X-CUBE 041501v.2.i.3: Marketing Insights and Industry Updates for A/E/C Firms

X-CUBE 041501v.2.i.3

Out and About – What’s Buzzing with A/E/C

Diversity News

Cyber scene – Events and Factoids for the Digitally Inclined

Industry Events

Non-Industry Events

Marketing Article: follow the web link

Marketing Know How: Advertisements and Sponsorships

«I placed and ad once,» says a Principal of a four-person
design firm, «and I didn’t even get one response from it.» I ask
him, «What did you put in the ad?» «My company logo and our
contact information.» I see. While, ads and sponsorships aren’t for
every business, they can be very effective for firms in certain stages of
their development. Here are a few tips:

1.

For sponsorships, pick events that focus on an issue related to the types
of projects you specialize in. Maximize the event by showcasing your firm as
an authority on the subject. Hand out targeted brochures that are
educational and illustrate your expertise at the same time.

2.

Only place ads in very targeted places, like a commemorative journal for
a special event attended by your client base.

3.

Make your ad speak to the occasion. Congratulate the honoree, show
appreciation for the celebrated, and focus any highlighted services to match
the event.

4.

Make your ad interactive. Invite readers to visit your web site where
they can do X and see X and sign up for a free X. Include some type of
incentive mechanism, like a discount, a coupon or a free trial.

The Arts & Business Council Talks about dwindling space for the arts
– On February 28th, the Arts and Business Council hosted a forum called
2001: A Space Crisis? Real Estate and the Arts. The panel, moderated by Gary
Steuer, leader of the Arts & Business Council, was made up of three
non-profit heads and a real estate broker. Ginny Louloudes of the Alliance
of Resident Theaters, Kinshasha H. Conwill of the Cultural Blueprint for NY
project, and former BAM Pres Harvey Lichtenstein talked about the lack of
space for the performing arts in Manhattan. Lichtenstein’s BAM Local
Development Corporation is piggy-backing on the economic uplift created by
the Fort Green business folk. Designers take note: the performing arts
community will be flocking to that area and architects will be needed!

Government agencies are going digital – is your firm managing projects
online yet? – From DASNY to DDC, the bureaucrats are going digital.
Government agencies are often hindered by their consultants’ not being up to
speed with technology. But when they start to require it, everyone jumps
into action by making the improvements to come up to speed. For example, I
remember when DDC began using email to send drawings, «zipped up»
via email, it prompted A/E/C consultants to make a commitment to sign up for
email accounts. Slowly a similar trend is occurring with on-line project
management and the procurement practice. We will all stand up and applaud
when the agencies replace their downloadable pdfs with word documents that
we can really use.

An Angel Getting her Props – We were delighted to hear that Pat
Williams, Director of the Brooklyn-Queens Minority Business Opportunity
Center, will be honored at the 25 Influential Black Women in Business Gala
awarded by The Network Journal. Ms. Williams has been a strong agent in
getting contracts issued to M/WBE design and construction firms as part of
the Port Authority of NY & NJ Jamaica Air Train Project and other
government funded projects. For more information about the event visit
www.tnj.com

Minority-Owned Firms Gaining Clout – Richard Hernandez of E-MBE sent
us this interesting summary from an article from the March 6, 2001 edition
of USA TODAY titled «Minority-Owned Firms Gaining Clout». The
article discusses the efforts of major corporations to sell to
minority-owned businesses, given their rapid rate of economic growth. The
article notes there are about 2.2 million self-employed African-Americans,
Hispanics and Asians, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration
and that minority firms are growing at 2.5 times the rate of non-minority
firms. Several examples of the target marketing strategy cited include
Microsoft, Dun & Bradstreet, and Coca-Cola. The article shows the
«business case» for supplier diversity is becoming more
mainstream, with economics becoming a driving force behind diversity
initiatives. To subscribe to E-MBE’s free e-news service regarding w/mbe
issues send a request to rjh57@email.msn.com.

Happy «Women in Construction Week! – We just past the fourth
annual Women in Construction Week (March 4-10), sponsored by the National
Association of Women in Construction. Women are involved in the construction
industry in a number of ways. Whether as an engineer, architect,
tradeswoman, safety consultant, or any one of the number of careers in
construction, women play important roles. For more information about the
NAWIC, visit their website at www.nawic.org

The Regional Alliance for Small Contractors Gets Online! – The
Regional Alliance for Small Contractors (RASC) is entering it tenth year of
operations, as a non-profit corporation, providing technical and financial
assistance to small minority and women contractors in the region. While the
RASC has mostly focused on the public sector, future plans include outreach
to the private sector. Visit RASC website at www.regional-alliance.org

Female founder of favorite dot com mag makes good – Fortune Small
Business Magazine has named Janet Stites, co-founder and CEO of AlleyCat
Information Sciences (and AlleyCat News!), as one of the «25 Women
Making it Big»– a list of influential women who are making their mark
in small business in the new economy. The «25 Women in Small
Business» and related cover stories appear in the March 2001 issue of
FSB and are also available on www.fsb.com. Recognized for her commitment to
breaking new ground and her business savvy in growing a bootstrapped trade
magazine into a thriving $4 million a year company, Stites is among a
distinguished group of entrepreneurial women who, according to FSB, are “smart,
gutsy, and innovative” and care as much about making a difference as they
do about money. Having co-founded AlleyCat Information Sciences Inc. with
graduate school friend Anna Copeland Wheatley in the fall of 1996, Stites
has worked to create one of the most powerful business brands in Silicon
Alley through a ‘must read’ monthly magazine and a series of
conferences, as pioneering as they

are influential, designed to serve the underserved.

