Mark English recently spoke about the use of Social Media in a small architectural practice during the KA Connect 2011 conference held in San Francisco on April 27 & 28 of this year. KA Connect is a community of AEC professionals driven to transform the way the industry creates, captures, and shares knowledge. KA Connect was founded by Knowledge Architecture in 2010.

Mark had a lot to say about the conference apart from his own talk, too. “There was so much information about the structure and handling of knowledge. The room was full of extremely smart people, all explaining how they manage and use knowledge successfully within their firms. The various presentations covered very timely subjects in this extraordinary period of change in our profession.”

Knowledge Architecture is a knowledge management and information systems consultancy based in San Francisco whose goal is to empower architects and engineers to create, capture, and share knowledge to leverage their expertise and grow their organizations.

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We usually don’t use this blog to brag about our own work, but this time we had to. We’re very pleased and flattered to have our Fontana Building remodel featured on two major design blogs: The Contemporist and Houzz.com.

This interior remodel from Mark English Architects transformed the original early 60s decor into a sleek and sexy pied a terre. Photo by Matthew Millman.

Getting recognition for good design is a challenge that all design firms face. It used to be all about “getting published”, back when when getting featured in high-design magazines like Architectural Record was the pinnacle of architectural fame. Firms hired publicists to pitch and place stories, invested in professional photography and staging, and relied on insider connections to get the ear of a senior editor.

Now there are a greater number of places to present work. Magazines, books, and academia all retain a big role in promoting vanguard design ideas and emerging technologies. But now, online media has become the new go-to sourcebook for the general public consisting of architecture fans, potential design clients, and various professionals.

Yes, getting published is still important, and that still starts with having great photos. Typically, the architect has limited influence over the client’s interior design choices. But if the photos are cluttered, or the furniture is mediocre, the designs just don’t look as appealing. And there’s not much an architect can do about it.

That’s why this project was so exciting for us. We were doubly lucky that the interiors got the finishing touches from Gary Hutton Design that made the place picture perfect. And, photographer Matthew Millman‘s sensitivity and dedication to detail brought out every last bit of texture that, in person, make the place the perfect pied-a-terre.

The original layout had a wall that blocked the line of sight out to the San Francisco Bay. The revised plan maximizes the dramatic views and creates a theater from which to observe spectacles such as the Fleet Week aeronautics as well as Fourth of July fireworks. Parti sketch: Mark English Architects

Every time we go out to a design event, more and more of our colleagues want to hear about how we use social media, and how well it’s working for us. Mark English of Mark English Architects will be speaking about this at noon on March 4th at the AIA East Bay‘s Small Firms Forum, along with Jerry James and John Merlie of FR James Construction. The presenters will explain their marketing strategies and how they have each adopted social media to suit their own specific needs.

The floor will be open for questions afterwards. “There is really no one right way to do it,” says Mark English. “It’s more important to tailor it to the needs and opportunities of your particular business. It’s not that hard to do, once you’ve got the right mindset. Come and find out!”

The AIA East Bay Chapter Office is located at 1405 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612. Please contact them directly to register.

Update:

The Panel Discussion on the 4th was very well attended with around 50 architects and contractors in the room. Jerry James and his associate John Merlie began the presentation with a glossary of terms and their vision of Social Media small business applications in the Construction Industry. A very useful followup from their point of view and be found at the following link: http://www.frjames.net/jerrys-blog/2010/3/8/followup-to-frjs-social-media-marketing-presentation-at-the.html

The audience was very engaged and involved, and understandably cautious.  After all, this is all a work in progress!  Some of the most important points that resulted from the interaction include:

1. Twitter is a Broadcasting Tool.

2. Business success using ANY media is a cumulative process using all tools, “Old Media” as well as “New”.

3. Example: We have a new project, images of which were first seen on Houzz.com by a potential client. He then saw an image of the house on the cover of the California Home & Design Sourcebook. He then went to our website and liked the design of the site itself.  The result, a motivated potential client before any actual physical meeting or phone call.

4. Our clients are now often younger successful professionals who EXPECT that we are “with it”. We had better be!

5. Using Google Analytics, we can trace the sources of our main website visitors. Referrals from Houzz.com amount to 15% or more per month, Twitter and Facebook another 15%, our own Blog sites yet another 15%. Direct searches are still the majority, but AIA and Magazine -related sites are minimal sources.

6. Time required:   One has to believe that marketing of any sort is useful.  If that premise is accepted, then every means of communication in business needs to be considered. As architects, we tend to think of “advertising” as a dirty word.

7. Brand: If you walk into a room and don’t say a word, no-one will ever remember who you are. If you walk into a room with a name tag on and don’t say anything, some may remember your name, but not know  who you are.  If you walk into the room with something to say, you will be remembered. SOCIAL MEDIA CREATES AN ENORMOUS ROOM.

8. Content is King!