July 2009 | A ZweigWhite publication | w w w. a e m a r ke t i n g n ow.

c o m

I n s i g h t a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e f o r a r ch i t e c t u r e , e n g i n e e r i n g , a n d e n v i r o n m e n t a l c o n s u l t i n g f i r m s

RIGHT | NOW THIS MONTH

To tweet or not to tweet
There’s no proven ROI on social “Right now people just want participation.
They want to know that you are engaged.”
media networking, but waiting SPECIAL COVERAGE
No one was clear at the event about
for proof will put you behind whether Twitter or LinkedIn and other
the 8-ball. social media out- Right Now
lets have helped “You go out there Page 1 To tweet or not to tweet
When the Internet finally delivered generate revenue, and put some
return on investment, firms scrambled to but it has already content out and BD Beat
join in, but their early adopting competi- helped in recruit- see what happens. Page 3 Market, market! Bang, bang!
tors were already raking in business. The ing efforts, accord- Right now people
same may be true of Twitter, Facebook, and ing to one session just want Trendlines
LinkedIn. attendant. Page 4 PMs and BD; and social
participation. They
The bottom line, media
want to know
Duggal said, is that
that you are Portfolio
either you jump on
the train, or poten- engaged.” Page 5 Holiday card has measurable
tially miss out on impact
Are you social? For Vik Duggal's presentation
o p p o r t u n i t i e s “Listen or DIE: Leveraging New

56%
of respondents to our
monthly survey say
they don’t use social
media, although 29%
say they are intrigued.
(See full survey results
on page 4.)
Emerging tools such as Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn are “the new way
to shake hands,” said Vik Duggal, who runs
konstructr.com, a social web site for the
A/E industry, during a session at the 2009
A/E Marketing Now Summit in San
Francisco last May. And a must-do.
“You go out there and put some content
out and see what happens,” Duggal said.
when social media Media” at ZweigWhite’s 2009
A/E Marketing Now Summit,
starts producing visit www.vikduggal.com.
palpable results.
“You’re in this new world; you’re starting
from zero,” he said, adding that social
media allows you to connect to clients you
may already know, providing another way
to nurture relationships. “Everyone in this
room has the chance to kill it in 2009.”
The topic led to open discussion during
the session as well as during an ensuing
panel discussion titled “NEW Tools of the
Trade,” with opinions diverging widely on
the usefulness of social media in the age of Stimulus Now
tight ROI metrics. Duggal, however, said Page 8 Three keys for winning
that while the Internet is polluted with use- stimulus contracts
less information, the A/E and environmen-
tal consulting fields remain relatively Guest Speaker
See “Tweet“ on page 2 Page 9 Jump-starting a CRM

Effective Marketing
WHAT’S | WORKING Page 9 Use manifold messaging
From print to web Pages 6-7 to drive traffic

Inside View
Page 11 Random acts of kindness
can strengthen your brand

The newspaper Easy navigation Branding iron team Annual report shows Parting Shot
isn’t dead extends web visits brings heavy hitters to company’s character Page 12 Help technical staff market
five-vold headquarters opening

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

ZWEIGWHITE
Tweet
From page 1
uncluttered, creating a chance to establish
a presence early.
“There’s no personality on the Internet
today that’s the architecture guy,” he said,
pointing to an opportunity. “Start thinking
how this can help your business get busi-
ness from companies you could not (work)
get from before.”
Wide gap
While some marketing professionals in
both sessions said their firms are on
Twitter and Facebook, others raised seri-
ous reservations about even considering
joining. (This month’s Trendlines survey,
on page 4, sheds further light on the range
of opinions surrounding this topic.)
In one instance, a participant said her
firm blocks social networks entirely.
Duggal said that’s a mistake, advising the
firm to instead set objectives for employees
and talking to them if they miss those
goals.
“The opportunity that is lost is so much
greater than what you can benefit,” he said.
Another participant raised concerns
about intertwining personal aspects with
business on social networks, and stepping
outside established communication proto-
cols in an industry that is very serious and
often lacks a sense of humor.
“It goes back to the value alignment,”
Duggal said. “You can have your own
Twitter; you can build your internal one.
The point is that the toolset is now avail-
able.”
He said, for example, that Konstructr is a
private network focused on a specific audi-
ence. That industry-specific network only
allows verified users, as well as forums for
private exchanges. Duggal said any firm
can do the same, setting up an internal
Vik Duggal during his presentation at the 2009
A/E Marketing Now Summit.
“Twitter,” for example, just for employees,
or for selected groups of employees.
“If you want to be private, and find a
place to keep it private,” Duggal said, “the
value of that just increases exponentially if
you participate in the right forum.”
GOING SOCIAL
Want to get on Twitter?
Well, here’s what you need to know. Twitter
allows the user to post any number of short
messages (up to 140 characters), that anybody
logging onto your page can read. Users can
find your posts either by conducting a search or
obtaining your address. At that point they
become your “followers” (you can also
“follow” somebody).
So, imagine that you post on Twitter saying (in
140 characters) that your firm has just won a
major sustainable energy project to retrofit an
office building. Someone reading that post
looking for similar services could be your next
client. Twitter allows links and can even
synchronize information with your Facebook
page. Each page can also be personalized and
viewed on different devices, such as smart
phones.
How to do it?
 Go to www.twitter.com and register your
username and password.
 That’s it! Happy posting!
 Also, why not search for people or firms you
know to see what they are posting.
ZweigWhite, for example, is at
www.twitter.com/ZweigWhite. You can search
for firms, people and almost anything else at
http://search.twitter.com.
Tells us about it!
Have you had success with social media at
your firm? Let us know. Contact João Ferreira
at jferreira@zweigwhite.com.

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED!

Didn’t make it to the 2009 A/E Marketing Now
Summit and Marketing Excellence Awards?
Here’s some photos of the fun (more photos
at http://events.zweigwhite.com/marketing/).
Hope you can make it next year!

