HOK designers in New York, St. Louis and Atlanta are using virtual meetings with their University at Buffalo (UB) client team to improve the design process for UB’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

The seven-story medical school will bring 2,000 UB faculty, staff and students daily to downtown Buffalo and, at more than 500,000 square feet, will be one of the largest buildings constructed in Buffalo in decades.

Three days after Hurricane Sandy barreled into the East Coast last October, HOK’s project team was scheduled to have a meeting with medical school dean Michael E. Cain, MD, and UB’s project steering committee. Jim Berge, AIA, HOK’s director of Science + Technology in New York and principal-in-charge for the project, was stranded at home in Norwalk, Conn., with no power or Internet connection. Berge was able to make his way to a local café, where he connected a smartphone to his cable Wi-Fi service to create his own Wi-Fi hotspot. This allowed him to use his iPad as both a video link and an audio communication device while participating in the meeting through a WebEx connection.

The rest of the UB team members joined the meeting from four different cities the way they have been getting together on most Friday mornings since the project began last June: through ultra-high-resolution Cisco videoconferencing technology installed in dedicated Advanced Collaboration Rooms (ACRs) in HOK’s New York, St. Louis and Atlanta offices. The client team joins from an ACR built in HOK’s field office, a converted 20-person conference room in UB’s Farber Hall.

“The pictures are clear and the communication that takes place in these video meetings is invaluable,” says Jeff Strohmeyer, AIA, a senior laboratory planner in HOK’s St. Louis office.

A typical trip from HOK’s office in New York City to Buffalo is three hours each way. From St. Louis and Atlanta, getting to Buffalo and back is a five-hour journey. Factor in the cost of airfare, car rental, hotel rooms and travel expenses – and multiply that by eight to 10 people for some meetings – and the savings are considerable.

“The investment required to set up the ACR at the university was recovered in just a few months through reduced travel times and costs,” says Berge.

“We also minimize our carbon footprint by reducing our air travel,” adds Bill Odell, FAIA, who directs HOK’s global Science + Technology group from the firm’s St. Louis office

Most importantly, the ACRs are enabling design team members to develop better design solutions because they can get the information and client input they need, when they need it.

“This is a fast-track project within an aggressive schedule,” notes Berge. “Having access to the university’s dean and his team is crucial to ensuring that this building is complete on time.”

“Collaborating through the ACRs allows us to schedule smaller, more focused meetings instead of waiting to get together in person,” says Kimberly Robidoux, LEED AP, who has led several virtual work sessions for the programming of UB’s medical education spaces from HOK’s ACR in Atlanta. “The visual cues I get from people on the screen help me understand whether what I am saying is resonating.”

“The videoconferences have conserved time, energy and expense,” adds Suzanne Laychock, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and facilities in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UB. “The personal interactions have been as dynamic as if everyone was seated in the same room and it is easy to share ideas and images.”

As effective as these ACR meetings are, HOK’s team members are emphatic that virtual conversations should not replace in-person meetings – face time is still important.

“You still the need those face-to-face connections to get to know each other and build relationships,” says Kenneth Drucker, FAIA, design director in HOK’s New York office and design principal for the UB project. “But once those personal relationships are established, the ACR becomes an incredibly important tool. It allows us to collaborate fluidly and seamlessly among our different offices and with UB.”

HOK also is leading the design of the Singapore Chancery, an infill building under construction in New York City. The client’s team uses the ACR in HOK’s Singapore office for project meetings with HOK’s New York-based design team.

“Our use of ACRs is a huge firm-wide success story in terms of allowing us to work smarter and design better solutions for clients,” says Drucker. “What’s next – holograms?”

This public-private partnership will create a mixed-use development, which includes a residential tower, retail and restaurant facilities, more than a thousand underground parking spaces, and the science and technology museum, home to the largest planetarium in Texas. The Austin Planetarium will enhance Austin’s Museum District, which is currently comprised of the Bob Bullock, Blanton and Texas Memorial Museums. It will also strengthen the connection between education and government in Austin, acting as another link between The University of Texas and the State Capitol.

