2010 AIA San Diego President

Kevin Pollem, AIA

Hello, fellow AIA SD members.  My name is Kevin Pollem, AIA, and it is an honor and pleasure to serve as your president in 2010.  I will spare you a song and dance routine about all the great things AIA SD has done and will continue to do.  Instead, for your reading pleasure, and in an effort to keep things simple, brief and informative, I’ve compiled the following list of things you should know about me:

• In order to appreciate my sense of humor, or at least be minimally offended by it, you should know that I use my dry wit to point out the absurd, hypocritical, and nonsensical of everyday situations in an effort to try and get people to think.  For example, a normal person issuing a directive might make the statement, “until further notice”, but I like to try and keep things real and would struggle not to say, “Until I change my mind.”
• I have an extremely over-developed sense of responsibility which has probably taken years off of my life.
• I am loyal to a fault.  The flipside of that loyalty is when I feel betrayed or crossed, I can hold a grudge – forever.
• I believe disagreement and conflict are critical for honest communication and comprehensive understanding.  This has gained me the reputation of “resident contrarian” on the chapter’s Board of Directors.  I do this in an effort to try and get people to think.  Luckily, the Board can appreciate this -- a lot of people become offended when you try and get them to think.
• I believe humor helps diffuse the tension in conflict.
• I believe we all have a responsibility to question authority and think for ourselves – as long as you agree with everything I say.
• I graduated from USC but do not follow football.  Please do not ask me about SC football or any other sport, it will spare us both from an awkward conversation.  I watch one sporting event a year: the Tour de France and it’s 28 days long.  It’s like getting a full season of football into a single month.  Besides, what else is on TV in July?
• I am deaf, not ignoring you.  This provides endless frustration and fun for family, friends, and co-workers.  The fun part is I can only hear in one ear which means no stereo hearing which means I can’t tell where sound is coming from which means it’s really easy to sneak up on me.  Too much coffee makes me jittery and often when people “sneak” up behind me, I’ll jump pretty high.  People don’t think it’s so funny when I return the favor.
• I’ve wanted to be an architect since I was five-years old.  However, the best job I ever had was the seven months I was out of the industry.  Why?  As architects, we spend way too much time conforming to the ever increasing number of rules and regulations imposed on us.  I don’t think any of us went to school thinking this is what we were in for.  The time I spent in solar was incredible, because as a relatively new industry, everyday was full of infinite possibilities, solving problems through innovation.  That’s what I thought architecture would be.
• I do not suffer fools gladly.  Maybe I’m not glad because there are so many fools out there.