Got ideas? We want to hear from you! Advisory Board

321 Commonwealth Road, Suite 101
Wayland, MA 01778
Tel: 800-466-6275
Fax: 800-842-1560
E-mail: info@zweigwhite.com
Web: www.aemarketingnow.com
Issued once a month (12 issues/yr.)
$245/1 yr., $395/2 yrs.
Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact
The YGS Group at 717-399-1900 ext. 139.
João Ferreira, editor. Call me
at 800-466-6275, ext. 245,
or e-mail
jferreira@zweigwhite.com.
Franceen Shaughnessy,
editorial director. Call me at
800-466-6275, ext. 238,
or e-mail
fshaughnessy@zweigwhite.com.
© 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
ISSN 1526-4483
Gina Bedoya, President, Bedoya
Business Strategies, Inc.
Kristi Chavarria, Associate,
Director of Marketing and Client
Services, Schrickel, Rollins &
Associates, Inc.
Karen Courtney, Chief
Development Director, Barton
Malow Company
Mark Forster, Marketing Director,
Dudek
Wally Hise, Vice President, Federal
Marketing and Sales, West Region,
HDR Engineering, Inc.
Bryan Hughes, Director of Project
Development, V&A Engineering
Lisa Schauer, Associate, Business
Development Manager, MacKay &
Sposito, Inc.
Marcy Steinberg, Owner,
Cynosure Communications
Molly Wagner, Corporate
Communications Manager,
Dewberry

2 July 2009  Issue 211 © Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

ZWEIGWHITE
 MARKETING NOW
BD BEAT
Lisa
Schauer

Market, market! Bang! Bang!

While juggling marketing ness development and marketing. One of One of our firm leaders often uses
our firm leaders often uses an analogy: an analogy: “Don’t waste your time
and business development
“Don’t waste your time circling the wagons. circling the wagons. You must
sometimes requires You must aggressively shoot your way out!”
a super-human effort, aggressively shoot your way out!”
Market, market! Bang! Bang! Always keep
Market, market! Bang! Bang! Always
you cannot afford to yourself and your company moving for-
keep yourself and your company
neglect either one. ward in the direction of success.
Business development is about people. moving forward in the direction
We spend time with people whom we like of success.
Help Wanted: A/E firm seeking highly
motivated individual. Willing to work long and enjoy their company. Nurturing rela-
tionships is not only important, it’s essen- business development and marketing
hours under significant pressure and non-
tial. While you may be selling technical ser- efforts, find other resources. Perhaps the
negotiable client deadlines. Must be capa-
vices, what you are really selling is the firm’s IT person is capable of helping with
ble of thinking outside the box while not
promise of a positive and productive rela- web site maintenance or e-mail blasts.
rocking the boat too much, or our staff
tionship. Use all of your internal resources Partner with your local community, state or
becomes nervous. Creative, smart, vision-
to ensure everyone in your firm, from the regional college or university. Find out if
ary. Successful candidate will know every-
receptionist to the firm leaders, under- they need firms to host internships. The
one in our industry and community; will
stands the value of relationships and their federal government is offering stimulus
be capable of working miracles with few
roles in nurturing the company’s business money and in our local community, this not
resources and no budget in an uncertain
development efforts. Remember that you only translates to potential projects, but
economic time. Must be a juggler!
cannot be everything to everyone! Choose also to staff. Our local congressional repre-
Do you feel like
SETTING you are constantly to spend your limited time on the highest sentative has secured dollars for paid
internships for low-income individuals.
PRIORITIES juggling priorities? return— this is not a simple task in action.
Focus on developing new relationships Hire free or reduced cost help. Even if the
Think you’re juggling too Wikipedia ex-
much? Here are the (that may provide your firm with high support is to help keep you organized, it
plains in its defini-
priorities: returns— i.e. network, leads, revenue) and will be well worth it.
 Nurture relationships
tion of juggling that
on nurturing your top clients (long-term It does feel as though the effort to juggle
and focus on business the term has come
revenue prospects, current top-billed both marketing and business development
development efforts to mean “any activ-
 Develop strong and clients). Offer company-wide training on requires super-human efforts, and yes, it
ity which requires a
savvy marketing and
constant refocusing the value of all of our interactions and rela- sometimes does. However, you cannot
branding initiatives. afford to neglect either effort!
 Bringing new work in of one’s attention tionships. I am a big believer in karma.
today assures a busy from an overall What you do today will affect you tomor-
LISA SCHAUER, CPSM, is an associate and
technical staff goal to multiple row. You never know how your interaction business development manager at MacKay &
tomorrow. with someone may affect your sales.
subsidiary tasks.” Sposito, Inc. (Vancouver, WA). Contact her at
While I do not con- Everyone is connected… sometimes much lschauer@mackaysposito.com.
sider myself talented in any sport, I do closer than six degrees.
Lead your marketing initiatives. Keeping Is a ZweigWhite webinar
believe marketers are expert jugglers.
your firm’s brand identity on top of peo- in your future?
Here’s how you juggle these balls in the air
ple’s minds doesn’t need to mean you ZweigWhite webinars are a great and affordable
simultaneously:
way to keep on top of the latest developments
1) Nurture relationships and adequately spend a lot of money. Take advantage of
in the A/E and environmental consulting fields.
focus your business development efforts. every opportunity to continue keeping your Each 90-minute “virtual seminar” explores the
2) Position your firm with strong, savvy brand fresh and most importantly, in front latest best practices, strategies, and helpful
marketing and branding initiatives. of your audience (i.e. firm anniversary, new case studies from top A/E professionals. For
3) Bring in new work today for your tech- employee, partnership to support a non- one low connection fee, you and your team
profit). Utilize the press as your partner receive a toll-free telephone call-in number,
nical staff to invoice tomorrow.
secure conference access code, and a web link
If you don’t think that’s stressful, think and establish a strong (and free) publicity to join the live, streaming presentation event.
again! Let me begin by stating my position plan. Again, this doesn’t mean revamping For more information on ZweigWhite’s
clearly: you cannot afford to stop juggling, your entire web site today. It does mean webinars visit www.zweigwhite.com/m-5-
especially during this difficult economic putting in place a good marketing plan webinars.aspx
time. You must do it all! We also know where you ensure your efforts today lead Do you have a suggestion for a webinar topic
that would interest other A/E firm
firms either advance or retreat. It is unlike- your firm to its overall marketing goals.
professionals? Is there is a topic you might be
ly a firm can just maintain and hope that it When I say lead, I mean lead. If you don’t interested in presenting? Please let us know!
is enough to just put minimal effort in busi- have staff resources to help you manage the E-mail Lucas Walsh at lwalsh@zweigwhite.com.

