In the few months since I launched this blog (dedicated to encouraging and equipping fellow architects to start their own professional blogs) I have seen several developments that are worth noting. If launching your own blog seems daunting, you may find solace in numbers. Here are three blog communities you could affiliate with or just visit to see what other professionals are producing.

The industry-specific networking site, UPworld, which is built around the global Real Estate, Design and Construction fields began its blog feature last year. Selected UPworld members agree to provide one publish-ready post per month. The site administrator regulates the posts so there is a fresh flow of new content for member-readers.  UPworld is free but it has moved to ”by invitation only” enrollment; please let me know if you’d like to check it out and I’ll email you the link. My series of blogs explores netgiving, a term I use for enlightened online interaction beyond mere networking.  

There is a new industry-based blogging venture that I just encountered through one of my LinkedIn groups. It was initiated by a young Engineering Marketer named Curtis Lewis. The site is called AecPress and serves ”interior designers, architects and builders (who see) the benefits of engaging in social media” and seek an audience of peers for their blogs. This audience aligns with my target niche, so I’m right in there with Curtis. Membership is open, so please take a look at AecPress.

I have one final example of industry-directed blogging - and along with it a humble request. Mark Buckshon at Construction Marketing Ideas has established one of the finest construction blog networks. To showcase the quantity and quality of the blogs, he has established the Best Construction Blog competition. Follow this link to the official ballot; from the titles alone you can see the array of specialty niches within the construction industry. There really are some fine examples of professional blogs that you can peruse for information and blogging inspiration. Why not vote for one or two? (I’ll tuck my request in here: While you’ve got the ballot open, please vote for my blog, “Building Content“. It is seventh on the list. Soliciting votes like this is okay, it’s actually approved by the concert rules. Thanks!)

I invite you to access these different blogging communities. If you have any specific questions, please let me know. And as always, feel free to leave your comments here.

I have already discovered an online opportunity that in a simple way serves to confirm my assertion. It addresses the long-term needs of the citizens of Haiti while allowing designers to engage in problem-solving and idea-exploration; an ideal situation for today’s underworked architects.

HAITI EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER

 
The web-based group Spontaneous Architecture is sponsoring, as part of their ongoing monthly series, a mini-competition simply titled, “February 2010: Haiti“.

The competition identifies a handful of Port-au-Prince sites including the National Place and other nearby collapsed institutions. The issue is posed; “People talk about emergency shelter. What about emergency institutions” such as medical, judicial, economic and educational? It is a very open-ended program, in that, “responses can be strategic, organizational, institutional, and/or architectural.”

The challenge to this grand program however is in its presentation. Design concepts are to be submitted as a single 8 1/2″ x 11″ image along with a $5 entry fee. Competition entrants will also serve as the jury via online voting! The entry fees will be split between Haiti-directed charity and the winning designer. The full competition details are located here, but let it suffice to say this is an example of things to come; where a non-client entity initiates the design program, where architects compete and collaborate online, and where costs to participate approach zero and where a larger cultural/social body is served.

As architects we need to be operating in the brave new online world – through our own blogs and other social media platforms – and capitalize on opportunities as they arise. Please look into this Spontaneous Architecture competition and share your thoughts with us here.