It's been almost a year now since we officially launched the NYIAD Forum. The first post was by our Dean, Tom Saxon, on April 13th of 2009. In the time since its debut, we have learned a lot, and we hope we have also inspired a lot of learning on the part of the many Forum participants. With almost 600 members, many of whom are students of one of our three great courses, we are excited about the growth and the possibilities the Forum holds for our future.
When we created the NYIAD Forum, we meant for it to serve several purposes. Firstly, since we are a distance education school, the Forum is intended to be a place for students to interact with one another. It serves as our virtual campus, where students can share experiences, ask questions, and get feedback from their peers.
Second, we wanted to add a place where NYIAD student advisors could openly interact with students. Here student advisors answer individual questions in a public format so that anyone on the Forum can access the information and become part of the conversation. In addition, advisors and students can discuss industry news and events outside the realm of the course. The Forum is a place for open conversation in an otherwise isolated NYIAD student body.
And, one year later, we have added a new feature to the Forum that we are truly excited about. Our first Design Challenge took place in November and generated some interesting and creative ideas. Since that initial success, we continue to host monthly challenges where Forum members can submit ideas to win prizes.
If you have not yet signed up for the Forum, we encourage you to do so now. As with any community, the more members we have, the more inspiring and enriched the conversation will be. Discussions are open to any topic, and it is a great place to get answers, information, advice, and news. Registration is quick and easy, and once you are on there you can participate as often as you would like.
Lately a few of our Forum members have noticed that there has been an increase in posts that seem to be nothing more than "spam." We do protect the Forum from computer and virus generated spam, but we cannot stop people from registering an account and creating nonsensical comments with embedded promotional links. Please know that we realize this is an irritant and inconvenience to Forum members, and we are in the process of cleaning it up and deterring future spam.
Overall, we are very happy with the NYIAD Forum as it approaches its one-year anniversary. However, we know it can always be better. We'd love to hear from current students and Forum members if you have ideas of things we can add, remove, or change on the Forum to make the experience as enjoyable and informative as possible.
No idea is too small, and no suggestion is too crazy. We love hearing from the growing NYIAD community, so please do not hesitate to call or email us with your ideas.
