Last year's Congressional debt standoff hurt consumer confidence more than the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Betsey Johnson and Justin Wolfers write.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
AT&T, IBEW Reach Tentative Agreement on One-Year Contract Extension in Core Wireline Negotiations
DALLAS, May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* today announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on a one-year contract extension covering nearly 7,000 core wireline employees.
Flexible Spaces Win Over Active Adults in a N.J. Community
Wyngate at Medford's focus on meeting diverse lifestyle needs has helped it become one of the state's best selling projects.
Manitoba Canada's leader in home renovations
Brad Sveinson of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association with Andrew Stibbard, whose home is being renovated.
Election Results
The online voting period has ended, and new officers have been elected for the East Tennessee Section. A total of 29 votes were tallied, which represented over ...
To Sell Green, First Teach Green
To Sell Green, First Teach Green: Turns out Connecticut?s ?House of the Year? is small,...
Parsons Brinckerhoff: Presidio Parkway
Parsons Brinchkerhoff uses an Autodesk BIM solution to redesign and construct the Presidio Parkway in San Francisco.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
All too quickly, Hastie workers' dreams are crushed
The receiver of engineering company Hastie, which retrenched 2700 staff, says no one was laid off via text text message.
Lack of Distressed Supply Continues to Hit Home Sales
It is all about price point, supply, and where the action is/has been. Depending on which survey you follow, sales of distressed properties , make up anywhere from a quarter to 40 percent of all home sales nationwide.
Leaders push for pedestrian pathway over the Deegan
The promise of a footbridge across the Major Deegan Expressway in Van Cortlandt Park was part of a mitigation package approved by the City Council along with the Croton Water Filtration Plant in 1999.
Jay McInerney and His Hand Ax
When his creative juices are clotting up, Jay McInerney says he reaches for, of all things, an Acheulean hand ax.
The Construction Contractor's Digest | Construction Executive Advisory
Sam,
Thank you for your gift of a book and kind note. These are both treasures.
I have thought about your question concerning what to do with the book that demanded a large investment on your part.
Here is a partial answer, I will think about this over the next month and drop you a note or two.
Books, as you know, are slow movers unless you are Oprah. This is good and bad. Good ? a steady flow of interests over years as people discover yours. Bad ? not the immediate recognition it deserves.
So, the fun part of this is the creation of marketing support and selling it. You have time to do both. Here are some things we do:
? Weblog ? I continue to write sparingly on it but, it keeps the rankings up and does generate some engagement with people in the industry
? Newsletter ? some of this is work but, it is not if you like to write. Each time it publishes, there is some feedback from your readers.
? Commercial website with a shopping cart ? this helps establish presence and sell books.
? IPhone ? have the Square credit card commerce service ? if I meet someone and happen to mention construction. We find our way to talking about my books. I might sell one and take their credit card right then and there ? $2.75 per swipe charge. I can be a sales person at times and it is fun.
? Electronically convert it ? it is a lower margin but, higher / more widespread (worldwide) distribution. Both of mine are. The third which will be based on PhD research is my ?opus?. It is a construction business system that is along the lines of ?Good to Great?. It will be real charge to perfect it and publish it. I am ?amped? (Late 2013)
Your publisher can help in several ways to market ? most don?t since the ROI in book publishing is single digits ? so many are just printers with a rolodex of contacts to send samples to ? then they play catch with any orders that may result ? (they don?t sell or market). That leaves you to the be the chief believer ? salesperson and marketer ? of the book.
What comes to mind for you ? this is my sense ? that you could have a lot of fun visiting book clubs, libraries, associations and bookstores across the U.S. (maybe elsewhere). As long as somebody buys a required number, you tell them you will show up. Jet Blue / SW Airlines / Hotwire / a hybrid car etc. make travel cheap and string a few close cities together and you may make a profit. Throw in a 2 hour breakfast meeting at Association Y and then a strategic planning session / future trends speech and you have made a couple of dollars.
