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EDSymposium24

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Seattle member EB Meyer was awarded a chapter scholarship to attend EDS24 last June, and she hopped on LinkedIn to spread the word and share her experience at the annual convention.

“Skot Waldron engaged our hearts with an excellent talk on intentionality, Gregory Hart spoke to our business frontal lobes with an AEC market update, and Scott Warrick lit up our amygdalas with offensiveness in the workplace. What a morning!”

She’s not kidding, EDS is always packed with excellent presenters. They inspire and energize us to be more efficient, authentic, and relevant. It’s a whirlwind three days and it goes by so quickly, but the things we learn and the connections we make last for years.

“Wrapping up in #ColoradoSprings! The knowledge sharing from 6 members at the SparkSDA session was incredible. We installed a terrific new executive committee. It’s all about the people.”

We’re glad you were able to attend, EB! Here she is, with other Seattle members.

Best in Class Award 2023

The Seattle Chapter was the proud recipient of the 2023 Best In Class Award: Program Winner for our 4-part educational series presented by Jess Hickey, titled “Stories They Never Told You About Business.” The presentations covered finance, human resources, marketing, and administrative topics, and everyone resonated with Jess’ honest, down-to-earth communication style and wit.

This is the first time we’ve done a series like this, and it was successful by all measurements; it was well-attended, received positive feedback, included tips that we could use immediately, and was enjoyable to attend. Having four guaranteed presentations took a little weight off the planning of our education calendar and attendees knew what to expect. They resonated with her speaking style, and Jess did a great job overlapping just enough fill any gaps between sessions without wasting time rehashing what we’d already learned.

Congratulations, Seattle!

EDSymposium 23, in the bag

I was not able to go to the national conference this year, but we had seven Chapter members attend, flying all the way to Tampa, FL for the June national conference. I’m looking forward to hearing debriefs on the sessions they attended; the speakers are always top-notch.

L-R: Brittany Jamison, Emily Meyer, Gretchen Renz, Kurt Wong, Carol Wanda Spradlin, Eunoh Lee, Judy Beebe.

Seattle Vice President Brittany Jamison and Director Carol Wanda Spradlin kill some time at the airport with a beverage.

We are the winners of the 2023 Best in Class Program Award.

We also celebrated our Chapter’s 55th Anniversary!

New SDA Fellow!

Huge shout-out to Amy J. Nanni on becoming an SDA Fellow, class of 2023! SDA’s Fellows program recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to SDA and to the A/E/C community, and who have elevated the standards of practice management. Amy is a member of the New York chapter, and works at Construct Architecture Studio. Congratulations Amy!

Glorious day for an architectural walking tour!

Hearty shout-out to Jim Gregson of Parker, Smith & Fleek for sponsoring our Seattle Architecture Foundation walking tour of Hidden Spaces around downtown Seattle on Sept. 8. And many thanks to Dan from SAF for leading the tour!

Getting ahead – getting promoted

We were delighted to welcome back Jess Hickey for another educational hour (Part 2 of our four-part program*). This time she talked about a framework for getting ahead and getting promoted. In a nutshell:

At work, make sure you act in a way that’s promotable. What qualities are important to your firm?

Of course, you should be good at your job. And you should be able to demonstrate that you can do the next bigger job.

Prove it! Show your employer you can take on new or different responsibilities, that you can master different skillsets.

Be easy to work with – be a good partner; respect others. Don’t be the Debbie Downer or Whiny William at work.

Build relationships, whether that means you make work friends or you get to know the company leaders. Look for sponsors in your firm, e.g., a mentor or someone who champions you.

*Stories They Never Told You About Business

  • Part 1 (March 17): What the Finance? How to pull all those financial tools together and run a business with them
  • Part 2 (June 16): Getting Ahead: Frameworks for Getting Promoted
  • Part 3 (TBD): BD doesn’t stand for Bad Drinks: Networking tricks and tips for even the most reticent of participants
  • Part 4 (TBD): Time Keeps on Ticking, Into the Future: Thinking about time as a tool rather than a captor

Easy to remember: Mrs Sun

SDA national hosted a webinar on parliamentary procedures, and boy did we pick up some useful nuggets from Donald Garrett of Last Minute Meetings. Like how to remember the standard order of business meetings. Just think “Mrs Sun.”

Minutes

Reports (of officers and standing committees)

Special Committee Reports

Special Orders

Unfinished Business

New Business

Thank you Donald!

Ask What Motivates Them

SDA’s New York chapter hosted a roundtable “Let’s Discuss . . . Building Better Managers,” in which Omar Vega talked about how managers should not overlook the people aspect of the company.

 

Vegas said that performance is determined by three things: Ability, motivation, and opportunity.

 

·      Ability: The measurable skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attributes that are important to successful performance.

·      Motivation: The person’s desire to perform, whether it’s from within or from outside sources.

·      Opportunity: The chance to perform, to demonstrate they have the ability to do the job.

 

Motivation is a key component. Managers should have a sit-down individually with their staff and ask questions, and listen, to what truly motivates them.

 

With respect to staff, managers should also think about Return on Potential, rather than Return on Investment. Managers need to help their staff see where they want to be, and help guide them to where they want to be.

 

The best managers:

 

·      Let their team know why something is being done.

·      Help their staff see how they can use their strengths to add value to their firm.

·      Listen carefully, as learning goes both ways.

 

Bottom line: Focus on your staff’s strengths, and help them conquer any weaknesses they may have with training and encouragement.

 

Omar Vega is a Senior Associate and Director of Human Resources at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners in New York.

Welcome New Seattle Chapter Member!

We’re giving a huge shout-out and hearty welcome to the chapter to our first, new member of 2021! Jessica Besso is the accounting manager at Weinstein AU.

Welcome Jessica! We’re looking forward to when we can meet you in person!

EDConnect20: Members share take-aways

EDConnect20 offered a session on “Connect Through Your Camera,” presented by David Goad. Since March, who HASN’T attended a virtual meeting?

If you’re presenting in a virtual meeting, David offered some great practices to follow. Chapter member Judy Beebe, FSDA (of WSP USA) shares her take-away.

When your audience has their cameras turned on, it’s easy to spot those that aren’t giving you their undivided attention. Do you notice them looking down (probably looking at their phone)? Is someone having a side conversation with others (they turn away to take a phone call, or you can see they’re talking while they are muted)? If you’re not engaging, can you expect your audience to stay engaged with you?

The speaker suggested you interrupt the pattern of monotony by being a little unpredictable. It helps keep their attention on you. He offered six practices for keeping your audience tuned in to you.

  • At the beginning, promise them you’ll end the meeting early. People will appreciate the shorter meeting and the extra free time. (We’re here for an hour, but I can finish up 15 minutes early, if you stay with me and participate.)
  • Use humor. Situational humor is the safest. (David shared how at one conference, dinner was supposed to be served, but it ended up being hors d’oeuvres instead. When he got back in front of the audience, he said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m stuffed!” Which of course, garnered some laughter.)
  • Make them work, every 5 minutes. (Give them a poll, ask them to speak up or raise their hand, or ask them to write a response in the chat box.)
  • Question, then pause.
  • Tell an off-script story. (Right before we started, I was talking to Jane, and she said . . ..)
  • Call them by name.