Architects Who Blog: Connecting Online for Influencing, Educating, and Inspiring About Architecture SESSION ID: TH205Thursday, 5.17.2012, 2:00 – 3:30pm

This presentation is protected by US and International Copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, display and use of the presentation without written permission of the speaker is prohibited.

This program is registered with the AIA/CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to constitute approval, sponsorship or endorsement by the AIA of any method, product, service, enterprise or organization. The statements expressed by speakers, panelists, and other participants reflect their own views and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The American Institute of Architects or of AIA components, or those of their respective officers, directors, members, employees, or other organizations, groups or individuals associated with them. Questions related to specific products, publications, and services may be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.

AIA/CES Quality Statement

1. Strategically select the best social media platforms for engaging particular audiences. Access these platforms and create profiles that will attract people. Link between platforms in order to drive traffic to their blog and website.

2. Develop blogging themes that will build credibility and gain access into influential conversations. Create headlines and key words to optimize search engine access. Format tweets that will be shared repeatedly. Create blog posts that will attract readers and engage people in commenting.

3. Research and find particular communities of interest including design professionals, collaborators, building users, and clients. Engage in those conversations and build a credible voice. Become a thought leader, educator, influencer, or entertainer within particular groups through writing and connecting.

4. Utilize limited time well to gain the most benefit from blogging and social media. Plan optimum times and methods for connecting with particular communities. Analyze the value of cost and time versus benefits of blogging and using other social media tools.

Learning Objectives

Speakers Bob Borson, AIA, Life of an Architect @bobborson lifeofanrachitect.com Dallas TX

Jody Brown, AIA, Coffee with an Architect @infillnc coffeewithanarchitect.com Infill, Durham NCCindy Frewen Wuellner, FAIA, PhD @urbanverse urbanverse.net Frewen Architects Inc, Kansas City MO

People

has over 845 million registered users

wikipedia

Largest Business Network in the World

wikipedia

More than 80% of companies use social media and of those

Use LinkedIn for recruitment

Erik Qualman’s Social Media Revolution Video

People

has over 300 million accounts

Over 1.6 billion searches per day300 million tweets per day

wikipedia

A blog is social media. Not just another way to push

out your best projects. It’s relationship building.

Why This Matters…. Link Bait.

Starts with BLOG

Search Engines

Video

is the second largest search engine next to Google with 790 million

unique visitors per month

http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-790-million-uniques/

434% Increase in website pages indexed

by Google for companies that blog.

  

Hubspot, study of 1,500 small businesses http://bit.ly/11deQ0

The Agora: twitter for Athenians

Flickr creative commons Arian Zwegers http://flic.kr/p/atJzVE

First -- Know Your Website

• Analyze Site Traffic• Do Your Keyword Research• Stalk the Competition• SEO Content For Your Site

Shelly Kramer V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing

In the Beginning

Launched www.lifeofanarchitect.com January 14, 2010

didn’t know what I was doing

Bob Borson, AIAArchitectLEED APDallas, Texasmow my own grass

basic, non descript, regular guy

… that no one had ever heard of

didn’t have special technical skills

… going to make it up as I went

the real me

the fake me

Life of an Architect - World Headquarters

home office couch in front of the TV

Life of an Architect - World Headquarters

work office satellite office

By the numbers

725 Days since launch of lifeofanarchitect.com

2.3 million+ total visits

33,698 people who have visited over 200x

2:12 average time on site

16 posts with over 50 comments

199 most comments on a single post

7,600+ Facebook Fans

5,300+ Twitter Followers

3rd most visited architectural blog site in world

… but does it really matter?!?

By the numbers

Where are the people coming from?

Potential clients

Other architects

Architectural students

Vendors

What sort of people are they?

Worldwide

United States

“Work Zone”

awesome people

How did this happen?

Platforms for interaction and message distribution

Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

different readers SAME CONTENTdifferent deliverydifferent interaction

How did this happen?

Facebook

Demographics

Content

Interaction

How did this happen?