University students need to hear about managing labor, field experience, negotiation skills among other expertise you have. Many of them will thank you at the end of the course. They will realize the wisdom and that you cared to tell them about ?reality?.
Not glamorous but, this is the life we choose as authors, writers, advisors and educators.
As far as your statement about your last book, I don?t know if you are accurate. Never ask a NFL player his future plans after the Super Bowl or an author after his / her last book. A person?s perspective is sensitive to time and in the football player?s case, one that reflects his tired / hurt body after an 8 month season.
I know of no one who ever stopped writing. They write something until their ?cold, dead fingers? are removed from pen / laptop.
To me, being significant is most important in this professional life. It is not shared by everyone but, then again I am a believer in what I believe.
More later.
Matt
Registration forms for Seminar and Golf Tournament
Registration forms for the Technical Seminar and Golf Tournament are now online. Registration for the golf tournament is due by April 5....
Mortgage rates still falling, hit record lows
Mortgage rates have continued to fall over the past week, setting record lows for both 30-year and 15-year contracts, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday. The 30-year benchmark now stands at 3.79 percent, down from 3.83 percent a week ago, with an average "point" fee of 0.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
The condo that's home to 'Fifty Shades of Grey'
Banned, embraced and parodied for its graphic sexual content, "Fifty Shades of Grey," is fiction, but the home much of it takes place in is real. A luxury condominium in Seattle.
12 pounds of marijuana sent to real estate agent
Rehoboth Beach Police have arrested a Colorado man they say shipped 12 pounds of marijuana to his real estate agent.
Manitoba Movers
Darrell Hawryluk has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Westland Construction Ltd.
Reflect
For Miami residents hurrying through the lobby of the city's Stephen P. Clark Government Center lobby, art imitates life.
Rutgers ROTC Hope for the Warriors Run Fall 2012
William Koch Jr. is an East Brunswick resident with 32 years as a member of the IBEW 456-Electricians Union.
Contractors willing to share expertise about mill safety
Electrical contractors in B.C. are ready to help regulatory authorities increase safety at sawmills across the province, after recent deadly explosions and fires at two facilities.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Former Va. paper plant gearing up for new purpose
The former International Paper mill in Isle of Wight is being reborn as fluff pulp plant employing about 220 people.
A Sidewalk Shed in Perpetuity
New York City has thousands of temporary structures to catch construction debris. Residents worry that one in Harlem will never go away.
Bill Proposes Mortgage Shake-Up
Bill Proposes Mortgage Shake-Up: Two lawmakers, a California Republican and a Michigan Democrat, are...
Hoar Construction: Children's of Alabama Hospital Expansion
Autodesk Building Design Suite and BIM solutions help Hoar Construction accelerate delivery of a $450 million expansion of a major children?s hospital.
Homes for sale scarce as sellers wait for price rebound
Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs. The head of a typical public company made $9. U.S. bank earnings rose in the first three months of the year to the highest level in nearly five years, and the number of troubled banks fell for the fourth straight quarter.
Slideshow: What home buyers can get for $250,000
Each week, TODAY real estate expert Barbara Corcoran looks around the U.S. to see what home buyers can get for their money.
Builder Confidence Moves Up in May
Gains were registered across all three components of the Housing Market Index this month.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Former Va. paper plant gearing up for new purpose
The former International Paper mill in Isle of Wight is being reborn as fluff pulp plant employing about 220 people.
Training Seminar
The East Tennessee Section is hosting a training seminar on April 13th-14th featuring Ted Douglas, CCC PSP. More information and a registration form will be ava...
Dayton rethinks his doubts about URS
Gov. Mark Dayton criticized URS during the 2010 campaign, saying he was "outraged" by company memos about the I-35W bridge.
Times-Dispatch meets its best possible buyer
From left: Terry Kroeger, CEO of Omaha World-Herald Co.; Doug Hiemstra, COO; Scott Searl, general counsel; and Duane Polodna, CFO, spoke to staff members of the Richmond Times-Dispatch on May 17.