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved. July 2009  Issue 211
3
TREND | LINES

PMs and BD; and social media

At a time when the doer/seller paradigm is becoming the norm, we asked our readers to weigh in on
the issue. Also, are you jumping on the social media wagon?
PROJECT MANAGERS AND
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Many project managers are involved in
developing leads among respondents
(27%).
However, the surprising result here is
the “other” category, which garnered
18% of responses.
Below are some of those “other”
explanations.
“Our project managers are
critical in forming relationships
with existing clients. They
focus on the client they are
working with and trying to
‘sell’ the next project.”
How involved are your project managers in “We recently implemented a PM
marketing and business development efforts? sales program. The director of
18%
marketing and sales finds ‘warm’
22%
leads and the PMs are required to
2% make initial contact and offer a
proposal for services.”
16% “Our project managers are
involved in social networks and
business networks that generate
27%
leads. Our marketing department
16%
follows up on the leads with the
22% They are primarily involved in provide input for marketing support of the technical manager
creating leads and initial contacts.
27% They lead sales efforts, with
campaigns. 16% They are only
involved as needed. 2% They have who generated the lead. Project
support from marketing. 16% They no real involvement. 18% Other.
managers also review
Note: Due to rounding, percentages for this questions total more than 100.
and edit proposals.”

SOCIAL MEDIA Do you use social media?

“We use social media because it
The concept of taking to the virtual strengthens our brand in the
space is still a mystery to many in the 7% 13% engineering community. It is better
A/E and environmental services world,
with 56% saying they don’t use social
for the community to answer
media. questions about our company
However, from those, 29% are
29% 16% products than the employees that
intrigued about the concept. work there. It provides that second
Below are some of readers’ reasons
for using or not using social media.
level of validation!”

“It’s not appropriate for a 16% NEXT MONTH

professional business to use
social media with its clients.
The social media like Facebook
mixes business with pleasure
and lines can be crossed. It’s
best to keep it separate.”
20%
13% Yes. 16% Yes, and I use more
than one vehicle. 16% Yes, but I’m
not good at keeping up with it. 20%
No. 29% I don’t, but I’m intrigued.
Note: Due to rounding, percentages for this questions total more than 100.
7% You won’t see our firm on
Facebook or Twitter. I think it’s an
ineffective fad.
Question 1: Have you experienced an
increase in business opportunities due
to the federal stimulus money?
Question 2: What does your firm
tweet about?
Give your opinion at
www.zweigwhite.com/go/trendlines.

RESOURCES
PERFECT PITCH: Your firm has worked hard to
build its name in this business.
You’ve got strong leadership, impressive
experience, and highly skilled employees. And
yet you’re still having trouble securing work.
Sound familiar?
The piece of the puzzle you’re likely missing is a
plan for creating stellar proposals and
presentations.
Today’s marketplace is more competitive than
ever. So, it’s crucial that your proposals and
presentations stand out from the competition
and prove to potential clients that you’re the
one for the job.
Discover how you can win more work with
ZweigWhite’s newest resource, Perfect Pitch:
An Insider’s Guide to Outstanding Proposals
and Presentations.
This guide will take you step-by-step through
this process, from how to research
opportunities, to prepping the presentation
team, to negotiating and closing the deal.
For more information on Perfect Pitch: An
Insider’s Guide to Outstanding Proposals and
Presentations or to download a copy, visit
www.zweigwhite.com/zw-810.aspx.
WRITING FOR DESIGN PROFESSIONALS:
Written by Stephen Kliment, Writing for Design
Professionals: A Guide to Writing Successful
Proposals, Letters, Brochures, Portfolios,
Reports, Presentations, and Job Applications,
second edition, is the only hands-on guide
written specifically to help professionals master
the complexities of effective writing in
professional practice.
This book should be next to the computer of
every architect, planner, interior designer,
engineer, and student who wishes to present a
polished professional image through effective
communication.
For more information about Writing for Design
Professionals: A Guide to Writing Successful
Proposals, Letters, Brochures, Portfolios,
Reports, Presentations, and Job Applications
visit the Society for Marketing Professional
Services (SMPS) (Alexandria, VA) bookstore at
www.smpsbooks.com, and click on the “Skill
Building” category.

