Congratulations Mike Totsch! 2010 SMPS Chapter President of the Year - Columbus Chapter. This award is a tremendous honor, being recognized by his peers in the industry. The Columbus Chapter completed so much under Mike’s leadership the past year.
If you are having difficulty viewing this video, you can see it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jjKg3k4DJ0
The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) held its annual International Conference and Idea Marketplace in Minneapolis July 10-14. More than 1000 attendees from more than a dozen countries attended the conference entitled Integrated Leadership for a New Reality. Nearly all of the sessions within the conference sought to identify “the new normal” following the devastating financial disaster of the last year. Institutions, design professionals, and vendors alike came together to learn, network, commiserate, and seek to make sense of world events that are impacting campuses small and large. I was fortunate to be one of the attendees.
Beginning with the Opening Plenary Speaker, Jerome Ringo, the first African-American to lead a major conservation group (The National Wildlife Federation) and continuing with Plenary Speaker Mark Milliron, the deputy director for post-secondary improvement for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a study in how various parties can collaborate to improve educational opportunities for students was a recurring theme. Understanding how dramatically facilities can impact student performance, balancing expenditures with revenue is a growing challenge. Concurrent sessions all shared a “green” theme, but also challenged attendees to find new and creative ways to collaborate with stakeholder – both on and off campus to find innovative new ways to stretch budget dollars and increase opportunities for students and staff.
Ever-expanding technology provides both challenges and solutions for colleges and universities. Many faculty members reportedly are hesitant to embrace new methods of connecting with students, yet incoming students want to learn rather than to be taught. Technology allows them seemingly endless opportunities for learning, regardless of location or time of day. Faculty are being challenged to find new ways to embrace technology, but them facilities staff must find ways (with a limited budget) to support these technology needs through infrastructure. The conclusion reached in many sessions was that institutions who figure out this challenge will thrive while those who continue to resist will fade away or become irrelevant.
Last Wednesday, I had the afternoon free while I was in Boston. I used that free time as an opportunity to sight see around town. The easiest way to do that was to hop on the Boston Duck Tour (www.BostonDuckTours.com). The ConDUCKtor was Frim “DucKarma” Jolly, Boston’s good time guru. Frim drove us all through town, dodging traffic along the way. He pointed out the significant points at interest in Boston’s great history. He also pointed out a few insignificant facts, but that made things fun. Eventually, we got to the Charles river where our duck splashed down. Riding on the river provides a nice panoramic view of the city. The tour finished up back at the station in front of my hotel. If you are ever in Boston, I highly recommend taking a Duck Tour.
Last week I traveled to Boston for the SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) Build Business national conference. The tagline was “Reinvent Retool Rebound” and the conference was energizing. I attended several educational sessions that were very interesting. My personal favorite was Harnessing Social Media to Enhance Competitive Advantage. Using social media tools in the AEC industry has been a challenge for most of us. This session focused on firms in our industry effectively using social media to connect with clients.
The Keynote presentations were excellent. Erik Wahl spoke about sharpening your creative skills to rethink your vision and purpose. While he spoke he created three paintings - Bono, Michael Jordan, Albert Einstein. It was a very inspiring presentation - I plan to get my paint supplies out this week. The other keynote speaker was Chris Brogan. Chris spoke on the use of social media as a marketing platform. His presentation was fun and entertaining, but was difficult to translate to a professional services environment.
It’s always nice to catch up with friends from other parts of the country. This conference was attended by people from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii and also included some attendees from our neighbors to the north in Canada.
Probably the highlight for me was my good friend and co-worker, Mike Totsch receiving the Chapter President of the Year Award. Congratulations Mike! You’ve done a phenomenal job in the Columbus Chapter. I’d also like to thank the Columbus Chapter for “adopting” me at the conference. There were only three of us from the Northeast Ohio Chapter, and Columbus had more than a dozen people. They were gracious to include us in there plans.
If you were not able to attend the conference, but would like to ask some questions and learn about some things the attendees took away, please check out the Build Business TweetChat on July 27th. Information can be found here: http://www.buildbusiness.org/tweetchat_ad.pdf
I am just finishing up my third week as Tec Inc.’s lighting design intern and I have already learned so much in such little time. I knew coming into this internship that I was going to be absorbing an abundant amount of information but I never would have guessed that in just three weeks I would have already had some site visits and meetings with lighting representatives under my belt, and on top of that, already helping out with lighting calculations and layouts for some real, actual projects!
