Inaugural AICP West Coast Board Meeting at the Riot House

On Monday, the newly reshaped AICP West Coast Board came together for the first time at the Andaz West Hollywood hotel, formally known as the Riot House. Bands like Led Zepplin stayed there and threw insane parties–one resulted in TVs being tossed out the window. The hotel choice was fitting because we hope to harness some of that subversive creative energy for the new board.

In this photo: Bill Sewell, Denise Killmartin, Matt Miller

Why am I even in the room?

Many of our customers are AICP members, so I have a vested interest in understanding their core business challenges. But that alone isn’t the answer. For years, I saw AICP as a great party-throwing group that did other political work that didn’t affect us. I listened to lots of complaints that AICP was out of touch and becoming irrelevant in a rapidly changing industry environment. These complaints had no recommendations or solutions. The problems were too big and were better solved by “them.” Well, there’s no “them,” there’s only “us.”

A new AICP board brings fresh perspectives

Our board has the new car smell right now, with a radical new configuration that has a great chance of producing real results. The majority of the nine general members are small or mid-size production companies, which is a departure from the large production companies of the past. New to the board this year are six associate members (yours truly included) bringing lots of new energy to the mix.

The West Coast Board has also restructured to form committees focused on particular aspects of commercial production, such as technology, communications, education and outreach. Committees are formed to harness energy from the wider community by providing a new way for people who are passionate about certain topics to get involved.

So, how will all this shake out?

Volunteer organizations are funny things, they either bump along aimlessly or crank out work and make it look easy. I’ve served on both types and have no interest in the former. It’s too early to tell, but we are building momentum and gaining focus.