4 July 2009  Issue 211 © Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
ZWEIGWHITE
PORTFOLI O
Holiday card has measurable impact
Effort to make standout piece
netted second-place prize in the
SMPS annual awards.
WATG (Honolulu, HI), a 400-person
architecture, planning, interior design, and
strategy firm, prides itself on “designing
destinations.” For its award-winning piece
in the Society for Marketing Profes-
sional Services (SMPS) (Alexandria,
VA) 2008 Marketing Communications
Awards, the destination was a holiday get-
away.
The idea
The holiday card was one element in
a coordinated branding initiative that
started off with research on existing
perceptions of WATG. The firm collect-
ed the opinions of 250 clients, potential
clients, and staff members including
designers, senior leaders and market-
ing personnel through a web-based
perception survey— “What differenti-
ates us from other firms?”— and asked
Incite Partners (Seattle, WA), a brand-
ing consultant, to conduct one-on-one
telephone interviews with an addition-
al 20 clients, prospective clients, and
consultants.
Among the messages WATG hoped to
communicate with the card were “WATG is
all about uplifting experiences;” “We care
about our relationship with you and hope
our work inspires you;” “Ours is a global
practice with lots of creative talent;” and
“We are committed to sustainability,” says
Howard Wolff, WATG’s worldwide director
of marketing. What made WATG’s card
DETAILS
FIRM SIZE: 400
MARKETING TACTIC: “We wanted to create a
card that would stand out amongst other
holiday cards, something that would not only
capture the recipients’ attention and imagination
but also lift their spirits,” says Howard Wolff,
worldwide director of marketing
DISTRIBUTION: 8,000.
COSTS: $26,000 (including printing, die-cutting,
gluing, folding, and envelopes) plus postage.
RESULTS: Second place in the holiday piece
category at the Society for Marketing
Professional Services (SMPS) (Alexandria, VA)
2008 Marketing Communications Awards
© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
really stand out, though, was the hand-
drawn buildings and scenery by 20 employ-
ees who found inspiration while traveling
for work, silhouettes of staff members in
the 40 windows on the card, and hand-
written messages from the senders to the
addressee.
“While most holiday cards get discarded
instantly and make little or no impact on
recipients, this had a personal touch,”
Wolff says. “The card was designed to be
opened and displayed, continuing to
inspire and delight beyond the holidays.”
WATG’s goals for its holiday card includ-
ed creating a non-denominational greeting
WATG’s award-winning holiday card.
card with a universal holiday message;
aligning the card with the firm’s mission
statement— designing experiences that lift
the spirit; showcasing the creativity of
WATG’s global team of architects and
designers; including staff in creating the
holiday card; underscoring the global and
multi-cultural nature of the practice; and
selecting papers and inks in keeping with
the firm’s environmental conscience.
WATG printed the card on Forest
Stewardship Council-certified, manufac-
tured carbon neutral with 100% Green-E
certified renewable energy paper. The 6-
inch-tall-by-9-inch-wide pearl translucent
envelope was made from 100% completely
recyclable pure cellulose.
Cards were designed in-house using
sketches created by staff throughout the
course of the year and art directed and
linked creatively by Senior Graphic
Designer Jana Pesek, involving roughly 80
hours of her time in October and into early
November. The 20 sketch artists were cred-
MARKETING NOW
ited under a flap on the inside of the card.
Jerry Allison (the A in WATG) originally
inspired the sketches, Pesek says. For many
years, Allison would take personal time to
meet with one of our in-house designers
and interview the artist within and feature
them in Wattage, WATG’s monthly
newsletter, she says.
“For our 2007 holiday card, sketches
were merged into a winter landscape,”
Pesek says. “In 2008, they became views
from inside a miniature hotel. This was a
great way to merge miniatures and the
advent (holiday) calendar, showcase actual
architecture, actual interiors, actual people,
their talent, the message Happy New
Year and leave room for people to add
personal notes when signing the
cards.”
Wolff oversaw the design effort and
Marketing Services Manager Dean
Kawamura organized the customiza-
tion and distribution of the cards and
envelopes to each of the WATG offices,
where the marketing coordinators
shepherded the process of having
senior leaders personalize each card.
Despite the elaborate and eye-catch-
ing designs, WATG stayed within its
$30,000 budget for the holiday card mail-
er. The actual total cost for 8,000 cards—
sent to existing and prospective clients,
consultants, vendors, and journalists, as
well as friends and family— was $26,000
(including printing, die-cutting, gluing,
folding, and envelopes), an average of
$3.25, per card plus postage.
Results
Besides the positive reaction the card got
in the halls of WATG’s offices and the sec-
ond-place finish in SMPS’ 2008 Marketing
Communications Awards in the holiday
piece category, it also led to “a measurable
and positive response from recipients and
helped to differentiate WATG from the
many firms sending greetings at this time
of year,” Wolff says. Donna Brennan, public
relations manager at Brennan Asso-
ciates (Chester Springs, PA), a public rela-
tions firm, called the piece “way cooler than
any Advent calendar, and I can open the
windows as fast as I like. I’ll bet I keep mine
forever. Who could ever throw it away?”
July 2009  Issue 211
5
 WHAT’S WORKING
THE NEWSPAPER ISN’T DEAD
The newspaper business might be in trouble, “Our observation was that everybody
but not at OMNI-MEANS, Ltd. (Roseville, CA),
a 60-person civil engineering, surveying,
was exposed to newspapers, and that
transportation planning, geographic information a newspaper approach may generate
systems, construction management, landscape more interest in the publication than
architecture, and land use planning firm. a typical newsletter.“
The firm’s newsletter, OMNI-MEANS Times, is
formatted just like your daily newspaper. The
newsletter earned second place in the Custom who was also the newsletter’s designer. Printed
Magazine/External Newsletter category in three or four times a year, the newsletter
ZweigWhite’s 2009 Marketing Excellence provides information about the firm’s projects
Awards presented at the 2009 A/E Marketing and services, as well as reprints of various
Now Summit on May 21 in San Francisco, articles from industry publications.
California. The newsletter has been well-received, with
“Our observation was that everybody was several California agencies asking to be placed
exposed to newspapers, and that a newspaper on the mailing list and requesting additional
approach may generate more interest in the copies, Ainsworth says.
publication than a typical newsletter, as the “We believe that this has been a very
newspaper is a format that people are successful marketing tool for our company,”
accustomed to read to gather information,” Ainsworth says. “While we produce the
President Ross Ainsworth says. majority of the articles internally, we do strive
The idea for the paper-format newsletter came to include important articles from print
from the company newsletter committee, publications, always securing authorization prior
consisting of Ainsworth, Principal Joe Weiland, to reprinting. I believe this enhances the value
and Marketing Coordinator Sam Constable, to the recipient.”

EASY NAVIGATION EXTENDS WEB VISITS FIVE-FOLD

In the last few years, Corgan Associates, Inc. top, enabling what Corgan describes as a
(Dallas, TX), a 324-person architecture, interiors, “one-minute travel path through the site.”
planning, and sustainability services firm, went The web site is also laden with large,
from a domestic firm to one with international engaging images and short descriptive text
reach. So, the firm’s new web site passages.
(www.corgan.com) needed to reflect that Where the old web site had an average visit
reality. length of just about one minute, the new one
Corgan’s new web site earned second place in has increased the visit length to five minutes,
the Web Site category in ZweigWhite’s 2009 with more pages viewed and a reduced bounce
Marketing Excellence Awards presented at the rate, according to Corgan.
2009 A/E Marketing Now Summit on May 21 in
San Francisco, California.
“Corgan opened offices in the United
Kingdom and China within the past three years.
We needed a web site that could be a
marketing piece for clients and potential clients
worldwide, while also recruiting the best and
brightest talent,” states Corgan’s submission to
the awards. “Our existing web site was over
five years old and had been designed in-house.
Considering our new international markets and
desire to compete on a larger scale, we felt a
higher level of sophistication and function were
required.”
A group of principal and managing partners
selected the overall look for the web site from
four concepts created by a web site design
consultant.
The firm’s marketing department worked with
the consultant to develop the final product,
including content.
The easy-to-navigate web site provides
instinctive connections between each section
through a series of prominent links across the

6 July 2009  Issue 211 © Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
ZWEIGWHITE
 MARKETING NOW
Short takes on real-world marketing tactics that are producing results

BRANDING IRON TEAM BRINGS HEAVY HITTERS TO HEADQUARTERS OPENING

Opening a headquarters office is a major
endeavor, and for ADD Inc. (Boston, MA), a
150-person architecture, interior design,
planning and urban design, and branding and
graphic design firm, that meant not only the
physical space, but also the historical context
and the neighborhood where it is located.
Those were some of the elements taken into
consideration when the firm designed a
campaign to celebrate the opening of the
headquarters at 311 Summer St. in Boston in
September of 2008. The campaign earned an
honorable mention in the Special Event
Marketing Campaign category of the 2009
Marketing Excellence Awards presented on
May 21 at the 2009 A/E Marketing Now
Summit in San Francisco, California.
The firm’s “Branding Iron” team, a group of
marketing, print and interactive design
professionals at the firm, worked closely with
the director of public relations and the
architectural design team to create a campaign
that embraced both the rich history of the
neighborhood and the innovative renovation
and restoration of the historic headquarters
building, according to ADD. The campaign
included invitations, a flat screen animated
loop, nametags, display banners, a canvas
backdrop and coordinated take-away gifts for all
attendees— which included a number of
prominent city residents, politicians, and
community leaders.
The grand-opening also received widespread offices for the Preservation Massachusetts response to the historic building’s
press coverage and led to the selection of the annual fall event— a result of the positive renovation.