On my third day down in Columbus, I had the opportunity to go with Mike to the Edge Group, a landscaping design firm, to meet them, have lunch, and listen to Mike give a talk about business relations and marketing. It was very exciting for me to finally start meeting professionals in different types of design professions. I also learned some helpful hints from Mike’s talk that I’m sure will stick with me as I go into my professional career.
About a week ago, I went on a trip to Defiance College with Mike and Ardra to meet with the maintenance department to discuss possible changes to their interior and exterior lighting plans and fixtures. I didn’t say much during the meeting but I sure was listening. After hearing Ardra discuss lamp and fixture types with the department, I sure did learn a lot. I feel so lucky to be interning under such a knowledgeable lighting designer!
So as you can all see, I am keeping busy and my brain is GROWING!!!! I can’t wait to see what Tec has in store for me in the upcoming weeks… I’ll keep you posted
-Natalie
Do you have a back-up plan for your data? I got bit by a poorly executed back-up plan this week. A catastrophic hard-drive failure lost some files for a hand-full of projects. The files may be recoverable - I’ll find out today, but at a significant cost. I could have eliminated this entire ordeal if I had done a more diligent job of creating a back-up plan, including an off-site back-up. Hard-drives fail, buildings flood or burn, people delete files by accident - it’s inevitable. We have a back-up plan in place in Cleveland. I am now making a back-up plan for our Columbus that will be implemented very soon.
My desk is back is from the chaos.
This poor little guy (or girl), was stuck in the dumpster behind our office. Sitting in the blazing sun, the dumpster was like an oven. We did a little searching in the back storage room and found a couple boxes that were long enough to make ramps - one to climb up, one to slide down and out of the dumpster. The racoon was a bit shy with everyone standing around, but left alone for 15 minutes, it was gone. Happy ending!
My name is Natalie Simmons and I am the new summer intern for Tec Inc.
Engineering & Design. I am currently a student at The University of
Akron and will be a senior in the interior design program this coming
fall. I have had an interest for interior design as far back as I can
remember and lately, my interest has expanded to incorporate lighting
design after learning about it in school. When I saw that Tec was
looking for an intern for their lighting department, I thought, “What a
great opportunity!” I am very excited to be here at Tec and I am really
looking forward to learning more about lighting and gaining even more of
an appreciation for the art.
Natalie in the Tec
Museum with antique light meters
After starting to clean my cluttered cubicle, I found this great article on Lifehacker.com
http://lifehacker.com/5560913/the-end+all-guide-to-getting-out-from-under-your-office-crap
This was such a crazy busy week.
Monday - Staff Scheduling Meeting, Lake County YMCA Strong Kids Campaign Golf Outing
Tuesday - Project Interview Prep, Conference Call with my favorite SMPS marketers Holly & Dana, Miscellaneous SMPS stuff
Wednesday - All day trip to Columbus for a SMPS Luncheon - socializing with my peers in the AEC marketing community
Thursday - completed a SF330 proposal - incorporating three other consultants
With all that, I now have this…
and
Fortunately, today I have some time to straighten up. Check back later for the new pics.
Written by: Amy Lauria
It poured! But that didn’t stop Team Tec from turning up at the
Lake/Geauga County START! HEART WALK bright and early last Saturday, May
22. Or from being a corporate sponsor for the event again this year.
The
location of the Heart Walk was changed for 2010. Veteran’s Park in the
heart of Downtown Painesville was a good choice. As always, the
atmosphere was festive with tables lining the sidewalks and refreshments
provided under a large tent. There was a host stationed in the gazebo
to provide both entertainment and direction to walkers.
It was
lighthearted as we socialized before the walk, with intermittent
scattered sprinkles causing us to put up our umbrellas a time or two. My
son graciously offered to hold an umbrella for the two of us, which was
lovely until he began tipping it so that rainwater ran down onto my
head. Minutes before Go Time, the monsoon was unleashed. Our team
wimped out (only a little) and opted for the 1-mile route. None of us
wanted to trudge 3 miles through a torrential downpour.
We had a
few teenagers on the team who had a blast stomping and skipping through
puddles. I’m not sure they walked around any of them.
Unfortunately,
we couldn’t get our picture taken before the event due to the
intermittent drizzle. As luck would have it, the rain eased near the end
of the walk. And a photographer was happy to capture us all looking
like drowned rats. Of course, the men fared better than the females.