Twitter

Demographics

Content

Interaction

Advocating the profession

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

recruiting

Purpose?

educational

advocacy

arch students

For the Pro’s (behind the scenes)

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

vendors

Purpose?

process oriented

Promotion & Perception

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

recruiting

Purpose?

firm culture

Firm Promotion

Topic Appeal

clients

vendors

recruiting

Purpose?

work scope

promotional

maintain interest

Humor

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

recruiting

Purpose?

for my benefit

personality

Humor & Personality

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

recruiting

Purpose?

vocational humor

Personality & Perception

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

recruiting

Purpose?

personality driven

Personal

Topic Appeal

clients

architects

recruiting

Purpose?

connection and

ownership

Community Outreach

Getting the word out

250+ registrants from around the world

19 different countries

31 different states

Why do I do it?

What next?

I have the same questions that everyone has:

Now that I’ve reached this point what happens?

Success =time, sacrifice, commitment

ROI = Return on Investment??Measure using goals that YOU define:

new business?

personal promotion/ branding?

connecting with others / communicating?

Personal, interestingand consistent

Success =

creative outlet?

ARCHITECTS WHO BLOGCASE STUDY: COFFEE WITH AN ARCHITECT

I STARTED A BLOG TO FIND WORK I DID WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO IT DIDN’T WORK SO, I GAVE UP AND STARTED BEING MYSELF THEN THIS BLOG SAVED MY LIFE NOW I HAVE IMAGINARY FRIENDS

SO, SHOULD YOU BLOG?{ SPOILER ALERT: YOU SHOULDN’T }

I STARTED A BLOG TO FIND WORK I LOST MY JOB IN JANUARY 2009

I LOST MY COMMUNITY OF FELLOW PROFESSIONALS

I WAS LOOKING FOR A CREATIVE OUTLET

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE PROFESSION AND MY PLACE IN IT

I WAS LEARNING TO START A NEW BUSINESS

I WANTED TO NETWORK

I WANTED TO BUILD A COMMUNITY

I STARTED DOING WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO WHAT PLATFORMS I USED:

LINKEDIN < 65 CONNECTIONS IN 2009

FACEBOOK PERSONAL PAGE < 85 FRIENDS IN 2009

WEBSITE – COMPANY PAGE <10 VISITS PER DAY

SKETCH-BLOG <10 VISITS PER DAY

TUMBLR-BLOG <10 VISITS PER DAY

COMPANY BLOG <10 VISITS PER DAY

FACEBOOK COMPANY PAGE <85 FANS IN 2009

TWITTER <150 FOLLOWERS IN 2009

WHAT I TALKED ABOUT:MY RESUMEMY WORK EXPERIENCETHE TYPES PROJECTS I’VE WORKED ONWHAT I’M WORKING ON NOWMY EXPERTISE IN THE PROFESSION

IT DIDN’T WORK

MY MOM OTHER PEOPLE0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

MY TRAFFIC

“Isn’t there someone else unemployed out there with something more interesting to say?”

SO, I GAVE UP AND STARTED BEING MYSELF

THEN THIS BLOG SAVED MY LIFE

Twitter - @INFILLnc - 2400+ followers

Blog – COFFEEWITHANARCHITECT.COM (Started blog in February 2010 – now gets 2000-5000 visits/day, 1500+ email subscribers, 2400+ RSS feeds, has had over 500,000 visits to date)

Facebook blog page - “Coffee with an Architect” page (started page in 2011 – 5500+ fans)

I TALK ABOUT BEING AN ARCHITECT“I WEAR BLACK, UNLESS IT’S HOT, AND THEN I WEAR BLACK.”

“I HAVE EXCELLENT TASTE IN …. ALMOST EVERYTHING.”

“I HAVE WON AN AWARD FOR ALOOFNESS. I DON’T LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT THOUGH.”

“MY TURTLENECK CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INADEQUATE AS A MAN.”