The American Women’s Economic Development Corporation has an new web
site: www.awed.org . Since its inception, AWED has served over 100,000 women
through formal course instruction, one-on-one business counseling, seminars,
networking events and peer group support. Our goal is to increase the
start-up, survival and expansion rates of small businesses. Each year, AWED
serves nearly 3000 women at its New York headquarters and at Institutes and
Symposia around the region.

A.
AlleyEvent Launches Speaker Bureau Service

PR Firms, Senior Executives, Event Producers, Entrepreneurs, Educators:
Would you like to promote your firm, your services and products? Join CEO’s
and Managing Partner’s from Tramp Steamer Media, The Graubard Group, CyBuy,

Alan/Anthony, Cushman Wakefield and Sign up for AlleyEvent’s Speaker
Bureau Service. Event Producers are looking for panelists, moderators, and
instructors. $45/year per Speaker; $135/year for Event Producers. Signup at:
info@alleyevent.com.

B.
Teaching the Boys to Code: Women in High Tech

Mon. 3/12. 6pm – 7:30pm. IBM. Many of NYC’s leading software and high
tech companies are owned by women, or have women CEOs. The March Monthly
meeting will feature an all-star panel of leading female high tech CEOs who
will discuss «What are the issues that face women in this field?»
To register, call (212)475-4503 or email info@nysia.org. You must
pre-register!

The Elevator
The dot-com bubble has burst. Does that mean New York’s Internet Era is
over? Not at all. Tom Lipscomb, director of the Center for the Digital
Future, will present an overview of New York’s Digital Future at The
Elevator/Silicon Alley Entrepreneurs’ Club Soiree, on Tuesday, March 13.
Lipscomb is a former Mississippi Civil Rights volunteer, the founder of
Times Books, past publisher of Ladies Home Journal, a two-time
successful start-up entrepreneur, advisor to mayors and governors, the
Council on Foreign Relations, the New York Academy of Sciences, and one of
New York’s wisest men on all things relating to the Internet. The event will
run 6-8 p.m. at The Gamut, 102 East 25th Street, just off Park Avenue South.
Dress is casual, no RSVP required. Free hors d’oeuvres, cash bar. $5
donation will go to the Governors Island Digital Research Center, an effort
to put a digital education center on Governors Island.

Have a business question that’s been nagging you? Are you unsure how to

resolve a conflict or business dilemma? Try SCORE’s email counseling.
This

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Use Email Counseling today. http://www.score.org/online/

Join Citibank for a Web Solutions Seminar for Businesses (3/16/2001) – Citibank
is hosting a seminar on “Web Solutions for Outsourcing – What you Need to
Know.” The seminar is designed to show how to run a business better by
leveraging new online services. Attendees will find out how to use the web
to save time, cut costs and operate more efficiently. The seminar will be
held on Friday, March 16, from 8:00 – 10:30 a.m. at the Citigroup Center.
The address is 153 East 53rd Street, 14th floor in Manhattan. Admission is
free. For more information and to register, call (212) 785-2600.

Hosted by the National Minority Business Council, Inc. and Professional
Women in Construction. March 14, 2001 At Pfizer Inc., 235 East 42nd Street,
New York, NY, 12 noon to 4 pm. Come Sell to Corporate America: Pfizer, Inc.,
Schering-Plough, TIAA-CREF, Goldman Sachs, And Others. NMBC Members Free!,
PWC Members Free! Non – Members $55.00 Per Person, RSVP by March 12th, 2001
or sooner, telephone: 212-997-4753 Fax: 212-997-5102 or email to:
creation112@hotmail.com

This month the Committee heads back to its roots, investigating
technology implementation in a case study and office visit. Committee
participant Martin Siefering AIA welcomes you to Perkins Eastman Architects
for a technology overview of their practice. A licensed Architect, Martin is
the VP heading technology at this 385 person firm. Martin and his team of
technologists will focus the evening on the following items of particular
interest in the brief agenda they prepared: Basic overview of the firm,
Introduction of the IT department and how they work and what they do. Focus
on ideology, WAN, LAN, Desktop, architectural applications, email, remote
access, support and helpdesk; An overview of the recently completed a
successful rollout of the Autodesk, Architectural Desktop release 3, done
using SMS; Anti-Virus issues and strategy, Budgeting for IT expenditures,
Intranet development, Q&A & Discussion. Food and beverage will be
provided, so please remember to email John Howell with your RSVP (howell_john@jpmorgan.com
<mailto:howell_john@jpmorgan.com>). Tuesday, March 13, 6:15pm –
8:00pm, LOCATION: 115 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor (betw E.18 & E.19 Streets)
2 AIA Continuing Education Learning Units.

