Practice Disrupted by Practice of Architecture

Episode 028: Building a Digital Marketing Strategy What is digital marketing and how can AEC firms elevate their marketing strategy?Our reliance on technology has prompted today’s leading businesses to reevaluate how they market. Slowly, digital marketing trends have found their way into the AEC industry. While most AEC companies have been slow to adopt new marketing strategies, some have embraced these concepts to generate new business.In this episode, we speak with Danielle Gray, an expert on digital marketing, who helps us understand the breadth of digital marketing and the value of content strategy. After starting her career as a marketing professional, Danielle now runs her own marketing company advising AEC firms on how to elevate their digital marketing efforts.DG Marketing Company is a referral-only marketing firm that helps clients with brand strategy, design and execution, and provides one-on-one coaching with firm leaders. In her free time, Danielle is known for her gift as a speaker, connector, creator, and storyteller and has spoken widely across the country with groups including SMPS and AMA. Her presentations include: Nobody’s Reading That!, Confessions of a Content Whisperer, and a new offering, [Safe Space] with Danielle.Guest:Known for her reliability and humor, Danielle Gray is a Content Marketing Strategist with over nine years of industry experience composing proposals, writing content, running email campaigns, and generating leads online. Along with developing proposals, she helped her former design-build firm grow website visits by 88% and contributed over $150 million in revenue from leads generated from the website in just three years. Now, Danielle is the owner of DG Marketing Company, a professional services marketing firm committed to contributing and creating genuine, humanized marketing that listens and solves instead of tells and sells. She also speaks around the country about content generation, the importance of digital marketing and social media specifically relating to the AEC industry.Show Links:DG Marketing CompanyDanielle Gray, MBA

Episode 027: Techniques for Effective People ManagementWhat’s the difference between managing and leading? And, what is effective management?In this episode, we interview Foram Sheth, Co-Founder and Chief Coaching Officer of Ama La Vida to discuss management training with new and mid-level managers. Learn about the 12 year trap and why it’s important to start leadership training sooner rather than later.Ama La Vida is an innovative career, leadership, life and health coaching company centered around the understanding that you can and should love your life. Ama La Vida uses a proprietary blend of online eCoaching modules with one-on-one virtual sessions with your personally matched coach to help its members create meaningful, measurable change in their lives.Guest:After starting her career in consulting, Foram Sheth left everything she knew to co-found an innovative coaching company. Foram helps her clients accelerate their success by leveraging her consulting background of driving results through data while combining her strengths of empathy and individuality. Foram has been featured in publications like CNBC, The Chicago Tribune, and Inc, where she shares her vision of making coaching accessible to people of all age groups and socioeconomic statuses. Foram is an adjunct faculty at Northwestern University and has a Masters in Learning and Organizational Change with her coaching certification in Organizational and Leadership Coaching from Northwestern University.Show Links:Ama La VidaForam on General AssemblyHow to Be An Effective Manager TrainingHBR on Micromanaging

Episode 026: Climate Action Through EntrepreneurshipHow are architects using their training to fight climate change?The team at cove.tool is fighting climate change by helping architects, engineers, contractors and developers use data-driven design through automation and cost optimization. They lead by example by making science and transparency central while pushing the boundaries.Founder, Patrick Chopson joins us to discuss his journey into entrepreneurship and his pursuit to help solve the climate crisis through the use of design, technology, and science. Cove.tool is a building design platform for intelligent performance. It is streamlined to automate analysis that helps architects, engineers, and contractors achieve energy, COVID occupancy, daylight, glare, radiation, water, and embodied carbon targets while reducing construction cost.Guest:Focusing on the crossover between architecture and technology, Patrick Chopson, AIA leads cove.tool, a web-based design software for buildings using machine learning and automation to drive decision making. He oversees product development and customer acquisition as a Co-Founder. A graduate of Georgia Tech with a Master's in High Performance Buildings, he is a licensed architect with over 16 years of experience in architecture, research, and mechanical engineering firms. Prior to cove.tool he co-founded a successful building performance consulting firm Pattern r+d. Multiple publications include Architect Magazine, Tech Crunch, Site Selection, ArchDaily, and more. Show Links:cove.tool

