This is truly an option at the The Plenary Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Recently a guest from Australia enlightened me….so I am excited to pass this along. Check out this place out in action at the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tqlqYNo2TM

Another successful HOK Structure’s Pi day has come and nearly gone as I write this.  As always it was an enjoyable event for all; we brought pie, we ate pie, we recited pi.    This was the St. Louis Structural Engineering group’s sixth annual event to celebrate the mathematical constant pi, an irrational and transcendental number represented by the Greek letter “π”.

To celebrate, we hosted an event inviting colleagues in our office to bring in a pie and participate in a “Best In Show” pie contest (and of course to eat pie) in addition to hosting the “most recited digits of pi” contest.  Winners were awarded with $30 gift cards to Pi Pizzeria!

Without further ado (because most of you want to skip the math lecture and find out who won the contests)…

Best In Show Pie: Michael Vande Velde’s Homemade Cherry Pie (see below)

Most Recited Digits of Pi: Nag Nagulapati with 51 digits including the first 3

An additional thanks goes to Cheryl Steffe, Michael Vande Velde, Justin Thomas, Paul Wilhelms, Mike Hyland, Steven Crang, Kirsten Marklin, and Nag Nagulapati.

Pi Day of Years Past:

Happy Belated Pi Day – 2012
Fourth Annual Pi Day - 2011
3.15 Pi Day Round Up - 2010
Happy Pi(e) Day – 2009
First Annual Structure’s Pi Day was in 2008 and went quietly into the night.

Thanks to our builders and strategists:

Builders:
Jasmine Brown, Deinte Dan-Princewill, Alex Lara and Leming Yang.

Candy Strategists: Lauren Flemister, Ashley Craig and Sara Bullington

…and those who came to support and vote!

Follow the link below to explore more on the built pavilion:

http://www.architectmagazine.com/lighting/a-skyspace-in-houston.aspx

A Skyspace in Houston – Lighting – Architect Magazine Page 1 of 3

James Turrell’s latest project is an architectural pavilion that frames an artwork—and an artwork that accomplishes an architectural feat.

Renae Bradshaw, Director of Interiors, Chicago

Whitney Loke, Senior Interiors Designer, Washington, DC

I’m sorry to report that I feel like I don’t do anything that is all that interesting. I don’t run a marathon before I head into the office, or meditate for 30 minutes about the meaning of life, nor do I drink some type of power juice concoction made from rare, exotic plants that provides me with all the energy I need to take on a busy day.

Ok, so what do I do? To start, I fix myself a cup of Earl Grey tea and pour myself a glass of water and eat a bit of breakfast so that I’m set for the morning. On the days that I know it will be hectic, I try to get in to the office a little earlier than the rest of my colleagues so I can take care of things without interruption. This is the best feeling – to create my “to do” list and march through it one by one without any phone calls, emails, or knocks on my desk. The quietness of the early morning office allows me to concentrate, get creative, solve problems, or just organize my mind and my day, while harnessing my self-diagnosed ADD (aided by interruptions) that seems to increase in intensity as the day goes on. Having critical things taken care of first thing in the morning allows me to be able to focus with a clear head on other items as they come up during the day. See, I told you, its not really that interesting, but it works for me!

Steve Ma, Marketing and Business Development, Hong Kong

Okay, well, I guess I should be upfront, I’m not a morning person and never have been. As a designer, it certainly helps to be able to stay up to all hours and find it in you to remain lucid and productive (late nights in studio… the good old days). In a sense, either after hours or at the start of the day, it’s this interstitial (sometimes ethereal) time when the world is not bearing down on me that I’m best able to have moments to myself to “eat the frog,” or at least consider the intricate machinations involved in avoiding doing so.

For example, at the end of the day, I have a chance to catch up on all the messages in longer email threads, read them comprehensively and have the time to thoughtfully respond to them, hopefully all at once. The worst email threads occur when people are firing off responses to parts of the issue at hand throughout the day, talking over each other or not responding to the latest message, creating an unnecessary glut of piecemeal thoughts that clog up your in box. We now know that emails can be your enemy, but a well-thought out, well-timed email can succinctly cover all the issues and resolve them efficiently. (Also, I get to have the last word, at least til morning).

On the days that I do have to imitate being a morning person, the usual suspects to get you on track also work for me: a cup of coffee, a run, watching or listening to the news. I do like to check emails before I get to work. I like to hit the ground running. But having that time to myself at the end of the day allows me that too – as well as peace of mind when I do eventually put head to pillow.

