Highlights from the 2nd Annual Conference

From Chapter President Cindy K. Allen

07 March 2008


Roughly 60 members from across the state gathered in Charlottesville March 3rd & 4th for the 2nd Annual SMPS Virginia Conference.

The conference schedule juxtaposed well-known, Virginia-based AEC consultant Mel Lester with a panel of principals who offered insight on how they view marketing in their firms. Panelists were John Lawson with WM Jordan; Mike Matthews with Hankins and Anderson; and Tye Campbell with SFCS—and each of them agreed, marketing has been and continues to be key to their firms’ success. Mike Matthews went so far as to assert that marketing is as important a discipline as engineering or architecture to any AEC firm, and that a firm’s growth actually hinges on solid marketing. Mel Lester proposed that the highest value a marketer can add or bring to an AEC firm is discovering, understanding and then acting on Client needs (especially the strategic needs).

If you missed the conference, for what it’s worth, you can download my copy of Mel Lester’s presentation (with appendices) here (1.5MB, PDF), with some of my notes jotted in the margins. The Principals Panel proved to be so popular, the Chapter is tentatively planning to offer a similar half-day program in the fall.