The SMPS NY Chapter Membership Committee presents: WHAT’S HAPPENING IN
NEW JERSEY? NJ Developments – Part II: Spotlight on Newark. Thursday,
March 22 6 – 8 p.m., The New Jersey Performing Arts Center , One Center
Street, Newark, New Jersey For directions visit the NJPAC web site: www.njpac.org
<http://www.njpac.org> “Newark is experiencing an unprecedented
boom in economic and housing development and cultural growth.” – Sharpe
James, Mayor of Newark. Find out why this boom is occurring and learn how
your company can participate in Newark’s continuing development. If doing
business in Newark or New Jersey is on your agenda, then attending this
program needs to be part of your marketing plan. Panelists: Moderator
– Joel Freiser, Deputy Executive Director, Newark Economic Development
Corp.; Jeannette Brummell – Director, University Heights Science Park
Project; Dale Caldwell – Executive Director, Newark Alliance; Hon. Gayle H.
Chaneyfield-Jenkins – Council Member-At-Large, Newark Municipal Council;
Jeffrey A. Horn – Executive Vice President, Newark Sports and Entertainment;
Barbara Kauffman – Vice President, Regional Business Partnership; Mark
Lohbauer, Esq – Director of Policy & Communications, NJ Economic
Development Authority; Jon Weston – Asst. Manager, Newark Airport
Redevelopment Program (Port Authority, NY & NJ); James A. Schmidt –
Executive Director & CEO, New Newark Foundation. $55 members. $75
non-members. Forward Reservations to: Mary-Ellen Cocchi, Lizardos
Engineering Associates, 200 Old Country Road, Ste. 670, Mineola, NY 11501,
Tel: 516.484.1020 Fax: 516.484.0926 mec@leapc.com

X
Workshop on Negotiation, Mediation, and Arbitration: How to Prepare,
Present, and Defend

Disputes are a fact of life in construction. How problems and
disagreements are handled and resolved (or not resolved) can have a profound
impact on an organization’s operations and bottom line. Because of
dissatisfaction with costly, time-consuming and ineffective litigation,
construction participants are increasingly turning to alternative ways of
solving their contractual dilemmas out of court. This course is designed to
provide all parties involved in construction with a thorough understanding
of how to settle disputes without litigation. It will be presented in an
informal, interactive style, using examples from real life. Participants
will be given practical, hands-on advice and guidance on how to investigate,
analyze, prepare, present, defend and resolve disputes through negotiation,
mediation, and arbitration. $735M/$895NM. 1.4 CEUs. April 9-10,
2001 FortLee, NJ For registration information email kjarvis@asce.org.

Communicating for Results – Join Roni Abrams for a workshop on
Effective Networking. Learn how to speak to the point, listen for
possibilities, present ideas and concepts clearly, develop effective
relationships, increase your network of support, create instant rapport with
others. Monthly sessions: 4/24, 5/17, 6/20. Time 6:15pm – 9:00pm Cost for
each session is $100.00 Registration and questions call: Roni Abrams
Associates 718-377-6599

Getting Down to Business – is sponsored by the New York City
Department of Business Services will be held on April 21st from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. It’s a city-wide conference on starting and managing a business. You
may choose up to four seminars (of 11 offered). The cost is $30. Call
212.618.8987 to register. The Seminars include:

Accounting: Taxes, Cash Flow Control & Payroll, Advertising:
Promoting Your Business, Finance: How to Borrow Money, Insurance Essentials:
Fire, Theft, Liability & Health, Internet: Setting Up Shop on the
Internet

Legal Necessities: Incorporation, Leasing & Licenses, Market
Analysis: Understanding Your Market Area & Target Customer, Planning for
Profit: The Business Plan, Retail Merchandising & Store Design, Sales
Techniques: How to Increase Your Sales, How to Buy City-Owned Commercial
Property & City Business Regulations.

AWED Presents a Small Business Certification Program (3/21/2001) –
The American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation (AWED) is holding a
special program on small business certification. The program will acquaint
the woman-business owner with some of the available microlending sources and
their application processes. The program will be offered on Wednesday, March
21, from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. at AWED. The address is 216 East 45th Street
(between 2nd & 3rd Avenues), 10th floor in Manhattan. Admission is $15.
For more information and to register, call (917) 368-6100.

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Marketing Article: Creating Marketing Brochures It’s a lost
art-and one you need to learn. Click on this link (or paste the address
into your browser) to read the article.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/Your_Business/YB_SegArticle/0,1314,287141—–,00.html

If you have any comments, suggestions, or if you have an event that you
would like us to include in X-CUBE, please email Elizabeth Geary-Archer at
ega@outoftheboxmarketing.net