Week 6: Tackling Obstacles

This week has been a slow one but an exciting one because I am now working on Revit! I spent the beginning of this week watching Revit tutorials and learning the ins and outs in the program. I was able to spend time doing this because a lot of designers were out of town to present for current jobs they are working on and some were just out on vacation. Revit has been very exciting because I am conquering the obstacles of the program and have been able to see little by little that it is actually easy to use. I'm very grateful to get to use Revit as I feel it is a very important program to use in this industry and is only become more important as time passes by. I really enjoy researching so getting to do that has been really exciting, and I've done some sketches of ideas which I frequently love to do so that has been nice as well. Anna is particularly obsessed with materials so she got to pick out vinyls, cryptons, carpet, and LVT which is her niche and it's fun to work together on a project. 

All of our sample options

This week's questions were based around the FF&E of the company. ESa is kept up-to-date on FF&E through representations and lunches. ESa used to just have reps drop in and they'd spend time introducing themselves to all the designers and meeting with them individually, well as ESa grew and the time they had to spend on projects was incredibly valuable they had to figure out a better system to be kept up-to-date. So there are two different ways this happens, we have informals and luncheons. At the informals, a rep comes up sets up a presentation (usually on new products or if it's their first time who their company is) this is done in the mornings and the afternoons. One designer signs up to host the informal and they go around and announce to all the other designers the company that has come to present. That way if a designer is busy at work and can't go then they don't have to, or if it's a certain company that only works with Healthcare design the hospitality designers do not have to go. This also works well, so that if a specific designer wants to meet with a rep they can set up a separate time with them to come in and go over more in depth over a product they want to use on a project. The luncheons is a more formal presentation and usually goes over the scope of all their products and what they have to offer. This is usually for bigger companies or companies that offer more than just one certain type of product. ESa is very lucky and also gets lunch brought into them at these luncheons. It has been very beneficial to get to know these reps and get to see all the different kinds of products that are out there. At the informals and luncheons reps usually have binders or samples to then file away in our library. We have a certain way things are organized in the library and ESa is known for having one of the largest libraries in Nashville. Samples are filed in certain areas that are located on a floor plan (fabrics, LVT, 3 form, stone, etc). Everyone is in charge for keeping the library as clean as possible. We interns are  in charge of filing away products from the to be filed pile and sending back samples like carpet that is to big to store in our library. The designers also will periodically go through the library and give us a list of things to recycle and make more room for new things. We keep all of our reps and their information filed in a Rolodex on the computer, that way when ordering sampling we just have to search for it and call them from their information. FF&E is a very important part of design so it is critical for ESa to be organized and on top of what they can be using to design with.

This week I want to introduce you to Emmy.

Emmy graduated from The University of Tennessee in 2011 and has now spent a year working with ESa. She also interned with ESa as a student to go on with the list of the many other designer who have done the same. Emmy also is the one who is incharge of setting up informals and luncheons, the reps have to call her and then she sets up times to have them come in. Emmy also is working on a project with the Cancer Center that she is letting us help her research new ways to design a conference room/lunch area, she said it is one of her favorite projects because the lady is so inspiring and really sees the benefit that a space catered to cancer patient can have on their recovery. Emmy is really involved with the Healthcare aspect of design and is working towards NCIDQ accreditation as well as EDAC accreditation. Emmy has been really wonderful to be around because she is so welcoming to us and always wiling to help us when we have really simple questions.

Sometimes, you cut a cupcake with an with an x acto knife. This is normal.

Comments

[Greg Stein]

Samantha, sounds like LDG is allowing you to make a meaningful contribution to the success of the company.I enjoy reading your blogs.