And now, for something completely different ...

Last night, I had an experience that tested my usually composed demeanor.

For those of us who regularly present to clients and professional associations, "public speaking" (as some call it) can be relatively stress-free.  Think about it - we have agendas, plans to explain, PowerPoint shows which we are running, sometimes even a script or at least notes in our hand.  MouseMuse Productions knocked all those boxes out from under me.

They do evenings of story-telling where the performers/presenters are asked to tell a cohesive story on the chosen subject of the evening.  A few months ago, I went to watch a friend, and was badgered into putting my name into a hat to tell an impromptu short story.  The producers asked if I would come back to be "on the bill".  With trepidation, I said yes.

"Love Hurts" was the theme (It is approaching Valentine's Day, after all), and seven of us shared experiences on the concept.  In my case, I only got cotton mouth once.  I can't speak for the others.  At least one local reporter found the experience noteworthy - see "Love Hurts" So Good - http://goo.gl/lno5k. Who knows, maybe she's easily impressed.

I'm glad I did it, and I hope to do more.  Perhaps, I can learn how to be calmer when presenting.  Link to http://www.mousemuse.com/ to stay on top of upcoming schedules.  There's a rotating cadre of story-tellers.  Great fun.

How Could This Happen?

A few days ago, I was having a pleasant dinner with friends when I was asked how I fell into Architecture as a profession.  How people choose what to do in life is a fascinating subject. Sometimes it's very intentional and calculated.  Other times, it's pure serendipity that lands you in an unexpected place.

The question actually gave me pause, since I had rarely been called upon to explain myself with authentic details, as I was that night.  Here's how it goes:

I grew up in northern New Jersey at a time when suburban expansion was overwhelming the many former truck farms of the "Garden" State.  Not necessarily a good thing, but I was too young to influence my parents, much less history.  In any event, home-building was everywhere, and I was a weekend interloper.  Climbing about the unfinished houses, I was fascinated by how things were built; and I wanted to DO that.  So there I was, barely a teenage, saying that I planned to be an Architect.

Doing this on ones own may be possible, but not likely.  In my case, as I look back on it, I had a mentor.  My mechanical drawing teacher saw something in me, I guess.  Before I graduated from high school, he had me designing houses, that I would draw up - sometimes for credit, sometimes for the heck of it.  Mr. Czirr (now there's a name you can't forget - pronounced Sheer) wasn't coercive, just an enabler.  With his encouragement, I had opportunity.  I still have the drafting set he gave me as a graduation gift.

Lately, many have sadly vilified the teaching profession - a movement I must admit I can't find sympathy for.   My dedicated mentor represents all that is worthy about the underpaid, under-appreciated teachers out there.  All this introspection led me to explore what happened to him.  I found information that he is now 108 years old living in the home he retired to shortly after I graduated.  Thank you Mr. Czirr.

Better Than Bitcoin!

There's a new currency insinuating itself into our economy.   Bitcoin is an experimental new digital currency that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world.  Well, I can do better.

Right now I'm working with a College that has built up an inventory of the routine consumables - paper towels, liquid soap, floor cleaning solvent, and - yes - lots of toilet paper.

They have plans on transferring the responsibility of owning the inventory to their housekeeping contractor's account, and don't want to inventory all their current stock.  What to do?  Here's the proposal: The College will make payment to the contractor in materials as they are used, in lieu of monetary compensation.  Value will be set at "fair market".

Toilet paper is now monetized.  Think of it as large rolls of tear-off bills.  Better than Bitcoin.

Is LEED bloated?

This past week, I have been working furiously to complete and report the mandated hours of continuing education to maintain my LEED AP credentials.

In my readings, course work & exams, I was struck by the extent to which trade organizations have gone to offer alternatives for certification.  A notable one is the relatively new National Green Building Standard,  The Whirlpool Corporation, in some continuing education course material, describes it as "the first ANSI (American National Standards Institute) consensus standard on sustainable Green Building for residential construction. A collaborative effort between the ICC (International Code Council) and NAHB (National Association of Home Builders), the Standard provides the ‘green’ practices that can be incorporated into new homes including multi-family buildings, home remodeling and additions, hotels and motels and the site upon which the green homes are located."

Why?

The NAHB has published a comparison of green home rating systems (http://www.nahbgreen.org/Content/pdf/GreenHomeRatingComparison.pdf).  There's a very telling passage in the Executive Summary of that document.  They state the cost for the first level of compliance in LEED-H (“Certified”) was calculated at roughly three times as much as the NAHB Model Green Building Guidelines or the National Green Building Standard equivalent levels (“Bronze”) overall for this sample chosen.   Other comparisons were similar.

Even the Department of Defense is apparently reconsidering its commitment to LEED, according to a recent blog by The Builders Counsel (http://www.builderscounsel.com/2012/01/no-more-leed-gold-or-platinum-for-department-of-defense-maybe-not/).

Are we moving on?

Be of Good Cheer

Are you annoyed by people who:

• call cabinets “cabinetry”?
• try to show their commitment to sustainable design, referring to “Leeds”?
• say “nucular”, not “nuclear”?
• pronounce “accessible” as “assessable”?
• call columns “columes”?
• call masonry “masonary”?
• say “virtually” when they mean “actually”?
• say “literally” when they mean “figuratively”?
• think “irregardless” is a word?
• spell “fluorescent” as “flourescent”?
• call concrete cement?
• “reveal” their work on TV, without showing all the shortcut slipshod details?
• think “historical” is better than “historic”?
• have a tough “road” to hoe?
• ask ‘You know?”  at each breath?
• ask “You know what I mean?” after each statement?
• ask “You know what I’m sayin’?” after each explanation?
• say “Hey”, not “Hi” or “Hello”?
• think most things in life are “awesome”?
• capitalize their profession, but not others?

Well, then you too are a curmudgeon.  My current resolution is to, perhaps, be more forgiving.  Some people find me annoying.

Happy Holidays!

Excuse Me

  OR

Which one seems more like a belch?

So here I am, a consultant selling services to improve the management of your organization.  I even use the phrase "enterprise management" in the About Me byline of this blog.  It was as close as I was willing to get to the currently faddish acronym.

Wikipedia claims the Gartner group coined the term in 1990.  Actually, that's somewhat too long ago to fairly call it a fad.  I suspect, however, that it won't stick forever.  How much do we talk about TQM these days?

The name game is brought on us by those who want to have some way of characterizing what we do.  I have had marketing consultants tell me that I must reduce the description of my practice to no more than seven words.  This remains an on-going challenge.  I have yet to see that the reduction is warranted, but I'm working on it.

How's this: WWAD?  What would Arch do?  Ask me, and I'm going to tell you.  Assuming I think I know, of course.  I'll try to speak in plain english.  It's what I do.