Many of you have probably already read this article posted to Salon.com this past Saturday. There have also been a few similar articles written in the New York Times and WSJ. Is our profession really experiencing an all-out “meltdown”, or are we no worse than most other businesses and industries trying to survive the most […]
How do you measure your success?
There’s a saying in business, “What gets measured, gets managed.” Winning companies track several metrics to gauge their performance and measure business success. ROI (return on investment), EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization), average sales, website traffic, employee churn and average inventory are all key business indicators. Large retailers track same store sales, […]
Our Architectural Services Proposal
Several years ago, I attended a local AIA seminar presented by a fellow architect and the Chapter Council. The topic was “alternative agreements”. What I learned during that interactive meeting was that for some projects, selecting one of the many legal documents available from our national professional organizations an appropriate way to protect both the […]
Do you use AIA Contract Documents? Let’s talk agreements…
Several years ago, we constructed a new Proposal document that doubles as our Owner / Architect Agreement. It’s 5 pages long and, together with a separate 2 page “Standard Terms and Conditions” document, it includes all the protections of the AIA document… but looks and reads much friendlier. Fivecat Studio specializes in large residential additions […]
BUILD LLC
I been following the BUILD blog for about a year. BUILD LLC is a small design/build firm located in Seattle, specializing in modern residential and small commercial projects. They maintain a very nice website and post to their blog on a regular basis. Their most recent post, Thank You Sir May I Have Another, is […]
Do You Tweet?
From Architectural Record: It seems like everyone these days is constantly plugged into their technological devices, tweeting their whereabouts, Facebooking their statuses, and publicizing anything and everything about themselves. Companies are even engaged in the phenomenon, using social media tools to market their products and services. But for architects, do these online pursuits pay off? […]