merzproject, a studio of Shepley Bulfinch the award winning architecture and interiors firm, is excited to announce the recent completion of its Show Low Library project. The project consists of 20,000 square feet of new construction and includes a Library, City Council Chambers and a television studio.

merzproject is as well the architect of the Show Low City Hall; phase two of the downtown Show Low revival. The construction for the City Hall will start in September 2010, with an anticipated completion date in late 2010.

The portfolios of merzproject and Shepley Bulfinch can be seen at. www.merzproject.com and www.shepleybulfinch.com

For more information on any of the featured projects, and/or high-resolution photography requests, please contact:
Cornelia Stumpf
CSCP Consult LLC
Marketing, PR & Creative Services
www.cscpconsult.com
cornelia@cscpconsult.com
602-628 4934

The University of Arizona has selected GLHN Architects and Engineers, Inc. of Tucson to design a $42 million, 128,000 square foot addition to the University’s Environmental and Natural Resources Building.  As Architect and Engineer of Record for the project, GLHN will work in association with Richard+Bauer of Phoenix.

The new facility will house the Institute of the Environment (IE), the School of Geography Development (SGD), the School of Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE), including the Office of Arid Lands Studies (OALS), and the Department of Atmospheric Sciences/Institute for Atmospheric Physics (ATMO) and will be designed to facilitate scientific collaboration and interdisciplinary research.  LEED Platinum certification will be sought for the project.

I received the news about this home being built in Globe, Arizona by ASUL and wanted to share it with you all.  It seems that after ASUL showcased their new customizable housing system at the DWELL on Design in Los Angeles in June, they were contracted by the home-owners directly.

The home-owners were especially impressed with how ASUL’s system cut the design and construction costs allowing the project to go forward, as well as the adaptability to the given building site. 

“We are extremely excited to be in a position where we can allow clients to fulfill their dreams of building custom-homes,” stated Tim Russell, Founder and CEO of ASUL. He continued, “Our client is a therapist on the San Carlos Indian Reservation where she has dedicated herself to assisting others. Typically, she is not the type of client who could afford to hire an architect to create a custom home, which will adapt to the site and rural setting. Because of our unique process, ASUL is able to design and build the home of her dreams, to even include a roof-top garden above the garage. To experience her joy is rewarding for all of us at ASUL.” 

ASUL provides an alternative to the traditional design and construction process. Through its creation of an Adaptable Modular Prefab System, custom designed homes that respond to the site, reflect the lifestyle of the client, and respect the budget of the project are a more affordable option. With homes starting at $100 per foot, ASUL hopes to broaden the market for architecturally inspired homes.

Home 8833, a 1200 sft. structure on a multi- tired site, is designed in-house by ASUL, and ASUL will act as the General Contractor for the project.

The clients will start posting blogs about their experiences in late August 2010 and as the building process un-folds. The posts are intended to illicit discussions about the process of designing and building a custom home using the ASUL System. The posts will be on ASUL’s Facebook page where anyone can follow along or ask questions. Interested individuals can link to the Facebook page via ASUL’s website: www.asul.us 

For additional information and/or high-resolution photography, please contact:
Cornelia Stumpf
CSCP Consult
PR, Marketing & Creative Services                                                             
www.cscpconsult.com
cornelia@cscpconsult.com
602-628 4934

Come to the next SMPS Arizona breakfast program to hear from healthcare professionals, medical facility managers and experienced healthcare real estate professionals on the healthcare construction forecast in Arizona. The panel of industry experts will discuss new trends in IPD, BIM, existing retail space conversions and what’s happening with physician-owned practices.

The moderated panel will also address:

• How the A/E/C community can support our local healthcare networks
• How to market to the different systems (are we talking to the right people?)
• How to go about getting on the preferred vendor list
• How to find RFPs
• The future of IPD and BIM in the healthcare environment

Panel members consist of:

• Julie Johnson, CCIM, Executive Vice President, GPE Commercial Advisors
• Randy McGrane, Founding Partner, Ensemble
• Nathan L. Anspach, Senior Vice President, John C. Lincoln
• Kip Edwards, System VP of Design and Construction, Banner Health 

Registration Information
Date: Thursday, August 19, 2009
Location: Desert Willow Conference Center
4340 E. Cotton Center Boulevard, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85040

Program: 7:30 am – 9:00 am

Registration:
Members: $35.00
Guest of Member: $35.00
Non-Members: $50.00
Walk-in rate of $60.00
Register online at: www.smpsarizona.org/events

The following is a guest blog post by Emy Burback, Marketing Manager at Vanir Construction Management, Inc. in Mesa, Arizona. 

