I’ll take one last look at the Orlando trip, not as a travelogue, but as an example of how consistent blogging can lead to new opportunities. In addition to my posts here at Building Content, I also guest blog on the member site UPworld  and I am active on a few key social networking sites including Architizer, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These extracurricular online activities, coupled with blogging, form the framework of my story, presented here briefly.
 
Prior to the Coverings 2010 show, Architizer established a contest to send a guest blogger to the event. The entry itself was a blog of sorts; a 200 word self promotion pitch.  The selected entry (linked here) was a light-hearted, if not cheesy, take on the Disney’s What’s Next ad campaign “I’m going to Disney World!”
I was flown to Orlando, met some great people (Nicole, Mark, Ryan)  learned a lot and prepared this recap blog  (linked here)  after the show.
 
Meanwhile, back at UPworld, I had been conversing with Duane Craig  who was seeking a LEED AP architect to interview for a pod cast on his own blog, The Construction Informer. Duane contacted me based on my member profile and a few earlier shared comments. Although credentialed, I didn’t feel qualified to discuss the LEED process, but I was interested in expanding my network through Duane’s pod cast. Fresh off the WordPress, I suggested my Architizer guest post as content for our interview.
 
After a bit of coordination, we connected and produced this podcast (linked here). 

Image by State Library and Archives of Florida via Flickr

 The long and short of it is that social network connections can and should positively impact others. Your blog content can be shared and exchanged and formatted in new ways to enrich different audiences. Be open to opportunities, enter online contests, seek the opportunities that abound in your social networks. 
 
Take a first step and share your story here.

Image via Wikipedia

 As a member of the press team for Coverings 2010, the first event was a behind-the-scenes tour of the Disney property with a twenty-one year veteran “cast member”. The theme for the afternoon: Disney by Design.

Most of us have gleaned stories of the over the years of the Disney, his talents his vision and the World he created. His hired architects and corporate successors too have generated some tales that have become legend. I was glad to be on hand to hear them again first hand.

I will follow this update shortly with a list of fun facts I learned or relearned from this tour.

Image by Fraochsidhe via Flickr

    PLEASE STAY TUNED. . .

Welcome to Orlando!

 The occasion for this change of focus? Well, on behalf of Architizer.com, I will be attending and blogging about Coverings 2010 – The Ultimate Tile + Stone Experience, in Orlando Florida. I have attended my share of conventions, but this is my first time as a member of the press. I look forward to posting my Coverings experience here daily but I also invite you to Architizer.com for “best of” coverage. (And go ahead and join Architizer.com while you are there!)   

 The following is from an early Coverings 2010 press release:

 ”Coverings is the premier international trade fair and expo dedicated exclusively to showcasing the newest in ceramic tile and natural stone. It has grown to be the largest and most important show of its kind in the U.S., featuring exhibitors from more than 50 countries and attracting thousands of distributors, retailers, fabricators, contractors and specifiers, architectural and design professionals, builders and real estate developers, plus the press and journalists who cover this vital and dynamic industry. Coverings is the stage for introducing some of the most innovative tile and stone products in the world. The exposition also serves as a valuable resource for continuing education for all categories of attendees, with informative, accredited seminars and live demonstration sessions conducted throughout the four days and all free of charge.”

Appartment Building, Concepcion, Chile

I didn’t take action right away however, and when I did sit down to write (that is, to gather data and potential blog links) I learned the building code aspects of the story had already been well covered. It was a good idea, shared by many and developed quickly online. These writers had produced timely news-based posts for their blogs. I hadn’t.
 
Although this blog, Building Content, does address current events and trends, it is not intended to be a news blog, per se. News reporting, aggregation, and commentary are popular blog types, but Building Content has a different objective; it is specifically devoted to offering coaching and content to fellow architectural bloggers. The earthquake in Chile was no longer news, but it still held a story.
 
As I looked at how others were covering the earthquake, I saw a range of writers’ insights. The facts of the event were set (other than the rising death count, which is the human aspect that trumps all other data) but each writer beheld – or imposed – a different perspective on the story.
 
In my evaluation of blog coverage of the Chilean quake and building codes, I found the more pertinent theme for readers here:
 

A professional blog should manifest the writer’s a unique point of view.

