their OrgSync page.