“The project will make the sciences accessible and the mission of the Austin Planetarium visible to the community,” says Peter Ruggiero, Design Principal for HOK. “Along with our client, HOK is committed to ensuring that cultural institutions such as the Austin Planetarium contribute to the vitality of cities and act as catalysts for positive change.”

The Austin Planetarium is expected to draw more than a million visitors to the Museum District annually. It will showcase how science and technology work together across disciplines through interactive exhibit areas. More information can be found at the following link:

http://www.austinplanetarium.org/

Planetarium View from North Congress Avenue

Austin Planetarium Tower View from MLK Boulevard

Enough about my new friends…and now onto what you wanted to hear – the survey results!

First, some basic stats on the demographics of the respondents:

• 53% female; 47% male
• Mix of generations
  • 43% Gen X
  • 30% Gen Y
  • 26% Baby Boomers
• Nearly all from North America (87% from USA)
•  57% have 11 or more years’ experience

Respondents came from a number of specialties within the design world.  Respondents noting “other” included specialties such as accounting, human resources, and administrative functions.

One of the first questions we asked was if individuals had access to social media during the workday.  Surprisingly enough, 90% had some access:

We then asked how much time designers spend on social media in any given day.  This is a self-reported statistic, so take the answers with a grain (or fistful) of salt:

Most designers spend less than 30 minutes a day playing SoMe…and the next graph demonstrates the venues they are using.  Note: I asked this question weirdly, so respondents had to select either “use for personal” or “use for work” and did not have the option for both (My Research Methods for the Social Sciences professors would be ashamed!!).

I was a little bit surprised to see how few people are using sites like Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit…and how many are using Pinterest even though it is in its infancy.

When we use social media, the design field is looking for the following types of information:

Other includes: ideas, inspiration & creativity; whereabouts of peers; technology; access to associations & conferences; articles/news; and talent and recruiting.

The final two questions were open ended and asked what designers found most useful about social media, and where they thought it was going in the future. I was (pleasantly) surprised to see a relative lack of snarky answers like “it has no use” or “it’s a waste of time.”  Not to say there weren’t a few “bah humbug” answers, but they were far fewer than I expected.

So, what do designers find most useful? The open ended answers tracked fairly closely with the question as to why they use social media in the first place:

• Design ideas and trends (29 responses)
• News and research (18 responses)
• Relationships and connections (16 responses)
• Critiques, ratings, and reviews (9 responses)
• New products and tools (8 responses)
• How to/tutorials/user forums (7 responses)
• Client research (2 responses)
• Scoping out the competition (1 response)
• Sustainability  (1 response)
• Business opportunities  (1 response)
• Promotions  (1 response)

The future of Social Media is nebulous – we’ve seen how quickly the tides have turned on sites like MySpace and Google Wave.  Designers agreed on a few common themes for the future:

• Increased communication
• Improved collaboration/transparency of collaboration
• Business development opportunities
• Greater connections – across practices, industries and generations
• Knowledge sharing
• Critiques and design review (& decision-making assistance)
• Increasing sense of community and cultural understanding
• Providing back up staff
• Integration of applications
• Lessons learned
• Mentoring and engagement of the next generation

Are they (you? we?) right? What do you think the future of social media is? What do you find most useful?

Thanks to all who participated!

Posing with Bob Maynard on the Expo floor

I’ve included links to each of the sessions where you can learn more about the presenters and download some additional information if you’re interested in learning more.

Dispelling the Myths of a Telecommuting and Flexible Workplace Program.  Great presentation by TIAA-CREF and DEGW sharing information on some of the successes and failures of TIAA CREF’s program.  Major challenges of implementing flexible work included: perception that this was a real estate initiative, that the program felt like it was focused on the New York poplulation, and the perception by management and employees of what telecommuting is all about. One of my favorite quotes was, “a bad employee is a bad employee, whether they’re working in the office or somewhere else.”