Episode 025: Architecture, And: TechHow are individuals using their training in architecture to explore diverse career paths?Continuing our series on “architecture, and”, we interview Kat Dovjenko who is a former Program Manager at the R+D Lab for the Built Environment. She recently joined Muse & Company as their new Creative Director. She designs physical and digital spaces and transforms emerging ideas into scalable solutions. She works with technologies such as AR/VR, next gen software, and robotics to drive innovation in the AEC industry. Right now, she is helping craft the future of workplace. Guest:Kat Dovjenko is inspired by the dynamic energy around architecture and urban planning. She maintains that the more complex, ambitious, and unsolvable the problem, the better. She recently joined Muse & Company as Creative Director.As a former Program Manager at the R+D Lab for the Built Environment, Kat drove talented teams to unite and achieve outcomes they would not be able to do individually—at multiple scales and in multiple stages of the design process. With R+D, Kat navigated speculative pockets of the future and weaved together how they might impact our built spaces. Kat never shies away from ambiguity and is skilled at using foresight and storytelling to propel leading-edge technologies into real products for the workplace and beyond.Kat was born near a nuclear meltdown in Kyiv, Ukraine, which imbued her with a superpower for exploration and discovery. She studied Finance in Vancouver, Canada, before earning her Masters in Architecture from the University of Toronto.In her spare time, Kat works alongside three brilliant investors and leads a syndicate of architects and builders to invest in AEC-related startups. She’s currently learning how to play a steel hang drum, albeit slowly. Show Links:Kat’s websiteR+D for the Built EnvironmentMuse & CompanySpatial SyndicateKat Dovjenko on TRXL

Episode 024: Managing Knowledge & Data for Continuous ImprovementWhat is knowledge management? And why is it important for growing a design studio?In this episode, we interview Christopher Parsons, the Founder and CEO of Knowledge Architecture to learn more about knowledge management. Knowledge Architecture builds software, community, and best practices to help architecture and engineering firms find, share, and manage knowledge.Their software platform is Synthesis, a social intranet which integrates with Deltek, Newforma, and OpenAsset. They also run an annual knowledge management conference for the AEC industry called KA Connect, as well as a client community of practice for Synthesis intranet teams called KA Advance.Founded in 2009 and serving over 100 AEC clients, Knowledge Architecture is privately-held, employee-owned, and passionate about co-creating and sharing best practices to advance the state of knowledge management in the AEC industry.Knowledge Architecture is based in San Francisco, California.Guest:Christopher Parsons is the Founder and CEO of Knowledge Architecture, and is responsible for research and development, sales and marketing, and organizational development. He is the executive producer of KA Connect, KA’s annual knowledge management conference for the AEC industry. Christopher has been a technology leader in the AEC industry since 2002, including serving as the Chief Information Officer for Steinberg Architects and the Information Technology Director for SMWM (now Perkins+Will).Christopher has a degree in History from Wake Forest University. He’s an avid reader, hiker, birdwatcher, and cook.Show Links:Deep Dive SeriesKA Connect Talk ArchiveAEC KM 101 Talk and KM Periodic Table GraphicMailing List Sign UpThe Advantage by Patrick Lencioni Small Giants by Bo BurlinghamBootstrapped, Profitable, and Proud by Basecamp