ANNUAL REPORT SHOWS COMPANY'S CHARACTER

When Winzler & Kelly (Santa Rosa, CA), a
279-person multi-discipline engineering firm,
underwent a transformation in 2007 with
several investments, including the creation of
its first-ever marketing department, it wanted
its annual report to reflect the changes.
The engaging and visually arresting annual
report that resulted won third place in the
Target Marketing category of the 2009
Marketing Excellence Awards presented on
May 21 at the 2009 A/E Marketing Now
Summit in San Francisco, California.
“We wanted the 2007 Annual Report to stand
out visually, tactically, and in content from all
other annual reports we’ve seen in the design
industry, which are most often text-heavy and
financially-focused,” Winzler & Kelly’s
submission states.
“Although Winzler & Kelly has consistently
performed exceedingly well financially, our
primary focus over our 57-year history has
always been to be of service to our amazing
staff, the environment, and our communities.”
Fully developed in house, the 2007 Annual
“We wanted the 2007 Annual Report
to stand out visually, tactically, and in
content from all other annual reports
we’ve seen in the design industry,
which are most often text-heavy and
financially-focused.”
Report, printed in non-standard size 8 x 11 ½ in
a landscape orientation is primarily a picture
book with short text content to support the
images. The report presents limited financial
content and instead highlights the staff,
community, and clients.
“Our objective with the 2007 Annual Report
was to create a showcase piece that highlights
the depth, breadth, and character of our
company through a spotlight on last year’s
employee activities, community involvement,
financial performance, and project successes,”
according to the firm.
The report went to Winzler & Kelly’s 32
shareholders, future strategic and senior level
hires, M&A target firms, and financial
institutions that have dealt with the firm.

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved. July 2009  Issue 211
7
STIMULUS | NOW
Three keys for winning stimulus contracts
Use current federal contractors
and niche projects to get in the
door with federal agencies.
Putting together a half-cooked proposal
in hopes of at least getting your firm’s name
in front of a federal agency is the wrong
approach when pursuing federal work.
Instead, go for the jugular.
“You have one chance to make a good
first impression,” said Nancy Usrey, associ-
ate vice president, corporate ventures divi-
sion marketing director, at HNTB
Corporation (Kansas City, MO), a 4,000-
person multidisciplinary architecture and
engineering firm, during the 2009 A/E
Marketing Now Summit on May 21 in San
Francisco.
During a presentation
titled “Securing federal
contracts now,” Usrey
shared three key ideas
about how A/E and envi-
ronmental services firms
can try to enter the federal
market in pursuit of a piece
Nancy Usrey,
of the $787 billion
Corporate
Ventures American Recovery and
Division Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Marketing
of 2009, commonly known
Director,
as the economic stimulus
HNTB
Corporation package.
Those keys are finding a
niche, partnering with someone who
already works in the federal market, and
preparing a bulletproof Standard Form 330
(SF330).
Find a niche
The only chance your firm will have to
compete in the federal market is by finding
ON THE MOVE
MULVANNYG2 ARCHITECTURE RE-HIRES:
MulvannyG2 Architecture (Bellevue, WA), a
350-person architecture firm, has announced
the return of Carla Thompson as director of
marketing and business development.
Thompson had previously worked for the firm
for 25 years, before starting a consulting
business.
EYP HIRES: Judy Pullar recently joined EYP
Architecture & Engineering (Albany, NY), a
300-person integrated architecture and
engineering design firm, as its new director of
8 July 2009  Issue 211
a niche: an area of technical expertise, geo-
graphical supremacy, a scope you can live
with, and so on.
“Do the research, develop a plan for your
market sector (a niche),” Usrey said. “It’s
going to take a bit of time.”
Usrey said research includes identifying
a niche and who’s buying what, for exam-
ple. That information is available on the
Small Business Administration’s (SBA)
dynamic small business search at
http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_ds
bs.cfm, a small business database, or SBA’s
Sub-Net subcontracting database at
web.sba.gov/subnet.
“That’s the nice thing about the federal
government. It’s out there, it’s public,”
Usrey said.
Go at it together
Once that niche has been identified,
Usrey said an easier way to break into the
federal market is to team up with other
firms that already have experience and
know how to win jobs with the feds.
That’s a good strategy even from the
client standpoint because many federal
agencies are encouraging project teams.
For example, HNTB has done a lot of prime
work, but is now looking at being a subcon-
sultant on federal projects, Usrey said.
“Put together a team where you have a
local firm that knows more about a client
than you could possibly learn,” she said.
“Now all of sudden you have something
that’s firing on multiple cylinders and get a
chance of getting in the door.”
However, Usrey warned “make sure you
get the right people” on the team.
The SF330 story
Usrey said another way to impress feder-
business development and principal. With more
than 20 years in the A/E and environmental
services industry, she has played a significant
role in increasing project wins, exceeding
business development goals, and implementing
innovative new marketing strategies.
VHB HIRES: Lauren Dabek recently joined the
Middletown, Connecticut, office of Vanasse
Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) (Watertown, MA),
an 850-person integrated transportation, land
development, and environmental services firm,
as marketing coordinator.
© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
“Put together a team where you have
a local firm that knows more about
a clients than you could possibly
learn. Now all of sudden you have
something that’s firing in multiple
cylinders and get a chance of getting
in the door.”
al clients involves putting together a cre-
ative SF330 architect-engineer qualifica-
tions form. While the form requires that
specific information be submitted, nothing
prevents you from using your imagination
in doing that.
For example, she said there’s room to use
photos, tables, matrixes, and pullouts in
the form.
“Tell a story. It’s not a reiteration of your
brochure,” she said. “You’re not going to
win the work if don’t convince your client,
your agency, your contracting officer, that
you are going to do something for them.”
A window of opportunity
Usrey said the new administration in
Washington, D.C., presents a golden
opportunity for firms to introduce them-
selves, since they might be more open to
newcomers. Additionally, she said despite
the impression of inaccessibility, there are
ways to develop contacts within federal
agencies.
“Believe it or not, they have human
beings in there,” she said.
Usrey suggested contacting agencies and
telling them how you can apply your expe-
rience to their needs.
“Provide them with useful information,”
she said. “Show them that you are a consul-
tant, not a contractor (although the ulti-
mate goal is to become a contractor).”
BAXTER & WOODMAN PROMOTES:
Deborah Finn has been named vice president,
marketing, at Baxter & Woodman, Inc. (Crystal
Lake, IL), a 260-person civil engineering firm.
EDA HIRES: Lauren Yant recently joined EDA
Architects, Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT), a
35-person planning, interiors, and architectural
services firm, as marketing manager.
CE SOLUTIONS HIRES: Holly Bolton recently
joined CE Solutions (Carmel, IN), a
seven-person structural engineering firm,
as director of marketing.
ZWEIGWHITE

