The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship & Career Development

[caption id="attachment_1294" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship and Career Development"][/caption] In 2006, I published a book…or more aptly, Wiley & Sons published a book I had written the year prior.  It is entitled The Survival Guide to Internship and Career Development.  At the time, I was in the throes of establishing our fledgling practice and balancing AIA National committee work with marriage and maintaining friendships back at home…the last thing on my mind was creating more travel opportunities with a book tour.  Nor was I as hip to the social media scene at the time to know how to tweet, blog, or crosspost articles to promote the book.  (Oh if I only knew then what I know now….)

As the economy ramped up into the frenzy we saw just a few years ago, I wondered if the text had lost relevance.  And with the short attention spans spawned by the internet and now the book being almost 6 years old, I questioned if people would feel it relevant enough to purchase.  So I’d gone down a road of complacency about promoting the book. 

Until…Just recently I was approached by AIA San Francisco to kick off their mentorship program, an annual program that is based on a group mentoring model that I initiated in Seattle 8 years ago and have presented at AIA conferences around the country.  It was also a mentoring model I highlighted in my book.  Well, it turns out that San Francisco is not the only chapter that used my model and book to develop mentoring practices for their chapter.  (I'm headed down to San Fran today to do a keynote for their meeting.)

And last month, I received this message via Linked In: 

Grace, We met briefly at an IDP Coordinators conference in Chicago where you were the keynote speaker. For the past 4 years I have run a mandatory IDP Registration course at Wentworth Institute in Boston. We register approximately 160 interns a year and coordinate the course with a cooperative work experience. The rest of the faculty has been trained using NCARB materials and under funding from an NCARB grant I purchased cases of your book to give to faculty as the standard for mentoring. I just wanted to say thank you for the book. Keep Smiling! Charlie

Indeed his email made me smile.  Huh…who knew?  Perhaps I should reconsider my apathy in blogging about the book...so here I am.

As the economy improves for architects (we’ve hit bottom now, haven’t we?) I do believe many of the topics have a renewed relevance…as well as many topics being age-old questions that interns have never known where to seek answers – the premise of the book was to document the “no duh” advice that a seasoned architect could provide…but without the embarrassment of having to ask the “dumb questions.”

And while many architects think, "oh, this book is just for interns"...the irony of writing this book is that it coincided with Mike and I establishing our firm (because that's when you have the most free time, right?).  So the last chapter is actually devoted on how to start a design firm, and it was quite literally written as we were setting up Schemata Workshop.  A pretty useful chapter for the non-intern, mid-career professional who has been laid of during the recession and trying to figure out how to make a go of it on their own.

If you are interested in getting your very own copy of the book you can search on amazon or better yet, follow this link.  http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471692638.html

And if you already have a copy of the book and would like to share your comments, I would love to hear them!

Laddership - a group mentoring model

[caption id="attachment_1290" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="Laddership"][/caption] 8 years ago, I started a mentoring group for 5 Seattle-area architectural interns.  It was based on a model of facilitated peer mentoring and professional development – and thusly named by one participant as “Laddership” – in hindsight, a hybrid name from laddered mentoring and leadership.  The group was intentionally comprised of interns at various experience levels – from straight out of school to ready to take their registration exams.  I solicited candidates for the mentor group from the local Young Architects Forum list serve and had an informal application process.  We met monthly rotating responsibilities for selecting location and topics.

Fast forward to present day.  The group has gone through various iterations of participants (with interns rotating off as they moved away, got licensed, or had increased responsibilities at work/home) – the current makeup has been fairly consistent for the past 2-3 years, with one intern having been with me the whole time.  We are less formal now, we don’t worry about selecting a topic – years of familiarity have allowed us to meet and simply check in with everyone on current status, and seeing where the conversation takes us.  We also have stopped rotating around and have been meeting at the same pizza place on the same day/time each month – we’re “regulars”.

My group is very diverse…not only in their experience level, but also in their personalities (introverts and extroverts), professionally savvy (with those very well networked and those who are not as much), and values (strong beliefs about sustainability, bottom line, ethics, contribution to society).  Having been with these individuals for so long, I know that despite differences, there is a general respect and collegiality that the participants have for one another.  While I don’t think anyone in this group would be likely to have met each other professionally if not for this group, I do think that they would consider each other friends and value our monthly interactions.

I have seen their perspectives open up, their lives shared (many babies and marriages have occurred over the course of years), and professional advancements made.  I have great pride for each one of them – and appreciate all that they’ve taught me.  While I would like to believe that I’m still a “young” architect, I realize that it’s been a long time since I’ve been in their shoes - listening to their daily struggles informs me of the same challenges that my employees are likely to experience…and provides me with the wisdom and insight to best mentor my own.  While I’ve mentored one-on-one in the past, the Laddership model has brought me significantly more satisfaction and reward – so much so that I continue to prioritize and look forward to the monthly meetings.

