We believe that it’s good business practice to belong to an industry association. This is a professional body that supports professionals of a particular type of industry in many ways.
What are the benefits of an industry association?
Apart from providing powerful networking opportunities, the association is your industry voice. When there are regulations or issues affecting your industry, an association has the power of many voices behind it to influence change.
Here are some benefits you might not have thought of.
Jobs: Connecting with people in your industry can help you find and win new jobs or contracts.
Events & Networking: The opportunity to meet people, and industry contacts you might not otherwise have met. You can build a wealth of valuable connections by attending great functions and networking events.
Education: Keep up with the latest developments and research, tap into shared knowledge and contribute your own insights.
Industry knowledge and updates: Gain direct insight into industry trends and changes from key players in your industry.
Set standards: As a group, you can set professional standards for the way you operate in the industry and hold members to them.
Mentors: If you’re seeking professional growth, you may find a mentor from within the association and be confident they operate with the same values and standards as yours.
Recognise industry excellence: Through industry awards, outstanding members and achievements are recognised, rewarded and presented as inspiration to other members.
Professional credibility: Association membership doesn’t just look good on a resume; it adds credibility which employers and clients look for before they select new staff.
Why retail designers need an association
While there are associations which focus on retail or general design, there is no association currently representing retail designers in Australia.
We’re designers and we work with retailers, but we need to work closely with shopfitters to make our designs viable and bring them to life. We believe that a collaborative approach between designers and shopfitters is critical and ASOFIA provides the platform for this to happen.
Benefits of ASOFIA
To grow and diversify their association and provide retail designers with the opportunity to be part of an industry group, the Australian Shop and Office Fitting Industry Association (ASOFIA) has created a design membership opportunity.
This gives designers the chance to come together as part of the shopfitting / retail design industry and find practical support, education and networking opportunities.
We see the benefits of belonging to an industry association which is why Dovetail Design is a member of ASOFIA. Selena Atkinson, one of our Directors, is a key committee member of the NSW division.
We are also keenmembers of WIDAC (Women in Design and Construction).
We want to hear from you.
As active members of ASOFIA, we are keen for designers to provide input as to what sort of events we can hold that they would be interested in.
We want to hear from you about your needs and your expectations.
Ask yourself how an industry association could help you and your colleagues and let us know. While we believe it’s important for you to be an association member, ASOFIA can also speak up on your behalf if there is an issue which needs to be addressed.
We invite you to our next professional development event.
Presented by AMP Capital, the 2020 Development Update event on 25th February in Alexandria will showcase some exciting retail projects for 2020.
We would love to see you there. Please come and introduce yourself to us.
This could be your first step to becoming part of a strong and exciting new industry association just for you.