Just Go With It: Development Programming for Architects in a BIM/IWMS World.  Steve Parshall and Robin Ellerthorpe’s presentation that I told you about in my previous post.

The New Scientific Discoveries of Workplace Productivity and Place.  This presentation got me thinking a little differently – one of the presenters was from the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.  Great points about differences between cultures, age, gender, etc.  Discussion of fractals and biophilia – some favorites of mine (and HOK’s), given our partnership with the Biomimicry Guild!

Products on the Job: Human Factors in Interior Workplace Product Design.  This presentation was not my favorite – but it was completely my own fault – I picked based on titles and did not read the description.  Oops!  That said, the presenter did a good job of really explaining health/safety/wellness features of products.

Driving Radical Change: Case Studies on Change Management.  Due to my travel schedule, I only got to listen to about half of this presentation – but the presenter did a fabulous job talking about major changes in her own life and how they related to her case study (Macy’s!).

And, of course, I did attend my own presentations. Thank you to everyone who came out and listened to me!

This year, Angie Earlywine and I were selected to present a concurrent session: Space Matters – New Ways of Maximizing Space Utilization, and I was selected to present Make the Most of Social Media for Your Business, Your Group, and Yourself.  

We weren’t the only HOK folks speaking.  Pete Winters of the Dallas office shared his opinion on the metric system, as well as some other valuable information in his session: Global Facility Planning – Do I Know What I Don’t Know?  Steve Parshall (Houston) and Robin Ellerthorpe  wowed audiences with their take on BIM and programming in their presentation: Just Go With It – Developing Programming for Architects in a BIM/IWMS World (featuring a preview of Steve’s upcoming book: Problem Seeking, 5th edition).

Due to some client obligations and some unfortunate mishaps with air travel, I missed most of the “fun” parts of the conference (for example, Welcome Reception at Chase Field – home of the Arizona Diamondbacks – good thing the D-backs missed the World Series).  That said, I did have a few major highlights from the event:

1. A visit from Michael Cason from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol (the AOC is my longest-standing client: I’ve been working with them literally since the day I started at HOK over six and a half years ago) - MC is a great guy  and it’s always nice to have a friendly face in the audience (even if it does mean higher expectations!).
2. A big hug from Bob Maynard of GlaxoSmithKline. Bob is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and I was so happy to get to spend some quality time with him on the Expo floor.  See the slideshow below for a picture of me and Bob, and also a picture of what Bob made me do. 
3. A warm welcome from moderator Rod Stevens at my social media presentation. Rod is a big IFMA supporter, and a fantastic friend to HOK.  He even managed to get the audience laughing at 8 am…without any inappropriate language or behavior.

Check out some of my photos from the event…including a couple of shots of my hotel room (nothing exemplary – good or bad), and the airplane that ended up going back and forth from the terminal to the runway for hours on end…I should have known it was doomed based on the tail design (go Redskins!):

 Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

On Thursday 22nd September, London’s property industry came together to celebrate the inaugural HOK London Annual Party on board HOK Airways.  Having celebrated a number of  successes and project milestones particularly in our Aviation  sector, we chose this theme for our 2011 Annual Party.  On the following evening we opened our doors to the public in celebration of the London Design Festival.

We wanted to celebrate 2011 with clients, partners, consultants supporters and journalists whom we have had the pleasure of working with through this challenging yet rewarding year.

Planning began in June and we made it just in time to register to be part of the London Design Festival. Weekly meetings were set up and the ideas began to flow…. What we did know was that we wanted to showcase the ‘HOK Experience’.