 
In light of this, let me show you how five different bloggers have approached the building code aspects of the Chilean earthquake and presented the story to their readers in a unique way: 

USA Today – Lessons learned should be lessons applied; “I look at the reports of collapsing bridges and highways in Chile and worry what would happen here.”

The Huffington Post - The significance of preparedness; “No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.”

Treehugger – A refutation of “the Libertarian point of view (that) building codes are evil and an intrusion.”
 
 Seattle Times – A look at the socioeconomic context of the building codes; ”Poverty is what ultimately kills most people during an earthquake”

News busters – Exposing a political activist’s ”gotcha” quote about Haiti’s lack of building codes.
 

When you initiate a professional blog post be accurate with the facts and details, of course; but press beyond the raw data. Deliver your experience and expertise as well. Whether personally or professionally, share your unique point of view as you write. If you engage your audience and promote dialogue, your blog will be richer and your reader may, in time, become your client.

 After all, I want my fellow architects to enjoy coming to this place, and to benefit from it.

 If you have any specific questions you need answered or topics you would like addressed regarding the best use of a professional blog, please let me know.

Learning from Las Vegas - Cover Art

Learning from Las Vegas is the title of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown’s seminal work. In the early seventies, Venturi, Scott Brown and their associates heralded a profound shift in the understanding of buildings; not unlike the current shift in our understanding of media and communication embodied by the Blogworld Expo 2009 in Nevada.

Again, fellow architects, we are Learning from Las Vegas.  

In this second example of great advice from the Blogworld Expo, I present a gem from Irene Koehler, the social media coach at Almost Savvy. She tracked down the inimitable Chris Brogan who granted this brief interview answering the question, “How can having a blog help me or my business? ” (view video)

Now, for those of you who aren’t yet immersed in the new media, this interview with Chris Brogan is equivalent to meeting a young Robert Venturi while his theory and design were changing the way the profession thought about buildings. (If you don’t understand this reference, ask an elder architect about the Vanna Venturi House.)

Seriously, as an architectural practitioner wandering around the edges of blog production, watch this video and see if Chris Brogan’s sage advice nudges you forward. Our culture is undergoing a profound communication shift, and with it, the means of business promotion is transforming too.  It is a unique time. Learn from it and begin reaching your future clients by means of your own professional blog.

Please post your comments here. If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me (or Irene or Chris for that matter) and start moving forward on your professional blog.

From time to time I have the opportunity to contribute to the blog at UPworld, a unique online community for designers, builders and real estate professionals. As UPworld grew they chose to move to an invitation only model. Recently when tweeting a reference to a blog I’d posted there, a friend pointed out the simple truth – without access to the site she couldn’t get to my post. I’ve come up with a fix, in the form of this offer:

If any of my readers here at Building Content would like to join this global network of industry specialists, please contact me. I would be pleased to have you join and become part of my UPworld network. We can move from the traditional writer-audience relationship to a more dynamic paradigm within an industry-specific community.

Please leave a comment or email me at collier1960@hotmail.com.

As a fellow practitioner, I understand that there are plenty of reasons for you to not be on the cutting edge of Internet marketing. Architects have to keep up with sustainability trends, BIM technologies, ever developing codes, regulations and specification formats; all while surviving in a global economic recession. If pressed, you would conclude that mastering the Internet just isn’t critical to your mission.

Fortunately, in its current state, the Internet doesn’t require you to master it to successfully employ it. The marketing, networking and information-exchange power of the Internet can be harnessed simply and effectively through blogging.  

Who has the budget or time or patience to launch professional blog? Perhaps you do!

The cost to start blogging is low (as international marketing ventures go) and the time commitment is manageable. Best of all, there are consultants who can coach you through your site set-up and content development. The consultant is an expert in all things blog-related. For example, there are ways to write your posts that make them attractive to Google (and therefore easy to find by your information-seeking potential clients) via the art and science of Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Facsinating stuff – but now you know all you need to know about SEO! Wasn’t that easy?

Personally, for the creation of your blog or for any strategy, management or writing help, I recommend the team at Writers Elite, under the direction of Robin Hale, a recognized expert in this savvy side of the Internet.