Jonathan Smith, RLA

I’m glad to see someone else interested in SSI! I’m working on a children’s garden project for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We’re designing the project to the preliminary draft SSI credits in hopes to create a sustainable landscape project, test the credits and criteria and eventually hopefully become a pilot project.

I would like to think that it is the LA who knows best, but sadly I feel that the contractor is the one who is going to be the key in creating the finished project. I would love to get to know my contractors well enough to find out there likes and dislikes but I never seem to be able to work with the same one over again, the market is so cutthroat…[Read more]

As someone who spent years as a contractor before going back to school, i can tell you that often the person you deal with in the office, or the supervisor, isn’t always going to be on site when the plan implementation starts. The few LARs that I worked with back home, made it a point to make sure that all plans were easy to read/understand, or in…[Read more]

For a Landscape Architect to truy be successful as a designer, he has to be able to communicate on the level of the contractor. Not to say that he designs to the level of the contractor, (which we all know contractors are alot like water, they always take the path of least resistance…) I say that coming from alot of years of being a contractor…[Read more]

Oona,
LEED has been growing extremely fast these couple of years, at least in California and the bay area. Clients, public and private, are becoming much more aware of LEED and are requesting that we follow the requirements whether they are or are not applying for accreditation on a project. About half of our office of 50 is now LEED certified.…[Read more]

hi everyone, i just sign to this group. I have my own company here in UAE (Ajman) for (planning – designing – production – installation – construction) theme stages, wedding events, artificial rock work, fiberglass casting, mall decors, theme parks etc… check my profile i have lots of sample pictures of what my company has to offer. can anybody…[Read more]

Is anyone marketing “green building” or LEED more heavily these days?

Hello Chris,
In regards to your question about marketing at a home or trade show, I have some experience in this realm.
20 years ago I designed and installed a small intimate garden exhibit at the San Francisco Garden Show. I had just recently moved to the Bay area and wanted to open my own design practice.
The show was a success for me.
After 5…[Read more]

I’m trying to develop a specific contract for my firm’s LA work and am trying to find a good sample contract to model ours after.

Thanks!

I just recently filled the only LA position in my firm in a region where there aren’t many LA’s practicing locally. I’ve been asked to develop some marketing strategies to increase what I can bring in to the firm. Any thoughts as to how to develop the marketing side of what I can provide clients?

I have found this website (http://www.whillsgroup.com) and people to be very informative and helpful. From their website- ‘Wellesley Hills Group is a management consulting, marketing, and lead generation firm specialized in helping consulting, professional, financial, and technology service firms achieve their growth and profit potential.’ I get…[Read more]

Matthew E. Wilson suggested that I read this book! It looks good so I will be picking it up shortly! It is called: “The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life (Hardcover)”

Good call Brandon! I have added it and a few others to the Professional Practice category in the Bookstore. Any other suggestions?

If any of you are looking for a great book to help you with marketing then I have got one for you! “Rain Making – The Professional’s Guide to Attracting New Clients” by Ford Harding……Very insightful!

Thank you, Jay, for the info… I am looking into the cost of E & O insurance as I get into more commercial and large scale projects.

Hey Mack,
Great questions! Feel free to add them to the group forum. Just click the little green plus sign…

Mack,
I think Errors and Omissions Insurance is usually a policy that the firm keeps on itself, you may change Insurance companies from time to time but the insurance is usually constant. I don’t believe it is available on a job by job basis.
helpful link:
http://www.nfib.com/object/3789933.html

This is the key quote which may speak to your…[Read more]

One more question….E&O is this something needed forever? If I do a job today do I have to carry it till I die or is there a statute of limitations?
Can it be obtained on a month to month or by job basis?

I wanted to add a comment/question.
I have seen serveral diffrent ways to approch contracts and proposals. One way is keep it very simple, the other it to complicate it to the point of needed a harvard law degree to understand the contract.
The questing I have is where is the middle ground? I don’t want to be too simple, miss something and then be…[Read more]

Brandon…
Thanks for creating this group. For anyone that will be attending the ASLA Annual Meeting in Philly, I will be moderating two roundtable discussions regarding topics revelant to this group.
The first roundtable is Best Business Practices and Client relations in the Residential Market. It is scheduled for Monday, October 6 at 9:45 a.m.…[Read more]