Creativity and resourcefulness was of the essence, and the team used all the resources they had. We approached sponsors who did us proud. Derwent London supplied us with our check-in desk. InterfaceFlor worked with us to design our carpet runway, working overnight to ensure it was completed in time for the party. Gatwick Airport Limited supplied us with the necessary props to create a genuine airport experience. Kusch+co provided us with the latest airport lounge furniture, while the BBC and Jordi Blumburg supplied us with footage of  aircraft taking off and landing for our runway screen.  Our handmade scarves helped our passengers distinguish HOKers from guests, while our staff dressed as airhostesses and stewards stood out from the crowd.

5:45pm Andrea begins Check-in

5:55pm Check-in

HOK Airways Luggage Tags

With boarding passes cleared, bags and coats checked in(complete with luggage tags), passengers set off with passports and landing cards in hand through a (working) scanner towards the five Depature Gates.  We’re proud to share with you that our average check-in time was 17.6 seconds per passenger!

Departure Boards

There was plenty of in-flight entertainment. The main atrium space was reserved for networking which took place on the Runway. Gate 1 was the aeroplane itself (our boardroom), decked out with a Sky Bar, flight simulator and genuine airline and pilot seats. Gate 2 was a (Interiors) Lounge to escape from the hustle and bustle of the runway, Gate 3, demonstrations of model making,  Gate 4, a behind the scenes application of technology and BIM, while Gate 5, a flight to Houston, showed off our Advanced Collaboration Room. Announcements were made throughout the evening describing the various activities taking place. Passengers could also stop at various points on the aircraft to test out augmented reality and see 3D models.

Way Finding

6:45pm Passengers begin to Board

7:15pm Safety Video - Our crew are here to serve you

7:15pm Pilots Announcements

At 7.15pm we ran our inflight Safety Video which was followed by the Pilots (Rob Firth, Larry Malcic and Nicola Morton) who made the announcements for take-off.

And at 8pm one passenger, Richard Spencer from Skanska UK plc was given a special upgrade –he was the winner of our Grand Raffle. The prize was a flight with our Aviation Leader – Nicola Morton. Nicola is our very own in-house pilot, and a qualified commercial pilot who has been flying for 20 years.

7:40pm On Board and Flying

That evening, more than 300 passengers flew with HOK Airways, we had a smooth flight and an excellent landing. There were compliments for the airline food, praise over the service delivered by the crew and surprise at the free Duty Free gift, leaving passengers keen to fly HOK Airways again.  Feedback has been excellent – a few quoted ‘ Best party of the year!’.  Passengers have asked what’s happening next year…. Watch this space!

Please click here for more images.

We Thank You for Flying HOK Airways

The JHU team holds what is second only to a PowerBall/Lottery Winning check!

HOK D.C.’s Rick Moy, Michael Zajkowski and Emillio Stokes were part of a team selected as the winner of the second annual NAIOP Maryland/DC Chapter Capital Challenge, an intercollegiate real estate case study competition among graduate students from local university real estate programs. HOK served as the architecture sponsor and advisor for the John Hopkins University team along with Akridge (Site Sponsor), CB Richard Ellis (Brokerage), Dewberry (Civil Engineering), James G. Davis Construction (Construction), Boston Properties (Development), M&T Bank (Finance) and Holland & Knight LLP (Legal).

HOK provided rendered plans and 3D renderings to illustrate the proposed development drafted by the John Hopkins University team, which explored real estate opportunities of an actual 8.8-acre site located in Buzzard Point, a newly established Capitol Riverfront neighborhood in southwest Washington, D.C. The winning development concept included a hotel block and residential block, as well as a mixed-use parcel to include retail and a sports entertainment complex. The mixed-use development would house flex space for multiple competition-style sports courts and a stage for entertainment.

Michael Z was extremely modest regarding the challenge: “The students set  the whole program and did the financial proforma- I just drew up the site and building plans.”  No biggie, right??

In keeping with the entertainment theme of the surrounding area and the newly renovated Arena Stage just blocks away, the parcel would be enclosed under a tensile structure, helping to shape the new identity of the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. A proposed secondary option for the mixed-use parcel included a secure federal campus with ground floor retail to maintain a sense of community during weekend and off-business hours, unlike many areas of downtown Washington. The collective potential of either scheme would contribute to a developing area of the district anticipated to be the newest destination of many Washingtonians, not only for entertainment value but also for the ease of city living.