We are looking for structural engineering classes for Autodesk University 2012
The Call for Proposals site for AU 2012 is currently opened and accepting class proposals. If you would like to teach a class now is the time to submit your proposal. The Structural Engineering Design track focuses on topics that...
Listing of The Week: A 'Hobbit House' at Lake Tahoe
885 Hill Lane, Lake Tahoe, Nevada For sale: $3,700,000 When Paul Arnold and his wife Elizabeth decided to build their custom home, they wanted something beyond fun. They wanted something fantastic. Hence, "The Hobbit House" was born.
Existing-Home Prices Saw Record Jump in April
Sales improved across all four regions during the month.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
N.Y.U.?s Expansion Plan, as Seen by Its Leaders
The university?s top officials make the case for its expansion plan.
Infusion from China for Toledo, Ohio, Real Estate
Infusion from China for Toledo, Ohio, Real Estate: Two investors from China bought a formerly...
Thursday Jolt: Amazon gets praise. Arena, not so much.
Seattle artist Ann Gardner's glass-tile mosaic, "Convergence," is on a facade of the NBBJ-designged building on the Amazon complex.
S. A. Miro, Inc.: Children's Hospital Colorado
Innovative Autodesk BIM solutions drive faster project completion and reduce costs on a major addition to Children?s Hospital Colorado.
S. A. Miro, Inc.: Children's Hospital Colorado
Innovative Autodesk BIM solutions drive faster project completion and reduce costs on a major addition to Children?s Hospital Colorado.
Lowestoft College gains first award
The college, which opened last September, has been announced as a winner of a Royal Institute of British Architects' Craftsmanship award.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Boosting Profitability for General Contractors
As profit margins drop past the 2% mark, general contractors are compelled to look for more innovative ways to drive profitability. Recently, I learned of a GC that hired a third party services firm to photo-document its work on a large school project and passed the cost onto the owner with a slight markup. While I see the rationale behind adding value-added services as a way to improve revenue, I find this particular choice questionable.
Construction Photo-documentation firms offer a valuable combination of construction knowledge and photography services to owner/developers who lack the experience and resources to scrutinize the construction of their buildings. Most also offer a deliverable that includes construction photos delivered via the web.
However, does this make sense for a GC? Can these firms offer expertise that the GC doesn?t already have on staff? Do they hold the secrets to construction photography that a GC can?t match with a $500 camera purchase�and a basic photography course at a local community college (or even online)? The answers are obviously no and no.
So, therefore, the missing piece of the puzzle must be the ability to deliver construction photos with a web interface offers more than a link to a Sharepoint folder. If a GC could deliver a comprehensive package of photos to an owner that offered a complete record of as-built construction and critical installation details, now that would be valuable.
And now, the GC can offer just such a deliverable. In my next post I will describe how Geedra enables GC?s to self perform the photo documentation of their projects, and in doing so transforms an overhead cost, into a value-add service that boosts profitability.
Tags: construction, construction photo documentation, construction photography, construction photos, Gafcon, Geedra, general contractors, MultiVista, qualitybuilt, self perform
Bond Wolfe Architects: Ladue Education Center
The new Ladue Early Childhood Education Center is completed early and under budget with help from Autodesk BIM.
Mike Talboy is leaving the Missouri Legislature for Burns & McDonnell
Missouri's Democratic caucus is losing a great representative. Mike Talboy, the Missouri House's minority leader, isn't running for re-election; he's taking a job with Burns & McDonnell as the firm's first Director of Governmental Affairs.
Hawaii Land Use Commission delays Hoopili decision
Supporters of D.R.Horton's Hoopili subdivision waved signs outside St. Andrew's Cathedral on Beretania Street Tuesday in Honolulu.
US 30-year mortgage rate falls to record 3.78 pct.
The average U.S. rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a record low for a fourth straight week.
UJA benefits from supportive community members
During this school year, Ukiah Junior Academy was faced with a huge project to replace their 60-year-old light fixtures.
Nebraska Football Recruiting Update: Commit Number 8 Is a Steal
Nebraska received its eighth commit last night from Scout 3 star offensive lineman Dan Samuelson.
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