Pam Light, Director of Project Delivery, Los Angeles

Ah yes, the first hour of a work-day: easy entry into the world – a few stretches while I wait for my Keurig to warm up so that I can have my ½ cup of café coffee (not too much caffeine immediately – just enough for a jump start). Then a quick shower and hair drying. Then I look at the list I made the night before of the ‘must get done tomorrow’ items! I only put the ‘must get done’ – so it stays between 2-5 items. Then I open email. I delete the ads and hellos from vendors to clear out the list (as I receive between 200 and 300 emails a day – that ritual is really important, otherwise I feel overwhelmed). I look for anything urgent that came in from clients and if I can’t immediately answer it, I at least send them an email back confirming that I have the email. I try to copy someone else that works with me to start the wheel rolling on the answer while I’m tying up other issues. I devote 20-30 minutes to this. Then I move on to the urgent items – sending emails, making calls, reviewing documents to allow anyone else working with me time to integrate what I may need back into their own day. Then, finally, I head out to the office. As I live in LA, this can be a 40-60 minute trip – but I know as I swing by Starbucks and then head south, my clients know that I’ve already started working on their responses, and I’ve already started my own urgent items. So when I walk into the office, I’m calm for the start of the day!

So … we all have very different habits but a few key themes emerged: food, coffee and email. Here’s hoping your day is off to a successful start!

So this Earth Day (Sunday April 22),….and every day:

1. REDUCE: Think if you need it, or just want it…and if it comes without all the packaging or if you can get the equivalent USED or refurbished, which also saves $$$$!

2. REUSE: You know the saying, “One person’s trash is another’s treasure.” Donate things you no longer want instead of simply tossing them. You can get tax write-offs or many places (online and around town) buy, sell, and trade things from clothes to electronics. Another option is to get creative. Maybe that old can has another use….get the family involved and HAVE FUN!

3. RECYCLE: We already should be habitual at this but Earth 911 (http://earth911.com/) allows you to put in your zip code and any material you want to recycle. It will give you the phone number of the nearest facility in charge of collecting that material.

Happy Earth Day!

Photo by Muhammad Mustafa, Director of IBI Group and generally great guy

Yes, that’s right….several copies of the HOK monograph (as well as several HOK Asia books) located prominently at the end of a major aisle at eye level. So cool!  Yes, that is me wearing my lovely abeya (generously loaned by Anica Landreneau).

The trip was amazing – loved the client, our partners (from IBI Group), the project.  I’ll try to share more about the project, but for now a couple of photos will have to do:

So many cute camels wandering the site. And one dead one (not pictured).

Best camel-herder tent: includes solar panel, satellite dish, and white chevrolet (not pictured)

Getting ready for a helicopter tour of the site. Amazing. Sickening (as in airsickness). But awesome!

In world's smelliest cab found in Al Khobar. From L-R: Muhammad Mustafa,Colin Greene, Me, Suzette Goldstein. Not pictured Zain Ali (photographer).

*KOABD = Kind of a Big Deal

** I met Suzette and Colin way back in 2002, several years before I came to HOK.  I was working for a small planning/development firm and we were subbed to HOK for the H Street, NE redevelopment plan. Such an amazing project – it’s phenomenal to see some of the fruits of our labors coming to fruition now.  H Street is a completely different place than it was back then (at one of the public meetings someone came stumbling in after being mugged – now there are tons of activities keeping people of all backgrounds out and about and safe – the streetcar is even going in!). Anyway, I digress. During that project, I met Suzette and Colin, as well as a number of other HOK-ers, fell in love, and begged them to hire me.  They did and we have all lived happily ever after since then!

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!

Access the survey here. 

It will be open from today through next Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 5:30 pm Eastern.

Thanks for participating!

Then, as if conjured by my daydreaming, an online book club popped up on Facebook!  I’m sure there are some savvy online book clubs, but this one is special.  Not only did it appear when I needed it, right in front of my face, but this book club was started and is monitored by a favorite author, Laurie Notaro, author of The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club and It Looked Different on the Model, among others.  Plus, I’m given a book suggestion, I have a month to read a book, and I don’t have to go anywhere to participate!  What if I miss the discussion you ask?  I can just go back and read how others felt about the book on Facebook when I have time.

If you are interested in checking it out, you can find it at The Idiot Girls Book Club on Facebook.  Votes for the November book are up until this Wednesday, November 9.

This whole book club brings me to question what other simplicities I may be missing.  So tell me, what kinds of things do YOU do on the internet?  Any time saving tips?

She’s a HUGE St Louis Cardinals Fan (yay to the cards – this city is on the edge of it’s seat!), she bought a house and installed a pool, and she’s been doing an awful lot of horse showing. 

Stacy Showing Red

This last weekend, Stacy was at the US Sport Horse Nationals in Lexington, KY.  She rode a horse named Red, and placed National Top Ten!  The US Sport Horse Nationals represents horses from all over the US and Canada. 

Stacy's National Top Ten Placement

Stacy normally shows her Arabian, Beamer, but was showing a horse qualified by another person this time around- to very good results!  She showed in a style called “Ride N Drive” where the horse is driven and then the equipment changed and Stacy rides to complete the show.

The "Drive" Portion of "Drive N Ride"The Changing of Equipment

Stacy reports that showing horses in the summer really helps to relieve stress, and the show outfits are quite the bonus also!  Way to go, Stacy!