Episode 023: Finding a New Value Proposition Through TechHow are architects disrupting the inefficiencies of the design and construction process?The founders of CONCERT initially set out to design a technology solution to replace documents with digital instruments of service. They quickly realized they were designing a new value proposition of trust and protection in the documentation process.Within most design studios, digital drawings and models are continually being updated throughout the design, construction and even operations process. CONCERT enables digital delivery with any file type, including PDFs and digital models, on The Concert Digital Exchange©, so that designers can secure and protect their IP.In this episode, we’ll discuss blockchain, the economic forces at play in AEC, and the opportunity for architects to expand our agency through the development of technology.Guests:Adam Wilbrecht, AIA is a Principal at Cuningham Group Architecture and co-founder of CONCERT. A registered architect and specialist in both building and design technologies, Adam is an active member of the AIA’s CIO Large Firm Roundtable, as well as the AEC-IT Leaders Group, and the University of Minnesota Consortium for Research Practices.Show Links:getconcert.comCuningham.comaecitleaders.orgBlockchain explainedAdam Wilbrecht on TRXL

Episode 022: Reimagining Work in the New Digital-First WorkplaceWhat are best practices for the new digital-first workplace?Future Forum enables leaders to reimagine work through data and dialogue, to create a people-centric and digital-first future of work.Helen Kupp, Director of Product Strategy of the Future Forum joins Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen Chastain to share lessons learned from the Remote Employee Experience Index.Future Forum has launched the Remote Employee Experience Index, a new quarterly report that will provide the data and analysis that organizations need to navigate this new world of work. To access the full global report, click here.Guest:Helen Kupp is the Director of Product Strategy of the Future Forum, where she leads membership program development, and strategic partnerships.Previously, Helen led the Strategy & Analytics team at Slack, where she drove various cross-functional initiatives such as international launch and strategy, building our professional services offering, and leading Slack’s fundraising and direct listing efforts.Before Slack, Helen held various bizops and product roles at Thumbtack and BloomReach, primarily focused on launching and scaling new initiatives. Prior to a career in technology, Helen was a consultant with Bain & Company.Helen received a BS from Caltech and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She’s a new mom to a spunky 10 month old baby boy, and is passionate about advocating for and creating better support for working moms.Show Links:futureforum.com/blogRemote Employee Experience Indexslack.com

Episode 021: Season 2 LaunchWelcome back to Practice Disrupted! Hosts Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen Chastain launch season 2 with guest moderator Wanda Lau.In 2020 Evelyn and Je’Nen set out to explore the evolution of architectural practice in a changing world. In the six months between the start of the podcast to the end of season 1, the world experienced rapid transformation into a post COVID world. In 2021 they’ll continue to investigate practice shifts in the architecture profession while discussing how the pandemic has prompted additional change. Together they’ll find new solutions to current challenges while elevating the value of architects.Hosts:Evelyn M. Lee, AIA, MBA, MPA is a licensed architect in the state of California, with over 15 years of experience working with individuals and companies that are looking to reshape their future. She is the founder of Practice of Architecture, the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, and the first female Treasurer to AIA National‘s Board of Directors.Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a management consultancy serving professionals in architecture. With 10 years of experience working in the field, she is known for content creation of programs, research, and resources that support next generation leaders. She frequently collaborates with the Practice of Architecture and the AIA.Moderator:Wanda Lau is an editor, writer, and podcaster covering technology, practice, and op-eds at ARCHITECT magazine, the journal of the AIA . She is an award-winning editor and writer who has covered everything from building codes to firm culture. She is also a host and producer of the ARCHITECT Podcast Network. Prior to joining ARCHITECT, she worked for a decade in the AEC industry as an owner’s representative, engineer, and communications director—but not all at once.Show Links:  practicedisrupted.comhttp://practiceofarchitecture.com/ https://apostrophe.consulting/  https://www.architectmagazine.com/author/wanda-lau Follow us on social media: @practiceofarch

Season 02 trailer

Episode 020: Ask Me Anything, Season FinaleWe take questions from our listeners and recap what we learned in Season 1 of Practice Disrupted.Hosts:Evelyn Lee, Founder of Practice of Architecture & Senior Experience Designer for Slack TechnologiesJe’Nen Chastain, Founder of Apostrophe ConsultingModerator:Dimitrius Lynch, Chief Creative Director for Gabl Media