DESIGNISM, 2006
On September 21, 2006, the ADC presented "Designism," a debate over advertising and design as instruments for social and political change. The event was conceived by ADC vice-president Brian Collins and included panelists Kurt Andersen, Milton Glaser, Jessica Helfand, George Lois, and James Victore. Author Tony Hendra provided introductory remarks and Steven Heller served as the moderator of the panel. With the help of Yahoo!, ADC created a podcast that captured the entire sold-out event and is available for download. Tony Hendra wrote about ADC Designism on the Huffington Post. The event was featured on many other blogs including Mediabistro and Core77.
Podcast
More here.

DESIGNISM 2.0, 2007
See
Witness the next generation of design activism with presentations from three young designers who have made significant impact to society through projects focused on social causes. A panel discussion discussed the designer’s role in provoking change.
Kay Sloan, president, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Ellen Sitkin, designer, IDEO, and Project M, Andrew Sloat, designer, filmmaker, Drainage Ditch, Ji Lee, droga5, The Bubble Project, Moderated by: Alissa Walker, writer and editor, UnBeige.com

Talk
A panel of leaders gathered from eclectic backgrounds, the Masters of Designism discussed the state of activism across all media, and how designers can amplify their roles as cultural leaders by creating a new kind of design career dedicated to social change.
Tony Hendra, satirist and writer, Father Joe, The Messiah of Morris Avenue, Milton Glaser, designer, Milton Glaser, Inc., Janet Kestin, co-chief creative officer, Ogilvy Toronto and co-creator, Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, Elizabeth Resnick, co–curator, Selections from the Graphic Imperative and associate professor, Communication Design for the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Michael Wolff, journalist and columnist, Vanity Fair, Moderated by: Steven Heller, co-chair of the Designer as Author MFA program, School of Visual Arts

Act
A presentation and call to action from Idealist.org, a project of nonprofit organization Action Without Borders with Ami Dar, founder and executive director of Action Without Borders and Dan Perlet from Corbis: Creativity for Social Justice.
Podcast 1
Podcast 2

DESIGNISM 3.0, 2008
Design activism deconstructed! An evening of discussion, debate, and presentations on Design Activism produced by Brian Collins, COLLINS, and Benjamin Palmer, The Barbarian Group.
A Designism Manifesto delivered by Allan Chochinov, Core77, was followed by IDEO who shared three design-driven projects that initiated real change. Six creatives presented forward-thinking projects, and their results, in lightning speed—TAXI, Brainforest, MendeDesign, Avenue A|Razorfish, lettera27, and Brian Hurewitz with lolz. Milton Glaser discussed his thoughts on Propaganda. Steven Heller moderated the discussion on the design of politics between Helen Walters, BusinessWeek Innovation & Design channel, Tony Hendra frequent contributor to The Huffington Post and Milton Glaser. ADC introduced Designism Connects, its ingenious new tool to support the creative activist community with some additional tools for creatives doing pro bono work.

DESIGNISM 4.0, 2009
This year we explored business models that drive social change—effectively providing careers and incomes while changing the world featuring: Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe Giver, TOMS Shoes, Bill Drenttel, Partner, Winterhouse Studio and Design Observer, Paula Scher, Partner, Pentagram, Mark Randall, Principal, Worldstudio
Moderated by Helen Walters, Editor of Innovation and Design at BusinessWeek and contributing editor to Creative Review.

DESIGNISM 5.0 TBA.