L-R: Michael Zajkowsi, Rick Moy, and Emillio Stokes in the HOK DC courtyard

BIFMA attendees get geared up for the conference at the opening cocktail party

The theme of this year’s conference was Transformative Times: Leadership, Growth, Survival.  My presentation was on social media and technology – telling the story of HOK’s social media adventures, giving some ideas for best practices (and next practices), and making some predictions (AKA wild guesses) for the future.  The attendees were fantastic – very attentive and thoughtful in their questions…and fun tweets (check here to see tweets from the conference). 

The other presenters were fantastic – the event opened with a discussion of design thinking and innovation by Roger Martin from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto – my favorite take away from his presentation was that our need to measure and prove everything is impeding our ability to innovate…if there’s one thing you can’t prove in advance, it’s innovation.

Mr. Martin was followed by David Walker from Dyson…yes, the vacuum cleaner/airblade/most awesome and bladeless fan Dyson. Lesson learned here: technology starts with frustration! Dyson seeks to do more with less, being not just environmentally friendly and financially vivable, but also to develop products with a social benefit!  “It’s great fun creating products that are disruptive.”

I have to be honest, I skipped the next presentation, which was given by ecoScorecard’s Paul Shahriari – sorry Paul – it was for the benefit of all that I rehearse my presentation one last time   Paul spoke about level - BIFMA’s product certification for sustainability in product design.  Rumor has it that he did a great job.

Following a delish lunch, I had the opportunity to present my thoughts in a breakout session (up against Office Depot’s Yalmaz Siddiqui.  I was bummed to miss his presentation, but had a great time connecting with the folks who selected my presentation.

Me! Photo by BIFMA's Brad Miller

The next presentation was by Google product evangelist Aidan Copra.  Never before has someone shown “where the magic happens” in a conference I’ve been to.  Aidan did a great job sharing Google’s fantastic technologies, particularly Google Docs and SketchUp – two HOK favorites!

To close out day 1, we participated in something I’ve never done before: a progressive dinner (not a progressive drinkin’ party).  Each diner was given a card with three different table numbers: one for salad, one for main course, and one for dessert.  At each table, the host asked the table a question – discussion would ensue, and then the participants recorded their thoughts on cocktail napkins. This was a great way to get everyone talking and interacting – so much fun!

Brad and the high-tech recording devices!

The next day, we were treated to a lecture by Fred Keller of Cascade Engineering (also a prof at Cornell).  Fred’s talk focused on how the next generation of great innovations usually comes from the manufacturing industry…and we, in the US, need to kick it up!  He closed out by reminding us that we can’t insulate ourselves from making mistakes; mistakes are part of our learning experiences.

Fred Keller and his bobbles (photo by Brad Miller)

The event closed out with a fantastic panel discussion, featuring designers (Victoria Mohar and Chris Blackadder), a human resources professional (Mark Lancaster), a broker (John Schlessinger of CBRE), and Fred Keller.  The panel was brilliantly moderated by Knoll President Lynn Utter.

The brilliant panel

Overall – such a wonderful experience – BIFMA’s team and attendees were smart, fun, engaging, thoughtful – I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to meet them!  Thanks to all!

Sunny Florida!

Merlot the Macaw

Chris Brown

Chris is chief executive of Igloo Regeneration and director of Isis Waterside Regeneration, a joint venture between Igloo, British Waterways and Muse that regenerates brownfield waterside sites around the UK and of Blueprint, Igloo’s public/private partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency and the East Midlands Development Agency undertaking sustainable mixed use regeneration in the East Midlands. He is also an ex-director of Home Group, the UK’s largest housing association. He has been a member of the government’s Urban Sounding Board, director of British Urban Regeneration Association, chair of the Royal Institute of Chareted Surveyors Regeneration panel, a Commission for Architecture and Built Environment Regional Design Ambassador and a member of the Princes Foundation projects panel, the Regen-Now centre of excellence steering group, the A6 Single Regeneration Budget Board and advisor to ‘The Castleford Project’, Channel 4′s TV series on regeneration.