During the first 5 years, I had enough interest that I recruited mentors and initiated four additional groups.  A few years ago, AIA Seattle took over the administration of the “Laddership” program as a chapter wide event, expanding the program to over a dozen groups.  Over the past 5 years, I have presented this mentorship model several times at the national AIA conference as well as at regional and state conferences across the country. 

This week I fly to San Francisco to kick off the AIA SF Mentorship Program.  It is based on my Laddership model and I’m excited to learn more about how they have adapted the concept to suit the needs of the chapter.  If you know any architects (young or old) in San Francisco, please encourage them to attend.  The model works best when participants represent a continuum of experience levels – it can’t be a bunch of old timers with the newbies straight of school. 

Details and RSVP info about the event can be found at http://2011mentorshipprogram.eventbrite.com/

Networking - Womens Business Exchange

WBE Featured Member - Grace Kim

Almost 2 years ago, I attended a networking breakfast.  I didn't think it would be for me, but to humor a professional contact I'd made at a party, I went.  And I was blown away by the speaker.   And I've been back ever since.   Past speakers have been Jensine Larsen of World Pulse, Jennifer Jefferies - author of 7 Steps to Sanity, Jan Levy of Leadership Tomorrow, and Sally Jewell - CEO of REI.

Women's Business Exchange is a great organization that supports women in business.  True to their website:

"Life is not just about work, or running a business. You also have to find a way to balance spending time with your family and making time for yourself.

That’s why WBE is much more than just a business networking organization—though plenty of that goes on here too. It’s about making connections, creating a sense of community, supporting each other, and learning to be the best you can be."

I am proud to be their featured Member of the Month.  Check it out!  http://wbex.org/www.wbex.org/wbex/featured .  And if you want to come to a breakfast (1st Thursday of each month), I'll see you there!

University of Oregon Portland Program in Architecture and Design

A nice diversion to my packed schedule at Rail-Volution was a visit the University of Oregon’s Portland Program (PP) design studios, located in the landmark White Stage/Made in Oregon Building, in the southeast corner of Portland’s Old Town. Allowing architecture and other design students (including a new product/industrial design program -- nice!) an opportunity to learn their craft in the nation’s most livable city, the U of O's Portland Program has been around for at least 20 years, during which time it has had many homes, including: the the former space of the long defunct Oregon School of Design, as well as space shared with Portland State University in their then-fledgling architecture studios, and some intervening spaces which I no doubt lost track of.

North Facing Skylights -- Who Could Ask for Anything More?

The U of O's PP Old Town digs are not really new. Despite the fact that I make the three hour trip several times a year from Seattle, I had yet to pay a visit; unfortunate on my part, because, quite frankly, their new space rocks. I could not envision a more apt place for architecture (or design) studios: a renovated, landmark building in a city’s historic core, in a city that (by the way) also happens to be a laboratory for the most exiting urban design (and increasingly architectural design) in North America. Located at the southern terminus of the great trifecta of Ecotopia’s other exceptional urban centers of Seattle and Vancouver  (both conveniently linked by Amtrak), the geographical setting of the PP could not be more advantageous for learning design.

There are Two Interconnected Floors of Design Studios

The design departments of the Portland Program are on the top two floors of the White Stag building, with the studio exhibiting all one could hope for in an atelier. Saw-toothed, north facing skylights (yes, can you imagine!), board-formed concrete walls, a lovely communicating stair linking the two floors, and views to the Willamette River. Perfect.

The Incomparable Gerry Gast in Action

An east coast refugee, my experience with the U of O is strictly as an outsider, and dates back to the early 1990s. In that time, despite their many changes of venues, there has been one constant: the inspirational teaching and leadership of Gerry Gast, a design studio professor and lecturer at the Portland Program (as well as a lecturer at Stanford, in his beloved Bay Area). I hate to be gushing, but Gerry deserves it. He is a close friend, an advisor, and most importantly to the students he leads, an endless source of enthusiasm, wisdom, integrity, and youthful energy (despite being north of 60?). The opportunity for my visit to the White Stag studios was in fact provided by Gerry, who I had an opportunity to watch in action (yet again!), during a pin up of his students’ work, and later at a desk crit. Gerry never parses his words with either his students or friends, while skillfully imparting a commitment and passion for teaching that has few peers; he is as great an asset to the PP as their new physical space.

Just Look at Those Steel Sash Windows  (they look like steel . . . .)