AIA San Francisco and aecKnowledge Release Online Continuing Education Course for Design Professionals “Growing a Small Firm: Teaming with Larger Firms”
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 30, 2013 -- AIA San Francisco, one of AIA’s largest local components of the American Institute of Architects, and aecKnowledge, a leading provider of advanced online continuing education for design professionals, announce the release of the 4th installment in its Growing a Small Firm series.
Growing a Small Firm: Teaming with Larger Firms was filmed live at AIA San Francisco and features principals of four award-winning firms: Amy Elliot, AIA of Dilworth Eliot Studio, Inc., Paulett Taggart, FAIA, LEED AP of Paulett Taggart Architects, and Marc L’Italien, FAIA, LEED AP, BD+C of EHDD. As moderator Mark Cavagnero, FAIA, observes, “The success of teaming is embedded in trust, mutual respect and open communication, and firms need to be selective about teaming opportunities.”
In this 90-minute online course, the panelists offer candid advice about how to identify the right firms with whom to team, which projects are most appropriate for teaming, how to align cultures, how to make a smaller firm attractive to larger firms, how to navigate potential problems, what to consider when allocating scope and fees, and, of equal importance, when to run away from a teaming opportunity.
Topics include:
• Finding the right “sweet spot” when teaming with other firms
• Making a teaming relationship work from cultural, design, business and marketing perspectives
• Creating long-lasting relationships
• Making your firm attractive to larger firms
• Knowing whether a client is receptive to a teaming relationship
• Navigating problems that often arise when two architectural firms collaborate
• Allocating scope, fees and deliverables
• The importance of maintaining an important decision-making role
This program is part of the Growing a Small Firm series, created by AIA San Francisco and Mark Cavagnero, FAIA, designed to help architects and allied professionals who have recently branched out on their own, have a growing firm or are considering starting their own business. These best practice lectures bring together some of San Francisco’s leading architects, contractors, engineers, and other design professionals for evenings of focused conversation and invaluable insight.
“Anyone thinking of starting or growing their own firm should tap into the real-life experience of these panelists,” stated Margie O’Driscoll, Executive Director, AIA San Francisco. According to Michael Strogoff, FAIA, Founder & President, aecKnowledge, “This series fills a tremendous gap for small- and mid-sized firm practitioners and those seeking insights from professionals who have built highly successful design firms. This specific course will help your firm form valuable relationships, deliver better projects and save you countless sleepless nights.”
Earlier this year, AIASF and aecKnowledge released three other installments in this series:
Growing a Small Firm: Marketing, which focuses on marketing and business development and captured decades of insights into how best to meet potential clients, expand a firm’s portfolio, implement a vibrant marketing program on a limited budget, create an identity that resonates with prospective clients, and successfully collaborate with larger firms and allied professionals in the pursuit of widely sought after commissions.
Growing a Small Firm: Public Design Opportunities, which features representatives from four major public agencies in charge of selecting design professionals. The panelists reveal what is most important to their agencies when selecting design professionals and offer targeted advice about how small firms can gain a foothold in the competitive arena of public design. The panelists are remarkably candid in describing how to gain market intelligence on upcoming projects, what happens behind the scenes in selection deliberations, and what strategies resonate most during selection interviews.
Growing a Small Firm: Elevating the Role of Women, which featured four women who have successfully navigated their way to influential positions. The panelists provide insights into how women can successfully overcome the challenges they face as design professionals within the male-dominated professionals of architecture, landscape architecture and construction
About aecKnowledge
aecKnowledge, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an established web-based, peer-reviewed knowledge sharing platform for the AEC industries, and enables members of the architecture, engineering and construction industries to share knowledge and leverage their collective intellectual capital. Their distilled, unbiased and practical knowledge helps professionals advance their careers, enrich their firms and improve the built environment. Online courses are approved for continuing education units by AIA/CES and/or GBCI, and are accepted by many states to fulfill mandatory CE requirements for ongoing licensure.
For more information, visit http://www.aecKnowledge.com.
About AIA San Francisco
Serving the Bay Area for more than a century, the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (AIA San Francisco), one of the largest of the AIA's nearly 300 chapters, represents more than 2,000 members in San Francisco and Marin County. AIA San Francisco is headquartered in the historic 1917 Hallidie Building—one of the world's first glass-curtain-wall-buildings. Through community involvement, education, advocacy, public outreach, member services, and professional excellence, AIA San Francisco is the Bay Area’s premier destination for architecture and design.
For more information, visit http://www.aiasf.org.
Michael Strogoff, aecKnowledge, http://www.aecKnowledge.com, +1 (415) 383-7011, [email protected]
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