Make sure to check back and see the photo. We’ll post it as soon as we
receive it…
It is often said that you can’t have the rainbow
without the rain. Considering the amount raised to combat heart disease,
what’s a little rain? So many are helped by the American Heart
Association’s fundraising each and every year. That could be considered
the rainbow.
SPECIAL THANKS TO ‘TEAM TEC’ SPONSORS: Slowey Insurance and CS Packaging—both of Mentor.
Molly & Tucker just returned from vacation. They had recently put in a lot of hours, including some overtime. This week Pam & Terry were away at a conference, so they had a dog-sitter for the week. Molly & Tucker returned today, so excited, they ran through the office before finding a comfortable spot up front to lay down. 
Molly sleeping in the President’s office
Tucker in the reception area.
We may be a little behind the rest of the world with our Microsoft Office 2000 version. But it does what we need 95% of the time. As we’ve upgraded hardware, the last few computers we bought came with Office 2007…and the Ribbon. Being the IT guy, I was an early adopter of Office 2007 - “for testing purposes”. I’ve used it off and on for about a year, mostly for quick little projects that don’t require a lot of formatting. Coming from the old version of Office, I found the Ribbon to be a bit frustrating. It was definitely designed for the new user, not the converted power user.
I format project specifications in our office. As a sub-consultant to architects, we try to match the formatting that the architect is using on their specifications. Some are pretty easy to match, others require a lot of effort to match. In Office 2000, I created macros that sped up the process of formatting. I could do all, or most, of the formatting with the click of a button. Unfortunately, with changes to our master specification templates and changes in Word, most of my macros no longer function properly.
Microsoft Office toolbars/ribbons are customizable to an extent, and I haven’t taken the time to customize mine yet. I just worked on my first big formatting project entirely in Word 2007 and felt like I was jumping around on the ribbon way more than I did in the standard toolbars of Word 2000. And some of the features I use regularly, may be a bit obscure to the average user, but I have such a hard time finding them. Sometimes I even have to search the help.
I can certainly see advantages to Office 2007, especially for new user or people who mostly just type. But I have to say, I’m not sold on “The Ribbon”. What do you think of it?
Over the years I have used Flickr, the photo sharing service, to post photos I have taken of flowers, landscapes, and vintage automobiles. Last year I started uploading photos for Tec. It’s an easy way to share photos of completed projects. If you haven’t visited Flickr lately, I recommend checking it out.
I didn’t realize all of the features available. I knew about groups and photo sets, but I didn’t know that assigning images to location maps was available - and easy to do. The default picture titles are the JPG file names, but it is very easy to change those to a more recognizable (and searchable) name.
I spent parts of the last couple days updating the photos on our Flickr photo stream. Please take a few minutes to check it out. If you have a few extra minutes, please check out my personal photo stream .
The Richard T. Farmer School of Business at Miami University recently received its USGBC certification of LEED Silver, a goal of the project design.
Ardra Zinkon, Director of Lighting Design at Tec Inc. Engineering & Design completed the lighting design for this project. The lighting design necessitated high efficiency luminaires tied into automated lighting control systems while maintaining the architectural integrity of a traditionally designed building.
To meet the specialized needs of A/V intensive classrooms the lighting design utilizes digitally addressable ballasts and incorporates motorized shading systems providing sun as well as black out shades. The classrooms also include daylight sensors in conjunction with dimming ballasts for lower power consumption to take advantage of available daylight contribution. The lighting power densities were targeted at 20 percent less than ASHRAE 90.1 and were still able to meet the IESNA
Recommended Practice footcandle levels.
The project included two high-end auditoriums that incorporated full scale dimming and the use of custom high performance decorative luminaires to meet the architectural aesthetics of the space. Similar high performance decorative luminaires were used throughout the building with additional daylight harvesting controls. A light pipe system was concealed within the
main Atrium’s skylight to create the effect that all light was natural and provided through the skylight.
The use of new and innovative technology allowed the project to meet the needs of the space and be very energy efficient while aesthetically unifying the architectural design.
To view larger images of the Richard T. Farmer School of business, and other photos not included in this post, please check out our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38277640@N02/sets/72157617948546653/
Last weekend I got to experience my second turn at being a juror for the SMPS Marketing & Communication Awards. I’m bound by a confidentiality agreement to not reveal any awards recipients (or non-recipients), but I can talk about my experience. My first year I was on the category of jurors that turned out to be the last category to finish judging - it was very long and grueling. This year I requested a different category.