Sounds like a case study you might discuss in a 2010 undergraduate psychology class, doesn’t it?  In a way, it is.  We are bombarded with various new terms: social media, sustainability, but what does this mean for marketers in the A/E/C Industry and how does this affect what we do?   

As a marketing professional, I feel as if my brain is on a strategic steroid lately.  I’m constantly challenging myself: How can we differentiate ourselves? How can we sustain growth in this economy? What should we be doing differently to become more valuable to our customers and to our community?  In fact, I’ve experienced a strong learning curve in the changing marketing trends, particularly social media. 

First of all, for other marketers in the room, let me say that: everything you and I know about marketing is still true. (Whew! That’s a relief!)  The marketing mix is simply taking on a different life-form.  While products/services might remain the same, the promotion and packaging resemble more like what we once thought we’d only see on The Jetsons. (Please tell me you’ve seen “The Jetsons.”) How do we effectively incorporate new trends into our marketing strategies?

Over the past few months, I have learned three significant realizations that have helped me re-energize and redirect my strategic brainwaves.  Here are the snapshots I’d like to share with you.

1. The Web is Ever-Changing

Lucid Agency, at the May SMPS “Wild, Wild Web” program, identified the evolution of on-line marketing.  The on-line business model is no longer a two way street from business to consumer. The internet isn’t just used for research and shopping.  It is has changed into a communication platform to seek out personalized interaction with businesses and other consumers.   Advances on the World Wide Web, especially through Social Media channels are shifting the way we engage in conversation, make decisions, and influence buying behavior. The circle of influence is not just friends and family.  It’s the entire social network on and offline.   Once we start seeing the web for what it truly is, we can start taking advantage of the opportunities within to implement our strategic marketing and business goals.  I invite you to check-out some useful resources on Lucid Agency’s website.

2. How Social are you?

“Achieving Social Media Readiness,” a free webcast with the American Marketing Association, described the business approach to social media. If you visit this webcast, you’ll find the presenters gave a roadmap for businesses to follow in achieving social media strongholds.  A few of the key benefits that Social Media brings to businesses are:

1. Building an avenue to strengthen brand, reputation and trust;
2. Allowing any form of communication: one-on-one or group interaction;
3. Engaging in conversations and developing relationships with consumers;
4. Building loyal interaction;
5. Influencing the masses.

Social media is real-time, making it a highly effective market research tool.  “Consumers trust other consumers.” Using it as a listening platform, you can learn: What are others saying about you? What do they think of your competition? What aren’t they saying about either of you? Where are the consumers leading the market? This will guide you to making improvements within your business, incorporate strategic promotions and value-added services.

How we use social media as consumers should really guide us on how to use it as businesses.  As the business grows and improves, the business becomes more client-driven and feed-back based. Essentially, the results are the same as traditional marketing, but achieved differently. Social media channels don’t take the place of traditional marketing methods: just augment it.  How do we know what social channels to use? Know your market. Ask your customer what they use.

3. Where does sustainability fit in?

Last week, Lisa Barnard from Brain-Lab presented “XTreme Green Marketing” to SMPS and addressed how marketers can apply sustainability to what they do.  Similar to Social Media, it requires a corporate commitment to be successful.  Marketers can do their best to use environmentally friendly products, but it ultimately needs to be a commitment of the organization.  What is driven into the corporate cultural internally will naturally become a strategic decision-basis for external branding and marketing activities.  Lisa pointed out that corporate social responsibility relates to marketing in “unprecedented levels of:

–      Transparency
–      Authenticity
–      Accountability
–      Stakeholder engagement

• Engagement is not a fad; it’s the way today’s consumers do business”

In conclusion, what’s the relationship between social media and sustainability when is comes to marketing strategies?

• Starts from the inside of the organization and works its way out.  The ROI is realized when they are part of the strategic direction.
• Reaches the masses when effectively incorporated into strategic decisions.
• People-focused and relationship-based.
• Creates transparency in our brands.
• Creates deeper understanding of our customers and what is important to them.
• Leads to stronger relationships and brand loyalty.
• Social Media reflects characteristics of sustainable marketing;
• Social media can be used to communicate our organizations’ social commitments.

As we start to incorporate these concepts into our way of thinking, we’ll be able to create some unique, out-of-the-box marketing strategies that will boost our business and the impact we have in our community.  It’s my hope that, by sharing what I’ve learned, this will be a continued discussion on how marketing professionals in the A/E/C industry can increase the value of our services through these new marketing channels.  For your entertainment, here are a couple of interesting You Tube videos:

Social Media ROI

Social Media Revolution