Is there an SDN Chapter in my area?

Please check out our chapter overview page to find out if there is a local group near you. In the event none exists, we encourage you to consider building a Chapter network in your area!  

How does Chapter application process work?

Anyone interested in starting a local Chapter will need to fill out an application. This document will ask for information related to your background,  vision, strategy and founding Chapter team members. This information will be shared with our Global Chapter Team to help us understand the level of expertise of your team, your needs, ambitions, and insight into your local service design community.

1. Build your team (minimum three people): We are looking for a variety of qualification on the founding members. All three founding members need to be paying members of the SDN (professional, corporate or academic), rooted in the community and experts in service design.
2. Co-founder Experience: The founders are expected to be experts in the service design field who have links to the industry. SDN Headquarters is looking for diverse experience and qualifications from the founding members, for instance, a mix of academia, agency, corporate, freelance or in-house (a service designer working within a company or organisation). Founders should not all work for the same company.
3. Membership Requirements: There should be a critical mass of SDN members which the Chapter will increase over time. This means there are a relevant number of paying SDN members (minimum 5) and at least 30 SDN community followers in your region before an application to start building a Chapter can be accepted. 
4. You are free to layout your application with the provided criteria below. Please send it to chapter@service-design-network.org in PDF form. SDN HQ will review the application, provide feedback and schedule a call with your team before final approval.
5. Once your application is approved, we start a 3 months building phase where the SDN will be supporting the chapter to get started and form the organization.
6. Afterward, we review the status and growth of the chapter to see the opportunity of moving your chapter from the building phase to the official.

Your chapter application should include the following information: 

1. Information of co-founders: Name, Email, Job title, Relation with Service Design, Motivation, LinkedIn profile if it's available
2. Information about your Chapter team: Address (to receive parcels sometimes!), status of service design in your region, chapter vision and other relevant information.
3. One year plan: An outline of Chapter activities for the first year. Outline your research into service design corporates/institutions in your region including a contact list. Show the venue, date, budget plan, target group, event scale and the theme for each event.
4. Strategy and Business Plan: A description of service design in your region, your chapter vision and a strategy for chapter development which includes success criteria.
5. Resources: How many hours per week could you work on SDN Chapter projects on average? What resources would you have available to share and support your chapter? For instance; company assets, a room or venue for events, a relevant network, sponsors, many active volunteers etc.

How is the relationship between SDN and its chapters?

Service Design Network gGmbH acknowledges its Chapters as a branch of the SDN. Our Chapters are autonomously incorporated and managed volunteer non-profit organizations. The SDN gGmbH supports each Chapter by sharing the value of the brand, copyrights, formats, templates, manpower, communication channels and a network to help them trigger service design activities in their region. Chapters support the Global Network by actively enlarging its community. Chapters also serve as bridges between the international organization and local interest by transferring the global activities into relevant local topics, and by bringing the local intelligence to the global network.

What value does opening a chapter bring to those opening it? 

As a Chapter of the Service Design Network, you will receive an exclusive access to our valuable databases, network and branded materials that you can use for your chapter activities.

• Receive the online presence of your Chapter in the SDN website.
• Access to the SDN LinkedIn group. Meet the community leaders from all over the world! 
• Receive the right to utilize the name "SDN" in its official chapter name in order to acknowledge its affiliation with the Service Design Network. The chapter has the right to use the provided SDN gGmbH brand identity to present and to communicate about their chapter.
• Special access to the SDN members in your region.
• Exclusive access to the annual Service Design Global Conference (discount, chapter's lunch, chapter's meeting, etc.).
• Contribute to the service design global community by bringing the local intelligence to the global network!

The value of a Chapter is also to bring together the community and as founders, you will be a part of spearheading the service design community and helping it grow. There are different benefits depending on which discipline you are coming from:

• some agencies/consultancies get more exposure in the community and therefore more work comes in the door
• some businesses learn more about an evolving market and can stand at the forefront for understanding the market needs
• some academics may need the network to find new students, new professors or simply grow their knowledge

These are just some of the benefits!

Is there a cost involved?

The cost is the yearly SDN membership fee for all of the co-founding members, but with that, you also receive all of the membership benefits.

Chapter requirements?

Your chapter is required to host a minimum of 2 events (any type of creative activities related to service design) per year. You need to keep your chapter website updated and we encourage you to stay in close contact with the other chapters and the Global Chapter Team. It is not a very formal and strict process. We at the SDN would just like to see you thrive and find ways to support your chapter along the way.

Does this help answer the questions? Feel free to let us know if you have further questions or would like to talk. We are here to help chapter@service-design-network.org

Also if you haven't, join our slack channel to stay updated on what’s going on in the global service design community: https://bit.ly/Slack_SDN