This year I was asked to be the Team Leader for our category. We sat down at our station with 11 entries and knew it was going to be a long day. We weren’t the last group, but we were not done early.
The whole event is quite interesting as a participating juror. It’s more than just looking at the entries and picking the one we like. Each entry was judged on the same criteria:
- Marketing Objective
- Creativity
- Quality
- Content
- Results
It’s a valuable learning experience volunteering as a juror. I had the opportunity to view content from a wide variety of firms from across the United States, and had a first-hand look at some of the things that work really well, and some of the things that don’t work so well.
MCA Judging is a great opportunity for networking. A nice reception started off the evening on Friday, followed by groups heading out for a bite to eat. Saturday evening included a dinner at the Brazilian Steakhouse. I would guess about two-thirds of the jurors attended the dinner, which was organized by the Cincinnati Chapter of SMPS. Then after dinner it was time for drinks at the Cadillac Ranch.
If you ever have the opportunity to judge awards for an organization, try it at least once. The learning experience and networking are well worth the effort of judging.
Big thank you to Melissa Lutz at Champlin Architecture and the Cincinnati Chapter of SMPS for the tremendous job organizing and hosting the MCA Judging weekend.
We’ve had the good fortune to be short-listed for a few projects recently. Some we’ve been selected for, others we haven’t. As we continue to move forward, we are making a diligent effort to debrief. Not only for non-selections, but also the projects we were selected to complete. Let me tell you, it’s been eye opening!
One interview was for a very large project with a public entity. We put together what we thought was a strong team, including a nationally renowned expert. We thought we were thorough and followed guidelines presented. It hurts to get knocked down, we were ranked last of the short-list participants. We know the team is technically capable - it didn’t shine through in our interview. The panel was underwhelmed, and at times confused. What we learned: a non-local expert was not necessary, the project manager is the key speaker - they don’t need to meet everyone at the interview. Key in on the owner’s concerns.
Recently we were selected to complete a project, after a successful interview. Although we were successful, I’m sure we weren’t perfect. And after debriefing, I found out we weren’t. We certainly did some things well. And the things that were not great, were also not terrible.
Unfortunately, what works well for one potential client, may not work with another. The big key is knowing ahead of time, what to prepare for. My advice, if you’re not already doing it, ask to debrief with the head of the interview panel or project manager - whoever will provide you with honest feedback. Listen to what they have to say and work to apply it when appropriate.
Now that most of the country has dug itself out of the Blizzard of 2010, we can reflect. Other than shoveling snow two times a day, not much changed in the Cleveland area. A couple meetings were postponed or canceled, but life moved on. Travel a couple hours south, and it was a different story. Columbus has limited resources for snow removal, and they got a lot of snow - at times, more than Cleveland. We do a lot of work in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. They had so much snow everything shut down for a week! My relatives in Virginia were snowed in for at least a couple days. Record snowfall in Dallas, Texas - 12″. There was one day when every state except Hawaii had snow - this is a very rare occurrence.
What’s your blizzard story?
For years a significant volume of our engineering service has been in industrial or medical laboratories. Many of our clients and business partners probably don’t realize that we have created our own working laboratory here in Cleveland, Ohio. We’re not developing sticky paper or haircare products, working with mitochondrial DNA or cloning critters. But rather, in our office we installed products from a variety of manufacturers allowing us to implement products that we tend to specify. As staff in the office, we tend to take for granted the fact that we work in a laboratory. Last week we took advantage of our space when we held a client meeting at our office. 
A new client is building an office space in Cleveland. The plan for the office is similar to office, a converted warehouse with high ceilings and some exposed utilities. By holding the meeting here, we could help the client visualize the way the space works, demonstrate a variety of lighting options - direct, indirect and combination direct/indirect, fluorescent; halogen, LED, and Metal Halide; programmable lighting controls and daylight sensing controls - HVAC controls, and sustainable design practices. The client was appreciative of the opportunity to tour our “laboratory” and see how she might incorporate some of these design ideas into her own office showroom. 
It’s important to translate architectural/engineering drawings into reality. I think especially in the early stages of an engineer’s career (and probably similarly for an architect) the opportunity to see how the objects they are drawing are installed and eventually work in a building. The way something is designed on paper can’t always be accomplished in reality, due to a variety of issues including conflicts with other systems. When an engineer can walk around the office to see how something works or is installed, it can only be beneficial in the grand scheme of things. 