October 27, 2009 in News

Urban Land Publishes Joan Capelin’s Article on Graduate Courses About Sustainability

Urban Land, the publication of the Urban Land Institute, asked Joan Capelin to write an article for its August issue about sustainable education programs in university-based real estate development programs across the country.  The request came because Capelin Communications is known to be expert in communicating about green design.

Joan highlighted the sustainable curriculum of a past Capelin client, Arizona State University’s Master of Real Estate Development program, along with Clemson and the University of Maryland.  The feature article detailed various aspects of each program’s curriculum, so readers would know what to look for as they assessed available options.

Joan quoted R. Nicholas “Ryc” Loope, founding director of ASU’s graduate program: “Students must understand the science, economics, ethics, and strategies of sustainability before building or planning a new community.”

Click here to read Joan’s article in Urban Land.  For other published works, click here.

October 16, 2009 in News

Scott Simpson Explains How to Make the Most of the Recession

Scott Simpson, FAIA

Scott Simpson, FAIA

Joan Capelin interviewed Scott Simpson, FAIA – senior director of Kling-Stubbins – for the 17th interview of the “Sound Advice” series.

The podcast provides Scott’s perspective and advice on what awaits the “next architect” [his book – The Next Architect: a New Twist on the Future of Design] in this recession, the important difference between risk and value, learning to speak the client’s language, vision as a component of leadership, and how to find the extraordinary in a recession assignment.

Kling-Stubbins is now a global design firm. Scott’s projects have won Lab of the Year honors as well as two Business Week/Architectural Record design awards.

He is a Richard Upjohn Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Senior Fellow and board member of the Design Futures Council, a founding board member of the Rice Building Institute, and an Overseer of the Boston Children’s Museum.

Scott has lectured at the Harvard, Yale, Rice, and the University of Wisconsin schools of architecture, and has presented at numerous national conferences and symposia, including 15 AIA national conventions.  He has published more than 115 articles on innovation in the design professions and has co-authored two books, How Firms Succeed and The Next Architect:  a New Twist on the Future of Design.

Click here to listen to Scott’s interview.  Visit our “Sound Advice” page to hear other podcasts in the series.

October 5, 2009 in News

Scott Braley Suggests How to Survive This Recession

Joan Capelin interviewed Scott Braley – principal of Braley Consulting & Training – for the 16th interview of the “Sound Advice” series.

The podcast provides Scott’s perspective and advice on the difference between this and previous recessions, the importance of marketing internally, what a marketing officer should be considering going forward, and why continued training is so valuable.

An accomplished strategist, leader, manager and marketer, Scott in himself and as a consultant, has led A/E/C’s through several recessions.

Braley Consulting & Training began in 1987; he has been a full-time consultant in multiple sectors of the industry since 1998. His role has been to help firms create strategies, define leadership/ownership, retool their organization, enhance project delivery, and engage talent.

For over two decades, Scott served as Managing Principal of the international A/E/C firm Heery, that grew to rank in the ENR “Top 40” and World Architecture’s “Top 50.” He recently authored “Wisdom, Wrinkles and Worth,” a white paper on Baby Boomers in the A/E/C workplace.

An active member of numerous professional organizations, and a Fellow of the AIA, Scott is widely published and a frequent invited speaker at national and international A/E/C events.

Click here to listen to the podcast.  Visit our “Sound Advice” page to hear other podcasts in the series.

Scott Braley, FAIA

Scott Braley, FAIA

October 1, 2009 in Articles, News

Joan Capelin Tells Short Tales in October’s Marketer

For her ongoing “Compelling Communications” column in SMPS Marketer, Joan points out that storytelling – gaining attention as an effective way to influence decisions – achieves many marketing and training purposes. 

In “Once Upon a Time,” Joan’s goal is to help people realize how many stories they do have available to them – useful in making a point, changing people’s opinions, even changing a firm’s culture.

Joan recounts some of her favorite and most powerful anecdotes in the October issue.  Here’s one about just how much marketing is enough:

Two men encounter a bear in a forest.  One of the men stops, sits down, pulls his running shoes out of his knapsack, and puts them on.  The other man, already running fast, calls back, incredulously, “You don’t think those running shoes are going to help you outrun that bear!” The other man replies, “I don’t have to outrun the bear.  I only have to outrun you!”

If you like stories – and who doesn’t – click here to read a copy of the article.

September 28, 2009 in News

Skanska Presented with LEED Platinum Honor

The flagship offices for Skanska USA Building are in the fabled Empire State Building.  Built on an accelerated schedule, those offices on the entire 32nd Floor have gained attention and honors because they were designed and built to LEED Platinum quality.

Capelin Communications has supported Skanska’s New York team for two years, much of it recently focused on getting out Skanska’s message that older buildings can be retrofitted to the highest level of sustainability.

Acting as its own client, Skanska was able to build out and move into the 80-year-old building in a scant five months from when the lease was signed.  It reports that the new offices have achieved a reduction in energy consumption of nearly 50%.

The USGBC LEED Platinum designation is the first for Skanska’s own space; other officers are designated Gold or Silver.  It is also the first Platinum space in the Empire State Building, which makes it a showcase of sorts.

Capelin has so far placed stories about this accelerated project in Engineering News-Record and New York Construction, with others to follow shortly and arranged for a panel at Urban Green Expo that featured Elizabeth Heider, head of Skanska’s Green Council, as moderator; New York Area Executive Vice President Steve Pressler; Architect Rick Cook of Cook+Fox; and Empire State Building owner Tony Malkin.

From Left: Skanska’s Christopher Viola, Elizabeth Heider, Tri Tran, and Steve Pressler are joined by the owner of the Empire State Building, Anthony Malkin, and President of the US Green Building Council, Rick Fedrizzi, as he presents the LEED Platinum plaque.

From left: Skanska’s Project Manager Christopher Viola, SVP of Preconstruction Elizabeth Heider, New York Director of Preconstruction Tri Tran, EVP and New York General Manager Steve Pressler, owner of the Empire State Building Tony Malkin, and President of USGBC Rick Fedrizzi.