We’re therefore delighted that Chris has accepted to be the first in our series of interviewees focussing on what matters to those who are in the driving seat of development.

These words have recently been hijacked by evil and greedy property developers to wrap their poor quality schemes in a cloak of respectability. I came into regeneration in the Michael Heseltine era in the 1980s and we all knew that urban regeneration was the process of turning around economically declining neighbourhoods to benefit their communities. It was a privilege recently to chair a discussion with Lord Heseltine and there was a clear agreement that City Challenge, the socially, physically and economically integrated area based urban renewal programme from the 1990s represented the high point of urban regeneration practice in the UK. I was in Toledo for the recent informal meeting of the EU’s urban ministers and it seems that the UK is no longer the leading practitioner of urban renewal despite us being the first to start. The Toledo declaration is worth a read and some of the supporting documents are really interesting. In much of Central and Eastern Europe urban regeneration means what we would call historic building refurbishment.

2. Except for the developments that you have personally been involved in who else do you think is doing work that you feel is the closest to your own ethos?

I have always admired Urban Splash. I shared an office with Urban Splash director Nick Johnson for about four years in the last recession as we were both playing our parts in the incredible renaissance of Manchester through the 90s. I think that shared experience can be seen in our subsequent work. I also have high hopes for the Earls Court scheme that Capital and Counties are doing now that it is being led by Richard Powell. Doing great mixed use regeneration that works well for the community as well as for the investors is incredibly difficult as is shown by the poor quality of most schemes so when people achieve it they deserve enormous admiration.

Vision for Hackney Wick

3. If you had the choice to redevelop/regenerate one area/place/location in the world where would it be and why? What would you put there instead?

Igloo concentrates on the former manufacturing areas on the edges of the UK’s top 20 city centres. These areas are attractive to the creative industries and, despite the recent property boom, enormous amounts remain to do. I love these places and our schemes in places like Digbeth in Birmingham, Ancoats in Manchester, Holbeck in Leeds and Bermondsey in London are just a start and I hope we will continue our work until these areas are transformed and these cities have maximized their competitive advantage and their quality of life. But the place that I would most like to tackle is the media centre element of the Olympic Park in Hackney. This has enormous potential to deliver great regeneration benefits for the people of Hackney Wick and east London. I don’t think the Olympic process makes it easy to do Legacy properly which would involve designing the Legacy first and then fitting the Games into it. For me Margaret Ford and Andrew Altman are the most important people in the Olympic development process at the moment because it will be £8 Billion wasted unless we get the legacy right and its delivery started as soon as the Games finish.

4. There’s been a lot of talk about the re-definition of zero-carbon recently. What do you think it should be?

I can’t get too excited about centrally dictated definitions of zero carbon for new build. This rules based system is necessary to regulate the industry who won’t do this on their own accord but we are already building Code 5 commercially and Code 6 is just a case of getting a sensible approach to minimizing the last dregs of greenhouse gas production. For us though, the bigger challenges are how can we reduce the greenhouse gas production of existing buildings, how can we reduce the embodied energy used in new buildings, how can we reduce greenhouse gases produced from transport by building in the right places and how can we do all this in commercially viable ways that maximize people’s health, happiness and well being. A new zero carbon building on an isolated green field site on a motorway junction is not something to be proud of however zero carbon is defined.

Green Street, Nottingham

5. What would be your advice to any architects who want to switch sides and follow in your footsteps?

Architects don’t generally make good property developers or investors but developers and investors rarely have the good design understanding that is necessary in a good building and placemaking client. An architect would need to work in a commercial role in development for a few years to learn how it works. The key skills are understanding markets and what delivers value and also understanding the financing of development. These skills don’t seem to always naturally sit with creative design types!