GUEST SPEAKER
Mark Forster
Jump-starting a CRM
Focusing on key information
needs helps streamline business
development.
Sharing business development informa-
tion in a timely fashion can be challenging
for most firms, but even more so for small
to mid-sized firms that may not have the
inclination or resources to implement full-
blown customer relationship management
(CRM) software.
Creating an effective online business
development portal can be relatively sim-
ple and inexpensive. The return on invest-
ment (ROI) is mining the most relevant
stored data to turn it into actionable busi-
ness intelligence. Dudek (Encinitas, CA), a
200-person environmental consulting
firm, used a focused approach after recog-
nizing a subset of client and prospect infor-
mation would provide valuable intelli-
gence, and that tapping the data didn’t
require investing in a full-blown CRM sys-
tem.
In less than a year, a small team from
marketing, IT, and project management
used an off-the-shelf software management
program to create a web-based portal pro-
viding firm-wide access to a complete view
of business development activities— leads
under consideration, proposals underway,
historical proposal results, a library of pro-
posals, a database of 700 project descrip-
tions, and a library of project manager
resumes.
The following are key elements for a suc-
cessful business development portal.
 Make information searchable and
sortable. Just consolidating information
is not enough; users have to be able to
search and sort it in ways useful to their
specific need. That means tagging informa-
tion when it is uploaded to the portal. Each
bit of discrete information (a proposal or a
business development lead, for example) is
tagged in our portal by market sector
(water, energy, education, etc.); type of
client (city, special district, K-12, etc.); and
geography (at the county level).
Information can be returned by searching
on any combination of tags— such as
requesting all leads, written proposals sub-
© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
mitted, and proposal win-rate for wastewa-
ter agencies in Orange County, California.
 Provide a critical mass of infor-
mation. The portal will be used only if
people are able to find current, accurate,
and relevant information. Portal content
can be assembled in two ways— through
assigned responsibility or by making it easy
for users to contribute information.
Assigned responsibility is simply changing
workflow process. An example of assigned
responsibility is proposal coordinators
must upload finished proposals to the por-
tal library. That step is no more time-con-
suming than the previous practice of saving
the document in a folder; by making the
upload mandatory there is a constant flow
of new information into the portal.
An example of user-contributed informa-
tion is the ability for anyone in the firm to
enter a lead or to write a new project
description. Allowing user-contributed
information means paying close attention
to how the portal enables information to be
added to the portal. Our system accom-
plishes it by requiring mandatory informa-
tion and an editorial review of user-submit-
ted information. When someone enters a
new project description, the system
prompts them to enter required informa-
tion such as client name, project name, and
tags for sector, client type, and geography.
If the mandatory fields are not completed,
the system will not accept the submission.
When a new description is submitted prop-
erly, the new entry is placed in the “pend-
ing” queue for marketing review.
Marketing can publish the description
immediately, or return it with questions to
the project manager. Likewise, anyone in
the firm can post a new lead. An additional
mandatory tag is a “go/no-go” decision
date. If the go/no-go date passes without
action, the lead automatically archives off
the active leads page. Automatic archiving
prevents outdated information from clut-
tering the site without having to spend staff
time updating content.
 Start small and focused. Solving
one or two key issues to start is better than
trying to launch a comprehensive portal.
We asked two questions: First, what infor-
mation was sought frequently but was
MARKETING NOW
time-consuming to retrieve? Second, what
information would be valuable to know if it
could be assembled? The first question led
to the initial application of a searchable
database of 650 project descriptions. The
descriptions had previously been located in
four separate folders on two separate
servers. Marketing was constantly fielding
the question, “Didn’t we do a project for
(enter client name)?” That question— and
the resulting time-consuming folder
searches— has been eliminated with the
portal. In addition, the portal speeds the
learning curve of new project managers
who can get up to speed instantly on our
project history with clients or in a region or
sector through a portal search. The second
question led to the portal’s second applica-
tion— a proposal tracker that includes a
history of proposal results viewable by the
main tags (sector, client, and geography).
Now, when discussing whether to submit
on a request for proposals from a specific
client, projecting our proposal history with
that client supplants assumptions or par-
tial recall about our record and contributes
to more informed decision-making.
Starting small and focused also con-
tributed to understanding how best to col-
lect and present information, so launching
additional portal applications required less
time and fewer revisions.
 Designate an owner. One person
needs to be ultimately in charge of the por-
tal to set application development priori-
ties and schedules, monitor content quality
and standards, promote internal use, drive
improvements, and generally be the site
champion. A key role of the position is to
prevent scope creep during development of
portal applications. Internal adoption of
the portal has been successful judging by
anecdotal feedback from project managers,
greater efficiencies in marketing, and the
hard numbers provided by the software’s
built-in reporting for page views and fre-
quency of use by individuals. The one
unforeseen cost has been additional server
space required to store increased amounts
of information.
MARK FORSTER is the marketing director at
Dudek (Encinitas, CA). Contact him at
mforster@dudek.com.
July 2009  Issue 211
9
EFFECTIVE | MARKETING
Use manifold messaging to drive traffic
Find out how this 2,900-person
engineering, architecture,
construction, environmental,
and consulting solutions firm
used a multi-touch marketing
campaign to launch a new
web site.
The first step someone looking for A/E
and environmental consulting services
might take is to do some preliminary online
research.
That person may be looking for a specific
firm he or she already knows about, or just
performing a search engine query.
How to make sure to capture your poten-
tial audience was the dilemma facing
Burns & McDonnell (Kansas City, MO),
a 2,900-person engineering, architecture,
construction, environmental, and consult-
ing solutions firm when it launched its new,
content-rich web site (www.burns-
mcd.com).
“We’re looking at a whole new world of
communication, a very noisy one. We have
Manifold messaging: the elements of Burns & McDonnell’s web site launch.
to make the right noise,” said Corporate tent target campaigns that go to the right
Marketing Manager Kevin Fox during a people, he said.
session titled “Using integrated print and
new technology campaigns to move your prise-level
target audience to action” at ZweigWhite’s ExactTarget (Indianapolis, IN) shows
2009 A/E Marketing Now Summit from that most people spend time looking at e-
May 21 to 22 in San Francisco, California.
10 July 2009  Issue 211
McDonnell sent a series of e-mails
“We’re looking
announcing the new web site, you can bet
at a whole new world
those e-mails were sent out in the morning
of communication,
on select days.
a very noisy one. Additionally, Fox cited Tim Ash’s book
We have to make Landing Page Optimization: The
the right noise.” Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for
Kevin Fox, During the session, Fox
Conversions as a guide used to create the
Corporate firm’s web site. The book lists six common
described the extensive
Marketing landing page mistakes, such as an unclear
Manager, behind-the-scenes work
call to action (what the web site is trying to
Burns & involved in creating the
McDonnell accomplish), visual distractions, too much
firm’s web site, as well as
text, lack of continuity, long forms, and not
the marketing campaign
displaying invisible risk reducers— anti-
preceding its public release. (The campaign
virus and anti-hacker protection, for exam-
tied for first place in the Direct Mail
ple.
Campaign category in ZweigWhite’s 2009
The firm designed its landing page taking
Marketing Excellence Awards.)
those factors into consideration, as well as
Lots of homework the tendency for people to read web sites
Fox said that in 1990 there were six following an “F” pattern— from top to bot-
means of communication, but today there tom and from left to right.
are more than 30, so a simple message in a
bottle won’t do any longer. Putting it together
For example, he said, studies show that After creating a content-rich web site fol-
people are bombarded with 5,000 market- lowing the above recommendations, Burns
ing messages a day. & McDonnell developed an extensive mar-
To avoid keting campaign for the launch, including a
being ignored printed direct mail piece that guided visi-
“what you need tors to personalized URL landing pages,
is manifold me- personalized e-mail reminders, webinars,
ssaging,” Fox
and a daily contest. The target audience for
said, explaining
the campaign contained 20% of the clients,
his coinage as
who represented 80% of the firm’s revenue
the variety of
over the last five years. That translated to
elements that
230 companies and 13,800 individuals.
work together
towards a com-
Lessons learned
mon goal—
Fox said that not everything went
such as mail, e-
smoothly with the campaign. For example,
mail, and the
the mail pieces informed recipients about a
web site’s land-
new Burns & McDonnell location opening
ing page.
in their town.
Successful
multi-touch Some recipients were upset when they
marketing cam- realized the location was virtual. Also, he
said that for webinars to draw a good audi-
paigns require
regular, consis- ence, the initial list needs to be comprehen-
sive, since only about 1% to 2% of recipients
sign up for webinars. Finally, Fox advised
For example, Fox said, a study by enter- people to be leery of contests. The firm gave
e-mail solutions firm away several gifts during the campaign,
including an $800 Garmin 750i CPS grand
prize. Such gifts could raise ethics rules vio-
mail in the morning. So, when Burns & lation questions, Fox said.
© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
ZWEIGWHITE
 MARKETING NOW
INSIDE VIEW
Susan Dell Orto

