As we here in Cleveland brace for temperatures to creep into the 90s in coming days, it’s looking like summer has officially arrived. And with it comes one of my favorite trips that I’ve missed over the past two years. No, not the beach vacation I’m daydreaming about—but one that, professionally speaking, is just as satisfying: the program design team meeting for our 2023 Environments for Aging Conference + Expo.
Into the July sizzle of Washington, D.C., we’ll bring our industry friends and partners together to review presentation proposals and choose those that will make the cut to create our conference program, a process we’ve skipped and done over Zoom during the pandemic. If you’ve attended the EFA Conference in the past, you know what a large, robust program it is—and it takes a large, robust amount of work to put it all together.
But I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to walk into that room with a (digital) stack of paper and walk out with a conference.
Speaking of the show, this is our first issue of EFA since meeting in person for the 2022 event in Milwaukee in April. It was a thrill to see so many of you there and catch up.
I can say if there was any common thread to many of the conversations I had with industry members, it was that you’re all crazy busy. It seems the pandemic pause in project work—if there ever was one—is over, with new efforts fueled by demand as well as an attempt to beat rising material costs, labor shortages, and interest rates.
A few of you even said you’re at the point of turning down requests for proposals or focusing on longstanding relationships instead of bringing on new clients.
All of this comes as we’re starting to see signs of major changes in senior living design, where innovative solutions are being discussed more frequently—beyond new models of care or living environments.
I’m starting to see real interest and pursuit of concepts tied to sustainability and regenerative design, modular and prefabricated construction, and holistic health and wellness. We’ll be keeping an eye on all of this as we move through the year on the magazine side and prepare to see you again in Charlotte, N.C., in April 2023.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a way to explore some of the topics I mentioned, learn from fellow industry members, or simply earn a few continuing education learning units, I encourage you to check out our 2022 EFA On Demand program. We took 10 session recordings from the in-person conference in Milwaukee and made them available to view and earn AIA credits. You can find details at environmentsforaging.com/on-demand.
Meanwhile, I hope you (and I) get to enjoy a bit of a summer slowdown.