I TALK ABOUT MY WORK

I TALK ABOUT HOW ARCHITECTS THINK

I SHARE MY EXPERIENCES

I HELP YOU UNDERSTAND ARCHITECTURE

I HELP YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR CLIENTS

I TRY TO DEFINE ARCHITECTURE

I TALK ABOUT DESIGN

I TALK ABOUT THE PROFESSION

I TALK TO OTHER ARCHITECTS

#ARCHITECTURESOUNDSDIRTY #CONCEITOFARCHITECTS #WHENYOUREANARCHITECT #ARCHITECTVALENTINES #SNIPPETOFANGST

I TALK ABOUT MY LOVE ARCHITECTURE

I TALK ABOUT MYSELFI’m an Architect. Maybe I don’t fit the mold, but…

My guess is, that most of us don’t fit that stereotype at all.

My guess is that we are a diverse group with varying passions and interests.

My guess is, that the majority of us were the awkward kid in the corner of design lab.

My guess is that my version of awkward is the average, not the exception.

My guess is “Architects” are… a lot like me really.

Gawd help us.

“I’M JUST AN ARCHITECT, STANDING IN FRONT OF AN IDEOLOGY, ASKING IT TO LOVE ME.”

NOW I HAVE A LOT OF IMAGINARY FRIENDS

BECAUSE I’M PERSONAL BECAUSE I’M FEARLESS BECAUSE I’M HONEST

AND HOPEFULLY…BECAUSE I’M INTERESTING

SHOULD YOU BE BLOGGING?

• Blogging won’t bring you any business.

• No one cares about your press releases or what’s “on the boards”.

• No one cares about your “brand” or “corporate mission statement”.

• A successful blog is personal, not professional.

• Don’t use Social Media to get Clients, just make connections.

• IS ANYONE LISTENING TO YOU? IS ANYONE TALKING ABOUT YOU?

WELL, ACTUALLY, NO…

ARCHITECTS NEED TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

“ENJOY THE ANGST”

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

- Charles Darwin

CitiesArchitectureSustainabilityFutures Design Social changeUrbanism

10,600 followers 1,066 lists

Twitter:

Charity: Water

Kansas City

A hard lesson learned… with a silver lining. I made a good friend in Bronxelf. She’d like a follow-up blog post. I’ll do it.

Guest Post @ HOK Life: Trust: The New Golden Handcuffs

Models for Social Business

69

public projects

Ilus Davis Park

Whittaker Courthouse Interiors

City Hall Addition

Davis Park, Kansas City

70

71

master planning

Riverview Redevelopment2nd & Paseo Blvd

Riverview Redevelopment

UrbanverseSlide share

FBTwestival

SMCKC

URBANVERSE

BLOG@urbanverse

webinars

#futr-chat

youtube

Diggo/ deliciousbookmarks

URBANVERSE

.net

University of Houston

Teaching via Webcast

Pinterest

Architecture is important, but no longer as an autonomous discipline, but

as a way of thinking very much

connected and aligned with other ways of thinking.

REM KOOLHAAS

CitiesArchitecture

Design Sustainability

Futures Social change

Blog:

Ebooks: Future of Design

Most Read: D is for Disasters, 35,207 readers

Most Commented: Giving Thanks for Imagination, Creative Genius and Flow, 38 comments

write it down and then cut out the confusing parts.

~ William Safire

Ways to tweet the same content

1.Designer: San Fran’s a cool town b/c they created a brilliant long term plan. #design #architecture

2.Researcher: Case Study: San Francisco’s Plan Turns 25 #cities

3.Conversationalist: What did SF’s plan do for you? #cities

Evolution of an Online Business Strategy

Be realBe relevantBe there

What do you want to read?

Who do you want to read it?

Heads Up display wearable lenses

Vernor Vinge Rainbows End

Times Square NYC Networked Omniscient Exhibit

You’ll know the social city far differently.

Sydney Opera HouseJorn Utzon Architect

Making things new

Thank You! Bob Borson, AIA, Life of an Architect @bobborson lifeofanrachitect.com Dallas TX

Jody Brown, AIA, Coffee with an Architect @infillnc Infill, Durham NCCindy Frewen Wuellner, FAIA, PhD @urbanverse urbanverse.net Frewen Architects Inc, Kansas City MO