Bermondsey Square

6. Who do you think we should question next? Margaret Ford

Not actually me

Recently, I was shopping at one of my favorite stores, Whole Foods (insert shameless hope that this plug gets me some free stuff), a place I consistently have an awesome customer experience.

I was standing at the meat and poultry counter with the same butcher (we’ll call him “Joe”) who helps me every Saturday. I didn’t have a specific plan; I just knew that I wanted to serve something new and interesting for dinner.  Joe must have picked up on my furrowed brow, because in addition to his usual “How can I help you?” he asked if there was something in particular I’d like to know more about, was there anything special  I was trying to find for a particular occasion? Rather than launching in right away with what he thought would be best to serve, he took a few minutes to ask me some questions about how many people I’d be entertaining, my own personal likes and dislikes, were there any food allergies, etc. Once he’d heard me out, he offered some suggestions, mixed with a few personal anecdotes from his own experience making the dishes. Happy to have received the guidance and a new idea, I went on my way. 

Contrast that with an experience I had at another grocery store. After wielding an unruly race car cart “driven” by two cranky toddlers and navigating a ridiculously long checkout line, I arrived at the register, where I encountered Cashier “Sally.” Typically, since it’s a bag-your-own place, the checker just scans the items, places them back in the cart my kids are in, and we’re on our way to fill our reusable canvas bags (!)  Not today. Today, Sally informs me that she will have to load my groceries into a standard cart, which I will then need to wheel to the bagging section (in addition to the race car), because she had hurt her back and couldn’t bend over that far into the novelty cart. “I’d just end up dropping all your groceries because that’s too far down. You’ll just have to use the other one.” Aside from the flimsiness of this excuse and the fact that she did not offer to have someone else assist me, I was just perturbed. Since when did my experience as a paying customer hinge on her personal agenda?

Not actually me either

I was reminded of that experience this week when I was privileged to spend an evening with a few of our (many) great HOK clients. The purpose of our get-together wasn’t to discuss a specific project or gather at an industry conference. Instead, we wanted to spend some quality, uninterrupted time just talking with them about what is important to them – what makes a great experience, what keeps them happy, thriving, and most important, coming back? What are they doing within their own organizations to glean this same knowledge? We weren’t focused specifically on HOK, we just wanted to know in general terms, what is the barometer for measuring client-centricity? The common thread running through all the candid conversations we’ve had (and will continue to have) with our clients is the human connection. “We want someone to listen to us. We want someone who guides us based on our needs, not theirs. We want an on-going relationship that we can trust.” 

Seem like common sense (especially given my elementary example)? Of course. Is it easy to lose sight of this? It certainly can be.  But, whether your clients are “internal” or “external”, it’s imperative to always be mindful of the Experience you are creating (yes, capital E.)   At HOK we need not look far to be reminded of this. Our own Gyo Obata has forged an entire career of really listening to his clients, in addition to touting his renowned design skill.

Both Joe and Sally worked for stores that could provide healthy food for my family. I wouldn’t have been there if they couldn’t.  But Joe took the time to learn that I’m not a fan of pork, so no point in trying to plug his favorite recipe for tenderloin or chops. He instead used his culinary expertise to help me create my own successful outcome. Sally was most concerned about what worked best for her. She didn’t want to hear me and likely didn’t care if I came back.

The beauty of crafting better “human” experiences in our respective corners of the world is that it is an ongoing process, one that continually provides the opportunity for differentiation, innovation, greatness, or even just a killer chicken sausage recipe. The point is, we all know, and can easily recall, our own experiences as happy and satisfied customers and we all have an opportunity, no matter our walk of life, to improve the experience for someone else.

 So I ask you friends:  Are you a Joe or a Sally? ]]> http://www.hoklife.com/2010/07/22/its-all-about-me-in-a-good-way/feed/ 0