[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

This topic was the conversation flow in the office this week. The video of the talk at the CNU was enlightening and thought provoking at the same time. I have felt the Landscape Urbanism was the correct approach, but there was no name given to it other than stewardship or design with nature neither of which were inclusive enough. And sustainable design was redundant as far as I am concerned. Because why would you design anything that was not sustainable.  My hope is that there will be a series of BMP’s that will be prepared that does not require a point acquisition process.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Vote with your feet, I did when I opened up my firm. I decided that I was no longer going to work as I was. I have striving to make my employees lives as good as they desire.  I started oout with $1,500 in my pocket and worked out of a 8×15 foot space for the first six months and that was 23 years ago.  Unions will only decide how much your shoulder must hurt before it becomes an issue for them.  Life is too short, this recession will end and there are a lot of opportunities out there for the fast and nimble to beat the slow old and set in their ways.  Option two start a blog that identifies the firms which don’t respect landscape architects and their well being.  I hate it when I interview individuals who were poorly trained by their past employers and believe that they are project manager tained. If the market knew which firms to avoid and the firms knew how they stacked you in the market place things would change.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

I second that opinion, start your own practice now. Life is too short to toil, and set it as your mission to create a practice where you would like to work.  You may find that you are a good employer and the profession will improve. Well at least in your garden.  When frustration becomes a way of life you must change the situation for everyones sake.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Personality is everything, skill sets can be tought, but likable can’t. I don’t care how talented you are if I don’t think you have the proper chemistry I will not hire you. By the way not everyone is cut out for client contact. I have individuals who work great with the staff, but do not do well with my clients.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Jonathan, life is a journey take the opportunities given and enjoy then. Believe me I did not start out to be a business owner when I graduated from college, however here I am thirty two years later and twenty three of that the owner of a firm. After all of that, I am looking for the next opportunity the next change. As to weather you’ll spoil your job prospects by doing your own thing. I believe that you have made your self more valuable because you are learning the lessons of management which few young landscape architects get exposed. There are employees and employers which do you want to be that is the decision that you have to make for you future.

As to the employers who make life miserable for their charges, shame on them. For those who endure such conditions for fame or fortune, shame on them. There are a number of great places to work, even in a recession. It may not be in your home town, but they are out there. This is my third recession, each one was going to be the end of life as we knew it, this one will pass as well. The only question is what are you doing to get ready for the next one and how will things be better for you and your family.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

But that does not change the fact that if you do not plan for a down turn you may be a victim of it. Too many people did not diversify their skills, portfolios, spending habitats. No recession is the same the impacts will be felt differently by everyone depending where you stand. The Last recession I was working out of my garage with a twenty six thousand dollar computer system that I could not run. I was determined that would never happen again. To me that was not an average recession it was a character builder.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Never work for free, anyone who has an intern work for free does not value their contribuition. I hired five interns this summer, they are all getting paid. We are burning through a lot of work, but we are all having a good summer experience. These people came to me with skills that I could use, they were specialists.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Every ten to fifteen years we in America go through a recession on average. Every one has a story to tell about the downturn that effected them the most. It has been usually at the turn of the decade give or take a little. This one 2008 through 2012, depending which part of the country and what part of the building cycle you work in , it may be different for you. The key is diversification in your work type and market area. If you are in to housing in the Southwest your market slammed closed 2007 and is beginning to awake. It will take till mid 2011 before we will see any significant construction, but the planning process is beginning.

What happened to firms? Unlike government, the private sector must expand or contract according to the dynamics of the market place, or be crushed by it. The successful ones were nimble enough to stay head of the cycle. The next to be put under pressure are the firms who are exclusively public works, that cycle is nearing bottom and will be while before they head up the cycle.
Jobs will be found in firms who are residential and are small, they need the talent to become what they once were large and dynamic.
My thoughts.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

When is the last time you saw a landscape architect host a TV show, or anything else. They by their nature are in the background. Eddy George is the first football player / Landscape architect any one has ever heard of ,ever. You need to get off the bench, lead the parade in your town. ASLA can not make you a leader, and by the way your community is not waiting for some professional club to tell them how they can be sustainable, it is your job. I can say that my name is synonymous with landscape architect in my town with no fear of contradiction. Local and state politicians, not only know who I am but they know what I do. By the way I had my own cable TV show for four years during the last recession, I had the time to do it. What have you been doing lately.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Think of ASLA as a club for professionals. It’s only value is what they can deliver of importance to it’s members. If you don’t recieve value in excess of the membership, you have two choices quit or squize the value out of it. I would suggest fighting for change at the local and national level, but that’s me. If you quit because someone else is no longer paying for your membership, maybe you were not getting value, and the someone (your employer) was not getting value. Don’t think in terms of “what can I afford”, but what does ASLA have to do so that your membership is the first thing that you pay for when the bills arrive. Make a list and send it three places. ASLA local, Land8lounge and LAM. Until they do most if not all of what you want, to make the club important to you and you pocket book don’t worry about ASLA. When was the last time you canceled your gym membership that you did not use for a year, no value to you no cash for them.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Run for office, provide political leadership on all things green. Landscape architects are stewarts of the land by training and desire. Why not apply that training to other sustainable parts of our communities, states and nation. Fire service is a important part of any community, however no one looks at the subject form a stewarts point of view. The first thing that a fire man wants to do is clear properties using a specific radius from a structure. A landscape architect with his whole systems approach would look at the problem from a differnt point of view. Lead the parade not the band. This would be a better world if more leaders were landscape architects, stewarts of the land.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

To your later point. Unlike the 1700’s your survival is guaranteed by the state, you can be as lazy as you want and you will be fed and housed. Back in the time of the revolution the loss of rights and the tyranny of a government would mean that you not survive. In these days of Government tyranny the government can not guarantee your survival due to the debt and that future rationing of services. Social security is soon to be over, medical coverage will be limited to the chosen and food stamps will be devalued because of the inflation that will surely come from too much debt. Now you know why revolution is possible. I am hoping it will be a revolution of thought not violence. The progressive movement has run it’s course, just as it did in the 1920’s and 30’s. It is time for self reliance at home, community and state government. People who are surviving day to day could careless about global warming, ask the third world.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Architects will be the leaders until Landscape Architects head the projects, and select the consultants that they want to work with. Find the client, money and site and you will be the team leader. The one problem that most overlook is that then you become the business manager of others. Billing, taxes, insurance, cash flow, schedules, baby sitter and task master becomes your new role. Most landscape architects have not prepared them selves for such a role. Try managing twelve individuals with common but conflicting goals and personallities, including the client, council and banker. Now do this for a two year period on budget. Then you will know what it like to be the leader. By the way most Architects are not very good at it either.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

It will be a while before I believe that a private jet trip to anywhere to discuss man’s impact on climate change makes any sense at all. Don’t start with the fleet of limos’ to get those clowns around town. Next time do a “Go to meeting” confence call and save the planet.

It is time that we all pulled up our collective boot straps and and made individual contributions to saving our little part of the world and stop tring to inflict our values on every on else.

[Baxter (Gene) Miller]

Opportunities are available in may large market cities in America. We have Hired two individuals in the past, one from England and one from Spain. What are your areas of skill and what do you hope to get out of the experiance?

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