Random acts of kindness can strengthen your brand

Communicating your firm’s Given the challenges I consistently hear I’d encourage firms to truly reflect
values through greater my clients struggle with these days— fewer on their core values and think of new
available projects, increasing competitive- ways that we can incorporate them
community contributions is an ness, a pressure to cut down fees, and diffi-
easy and low-cost way to lead to into our marketing programs. Let’s
culty standing out from the crowd— this
think of expressions of those values
better marketing and branding. message of “actions speak louder than
to communicate our brand
words” kept coming to mind. I see this
Every night I watch “NBC Nightly News.” translating quite clearly to marketing our
to the market, and bring a more
Like every other news show, much of the firms and how we can stand out from the personalized feel to our firms.
content surrounds more bad news about crowd— yet still contribute positively to
the economy and the increasing struggles our communities and the industry. tion to ongoing education, how about
that business and individuals are facing. Almost every firm states their values at becoming involved in a local literacy pro-
Not long ago they had a recurring feature some point in the marketing process, per- gram? If your firm is an environmental
called “Random Acts of Kindness” that haps in a brochure, on its web site, or in a steward, how about organizing an Earth
always engaged me. project presentation when describing the Day event for your town? Dedicated to
The idea is that firm. Words like collaboration, teamwork, career development? How about working
INCORPORATING viewers send in with a local shelter that provides career
and environmental stewardship are just a
CORE VALUES IN stories of those in few that come to mind— partly because counseling services, or hold a drive for
work-appropriate clothing for those in
MARKETING their community almost every firm considers at least one of
they see stepping them a core value. And while that might be need of them? Even sponsoring an event
Taking the lead from
up in these tough can communicate your firm’s values.
NBC Nightly News’ true reflections of those firms, we need to
 The more the merrier— extend
“Random acts of times to make a make those statements convincing and
Kindness” segment, difference. Each invitations. Where appropriate, extend
meaningful by actually showing that they
here are some ways to an invitation for others to join you.
incorporate your core night, one of those are real— even outside of our projects. We
Consider inviting the prime consultant on a
values in marketing: stories is profiled. must do so in a highly visible way.
 Ask yourself what project you just subbed for, family mem-
One recent edition Especially in our current environment,
your core values are. bers, or partnering or client firms. What
featured a man relying on words and generic marketing
Creativity? Teamwork? better way to show that personal side of
 Put those core who had been laid claims aren’t getting anyone very far.
your firm than by making those connec-
values to work in your off but spent his I’d encourage firms to truly reflect on
community. Is tions and having those interactions outside
extra time during their core values and think of new ways
continuing education a of a specific project situation?
the job search driv- that we can incorporate them into our mar-
core value at your firm?  Share your stories. Highlight these
Why then not join ing elderly citizens keting programs. Let’s think of expressions
events on your web site. Offer to share your
a local literacy program? back and forth of those values to communicate our brand
 Ask others to join story with a local news editor.
from cancer treat- to the market, and bring a more personal-
you. Why not invite This approach not only brings visibility
ments at a hospi- ized feel to our firms. After all, this busi-
a client to join in the to firms and awareness of who they are,
literacy effort? tal. Another fea- ness is based on relationships, and showing
but also brings an added layer of depth to
 Tell the world. It tured a restaurant a clear human side of your firm will be
won’t work if nobody firms— a meaningful one that in these
that allowed you to more attractive to clients than a faceless or
knows about it, so share times with frustration and bad news every-
your story with
work for your food unknown corporation. Who wouldn’t pre-
where, is bound to be noticed and appreci-
newspaper editors and if you couldn’t pay, fer to work with a firm who seems more
ated.
others who may help simply to ensure accessible and genuine, and— inspired by
spread the word. that everyone had the “Random Acts of Kindness” segment— SUSAN DELL ORTO is a consultant with
access to a meal. more human? ZweigWhite who specializes in marketing and
Seeing these people— who aren’t million- A couple ideas to get this in motion: strategic business planning services. Contact
aires themselves or isolated from today’s  Start by identifying your core val- her at sdellorto@zweigwhite.com.
challenges— dedicate their own resources ues or elements of your brand. Is it a
and time is not only inspiring, but rein- dedication to creativity or lifelong educa- MN available in full color!
forces the idea that actions speak far loud- tion? Teamwork or being active in the com- You can choose to switch your paper
er than words. Most people would say they subscription of Marketing Now to an electronic
munity?
PDF, which is available in full color for the same
care about a sense of community, for exam-  Translate those into activities
price. For more information or to switch your
ple, but far fewer truly act in a way to show that your firm can become involved subscription, e-mail Editor João Ferreira at
that is true. in. For example, if your firm has a dedica- jferreira@zweigwhite.com.

