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Its one of the top 5 rules of business. People tend to do business with places that don’t look like they need it. Looking successful instills a sense of confidence with clients, especially deep pocketed ones, that you know what you are doing…because you look sucessful, you probably are. I know I wouldn’t trust an architect that had a crappy…[Read more]

De Gaulle airport is horrifyingly energy inefficient in the summer (you get microwave as you travel through the donut hole….’i hate that airport as a passenger.  MVVA/Holl project either does not follow a maintenance regime or didn’t account for weeds (it’s mostly invasives and sadly hasn’t looked that nice in years).  Maybe plant the crap out o…[Read more]

I hate NCARB.  The IDP an ARE process is pathetic,  a total admittance to the fact that their education standards are terrible.  CLARB had to update to computing, some folks get it harder in transition;  well, it’s going to happen to somebody some time.  And why is the PE process so much easier?  By ease of processing I’d take the PE over LA over…[Read more]

Staffing up and staffing down is a reaction to work load in any service business. I would think that those who get picked up in the up staffing will be happier that they are working even if it is just for a little while. I would expect that the firms that staff up are hoping to have the work to maintain their staffing, but if they can’t, what are…[Read more]

I believe unemployment is calculated primarily on those collecting unemployment (previously employed) and looking – recent grads who never got work or are working PT and not actively seeking work aren’t part of that number.

We hve everything to do with healthcare – cleaning up
Inner city contamination (all the lead from gasoline pre1991 does a…[Read more]

How bad is the Economy?
 
The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail. CEO’s are now playing miniature golf. Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen. Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America. Motel Six won’t leave the light on anymore. A picture is now only worth 200 words. They renamed Wall Street ‘Wal-Mart Street’.…[Read more]

Government reports had it at 33% and I don’t know how current the stat, but its the last one I saw. LAs also had the highest percentage of self employment from all the A&E professions.
What impresses me most about this Maui LA is that he is getting by without Cad and all those softwares “we” other LAs think are so important. His freehand drawing…[Read more]

10x? That’s just pure greed. Unless they paid you at $12 or less an hour. No wonder so many LA firms laid off staff. In Hawaii, from what I’ve seen and heard, only the principals bill at over $100 bucks. Its also the reason why many firms were able to retain their staff.

Interesting thread to compare against the one on archinect about some firms building staff (by as much as 70), while others go belly up.  I do wonder if some firms will adapt the “staff up for projects, then down size after they end” model some firms seem to love.

We were taught to be billing 3x or 4x while in school; I’ve been at 10x before so 2x seems generous.

My understanding is that 20%+ of all landscape architects are self employed, but that 50%+ of landscape architecture offices are one person operations. I don’t know where i got the latter information, but I am having a hard time finding it today… not that I spent much time looking.

I question that figure as well – just checked a BLS website and it is true when race is taken into account – that is the figure for educated/white. I too know numerous educated people out of work.  I was a paralegal for 10 years prior to returning to school for a second degree (BLA – I start year 2 in Sept).  The legal profession was hit really h…[Read more]

Dylan Radigan, MSNBC show this morning: of the percentage of unemployed workers in America today, only 4.8% have college degrees.

 
I’ve seen numbers like that elsewhere, and wondered how true it is.  I know a lot of people with substantial educations that aren’t working.  In my own neighborhood, there is someone with a Master’s in biology who wo…[Read more]

25% Last time I heard
 

Hi Max, Brian Lin and I are so thrilled to know that you have found a new confidence in your career through attending our August graphic workshop in San Francisco. Now NO ONE can stop you but yourself and as long as you have a great passion to help your clients, you will now enjoy your profession with fun and joy.  Your positive testimonial made…[Read more]

I was at the same workshop and I agree with Max.  It was an outstanding experience.
 
It is pricey, though.  Tuition is $1400-1800, flight, hotel for the week, plan on about $300 for materials and another $50-100 for books, and $55 for “stuff”.
 
You could cut back by not buying all the materials.  I would skip the watercolor portion of the clas…[Read more]

Are not the majority of landscape architecture offices one person operations?

I hope we are like this man! Well…we can be a two “man” shop. 😉

They changed the security setting i realized. I cannot see the discussion page unless I’m logged in to facebook. It used to be that you could still read it without being logged in and only see first names.

It can be done!
Here on Maui, there’s a one man LA shop who has been getting along for 30+ years now. I’ve reviewed some of his work (SMA approval, permit appl) and know him professionally for the past 3 years. According to him, about 95% of his work consist of residential designs. He is literally a one man shop! He does no Cad work, no photoshop…[Read more]