Michael Marshall
It was the inspiration and galvanization of the design community by Michael Marshall, and, his attempts at organizing in Victoria for many years that resulted in the founding of the Vancouver Island Chapter of the GDC. The existing BC Chapter’s activities were, round trip, six hours away and would often necessitate an overnight stay. Vancouver Islanders could not regularly support activities at such a distance. Michael saw the need to focus on and develop the Island’s design community.

In 1989, following some informal discussions beginning sometime in late 1988, Michael organized the first meeting of the original Vancouver Island GDC Steering Committee to create a quasi-independent extension of the BC Chapter in order to bring shared speakers and events to the Island.

In May of 1993, GDC Vancouver Island Chapter was established and Michael was elected Interim President. He represented GDC/VI at the national planning meeting and became a signatory of the Elgin/O’Connor Report. He convened the first GDC/VI AGM in March of 1994 and, as a result of the first official elections, became the GDC/VI Founding President and National Representative.

In May 1994, GDC/VI was formally accepted as a Chapter at the National BGM in Halifax. Michael was elected as one of three National Vice-Presidents.

Michael served as the Chapter’s president for 4 years. He helped develop a sponsorship template, originally to help fund our Creative Awards, which became the blueprint for our annual chapter sponsorship program and has been adopted by other chapters. He spearheaded the development of our creative awards program which in turn helped our Chapter grow and increase membership. His fairness, determination and forthright style gave his executive colleagues direction, freedom and encouragement to develop into one of the most active and vibrant chapters in the GDC. The awards programme, sponsorship materials and programming, developed by the chapter, are templates the rest of the country can learn from and use to build a stronger organization.

Michael was National VP of Membership and Marketing for two years. His enthusiasm at national meetings was constructive, inspiring and energizing. When it was decided that the constitution needed to be updated and revised, Michael took on the task of rewriting the document, which ended up taking several years to complete. Michael was a participant in the marathon “Constitution Session,” which lasted until 2:00am, in Windsor. He was able to create a new constitution that met the GDC’s needs, Ontario’s needs and our future needs. The work he has done will assist for years to come and the national is indebted to him for his efforts.
— Remarks by Peggy Cady, David Coates & Steven Rosenberg


Steven Rosenberg
DS: Steven Rosenberg has never stopped pouring energy into the GDC. We met in Halifax, seven years ago, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with him on the national executive, since. We’ve worked hard, had some fun and put in some late nights, and we’ve all seen how much Steven has put into the GDC.

Right from the beginning, Steven has been involved in the restructuring of the “new GDC.” He joined the national on the eve of the passing of the Elgin-O’Conner proposals, and has since been building this new structure, and making it real. Of course, before that he was very active on the local level. He was instrumental in the formation of the Manitoba Chapter and is still contributing heavily to its activities. He operates a successful design consultancy in Winnipeg and the number of awards he has received testify to the professional respect he has earned from his peers. Drawing from his experience of working with many non-profit and cultural institutions, he has written the rule book on working with pro-bono clients: the info sheet now included in our national binders. This is typical of Steven—he always establishes a solid methodology—even for projects that don’t pay.

The constitutional changes brought about by Michael Marshall’s rewriting and editing (as well as the efforts of all the souls participating in that marathon meeting) were, in essence, steered by Steven’s careful driving. His conciliatory style of management helped bring about the “Palm Room Accord,” the agreement that knit the newly accredited RGD Ontario back into the cloth of the GDC, as a Member Association.

His years of effort on accreditation include what he dubbed the “Steel Wheels Tour,” on which he and Albert Ng traveled across the country bringing information on accreditation to the hinterlands; he allowed Albert’s dreams to fly by keeping his feet on the ground; and, in turn, inspired hundreds of young designers.

DC: I know he’ll also continue to be active in the process of bringing accreditation to Manitoba. And, I believe, even though he’s not going to be on the national council any longer he’s still going to be contributing, in a big way, to design in Canada.

EK: Yes, even when his focus was national, and that is what everyone at this table would have seen, he still had maximum involvement on the local level, keeping the Chapter going as well.

RP: So, just procedurally, I find it regrettable Steven isn’t here to hear this. I hope it is being recorded, because I certainly concur. I can go back another ten years, and talk about Steve’s efforts before there was a GDC in Manitoba. We used to have a chapter of the Industrial Designers of Canada (that was the only thing that was available to us) and the graphic designers banded together, developed processes, etc. that fueled eventually the formation of the GDC Chapter, and through all Steven has been active, and enthusiastic, and tireless.

DS: He’s a nice guy, he’s funny, he’s got a big heart and a social conscience, and he has given us a lot. It is with honour that I move that the President accept Steven Rosenberg as a Fellow of the GDC.
— Remarks by Dale Simonson with help from David Coates, Evan Kuz & Rob Peters