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved. July 2009  Issue 211
11
PARTING | SHOT

Help technical staff market

Technical staff is often not that Vanderweil Engineers has implemented a “Some technical staff naturally
series of simple communication protocols communicate well, are outgoing.
into marketing, so making it
that make it easier to obtain relevant infor- Some don’t. You have to have
easier for them to help with mation from technical staff, Miller said.
the effort is often all that the engineers, the technical people,
Being proactive in obtaining critical infor-
more involved than you ever had.”
it takes to make a difference. mation has made all the difference, she
said.
So, technical people are not contributing “The goal is to make it as simple as possi- and other relevant information.
to marketing efforts? Make it easier for ble for your technical staff to be involved in “Once again, you’re being proactive on
them to do so. marketing,” Miller said. how you get that information,” Miller said.
That’s the mes- All the sheets are formatted in a simple
HELP THEM sage coming from Formalize their responsibility for marketing spreadsheet program, she said.
DELIVER Marsha Miller, First make it clear to the
staff that they are responsi-
R.G. Vanderweil
Engineers designed
marketing manag- BOOST YOUR SCHMOOZE
er, and Dennis ble for client relationships.
a series of simple Promoting buy-in for marketing activities from
Berlien, managing Stress that by e-mail and, technical staff often requires helping them
protocols to help
technical staff become principal, at R.G. at every meeting, Miller become better at sharing information
more involved in Vanderweil En- advised. internally and even showing them how to look
marketing, including: Then give them the tools presentable for external business development
 Updated resumes.
gineers, LLP efforts. Miller's firm uses a cartoon created by
(Boston, MA), a Marsha Miller, they need to manage these the design study at Hickok Cole Architects
Used for every project,
in every office. 365-person com- Marketing relationships. (Washington, DC), a 65-person architecture
 Client contact forms.
missioning, electri- Manager, Miller described several firm, with instructions on proper dress, and
Technical staff use these R.G. Vanderweil forms the firm has devel- behavior titled “boost your schmooze.”
cal engineering, fire Engineers, LLP She said the cartoon is sent to technical staff
at client meetings to oped in-house to help tech-
describe purpose and protection, U.S. as a reminder of how to dress to impress,
set up the next steps. Green Building nical staff provide relevant since sometimes proper dress seems like an
 Project sheets.
Council (USG- information to marketing: afterthought.
Technical staff complete  Updated resumes. R.G. Vanderweil
BC) (Alexandria,
the checklist-type forms Engineers makes it a point to have engi-
from a project’s VA) Leadership in Hiring or promoting?
inception to a project’s Energy and En- neers update project resumes with relevant We want to help you spread the news about
completion. vironmental Design information on a continuous base, Miller your firm’s latest hires and promotions. Send
 Project closeout deal
said. The firm has project resumes for every the information to jferreira@zweigwhite.com or
(LEED) adminis- cmaccormack@zweigwhite.com and we’ll be
sheet. Technical staff fill office, she said.
these when a job is tration, mechanical happy to publish your announcement in the
 Client contact form. Technical staff
finished with engineering, plum- Zweig HR Letter.
information such as bing engineering use these forms as a business development
fees, construction costs tool, Berlien said. At every client meeting,
and process piping,
and technical data.
and power group staff fill in the relevant information and FIRM INDEX
include a description of the meeting’s pur- ADD Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
services firm, dur-
pose, as well as the next steps to be taken. Baxter & Woodman, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
ing a session titled “Helping your technical Brennan Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
staff become more comfortable communi- “This is really a useful tool for us,” he
Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
cators” at Zweig-White’s 2009 A/E said. CE Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
 Project sheets. At R.G. Vanderweil
Marketing Now Summit May 21 to 22 in Corgan Associates, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
San Francisco. Engineers and technical staff are required Dudek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
to fill out project sheets at the beginning EDA Architects, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
According to a survey conducted by
and throughout a project’s life. ExactTarget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Miller, 30% of the firm’s staff said they EYP Architecture & Engineering . . . . . . . . . . .8
agreed that they should be part of the mar- The sheets are designed in a checklist
Hickok Cole Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
keting process, 90% agreed that they are and quick-answer format. Marketing then HNTB Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
responsible for client relationships, and compiles the information from all projects MacKay & Sposito, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
70% said that they have the ability and into a report, Miller said. MulvannyG2 Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
“We send this report out once a month to OMNI-MEANS, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
tools to help with marketing.
our project management team,” she said. R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP . . . . . . . . . .12
“Some technical staff naturally commu- Society for Marketing Professional Services
nicate well, are outgoing. Some don’t,”  Project closeout deal sheet.
(SMPS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 5
Berlien said. “You have to have the engi- Technical staff are required to fill out a deal U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) . . . . . .12
neers, the technical people, more involved sheet when the job is finished with infor- Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) . . . . . . . .8
than you ever had.” mation such as job number, fees, construc- WATG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
tion costs, architect fees, technical data, Winzler & Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
The marketing department at R.G.

12 July 2009  Issue 211 © Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.
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