Week 4: Around the Office

This Week’s Activities:

My week consisted of doing a lot of the same things I have talked about previously. Every morning I came into the office and checked my emails and sent responses. I also responded to any written messages or notes I may have had on my desk. As an interior design firm, we are constantly updating our materials library, I receive/un-package/store samples from different product representatives daily as well. 

I spent a lot of time this week updating our company website (linked below). I went through our gallery and added a project description slide to all of our project albums.I did this using photoshop. I also added a new residential project album. We are hoping to gain more residential clients in the future. 

Corporate office space planning drafts. I also spent a big chunk of time this week working in our fabric library. For our open house, yellow and black fabrics were placed in the front of each of our clear plastic bins. I took those pieces out and refiled them into their proper spot. The way our fabric library works is effective and simple. We have clear plastic containers that are labeled by product manufacturer. For instance- Knoll Textiles, Carnegie, Momentum. I just created a new box to hold all of our HBF Textiles. The boxes are in alphabetical order so I had to adjust all the boxes after the letter H to make room for the new one. Each manufacturer box is in color order and some manufacturers have multiple boxes in our library. 

I spent some more time this week creating digital files to house our most recent distillery project. I made a folder that housed pictures of the existing building. I also took the existing plans that were given to Joy and scaled them. It had been at least 2 years since I used a scale! I was so happy I was able to pick up on it again no problem. 

Joy also had me help her out on one of our corporate projects this week. I did a lot of work in autocad to make the plans more clear. I put the names of all the people who would be seated at a workstation into their correct spot. I also helped with some space planning by putting their existing file cabinets/bookcases/safes/storage cabinets into our furniture plan. This was a hard task because we were asked to put a lot of additional furniture into spaces that were already laid out without them in mind. But that’s where I got to do some critical thinking and I was able to make everything fit cohesively. 

Discussing professional photographs taken of Synergy.One of the most fun things I got to do this week was sit in on the photograph selection meeting. We got the proofs back from our wonderful photographer, Denise Retallack. We laid all the Synergy shoot photos out and decided which photos we would like to keep and which shows the design best. This took some time because everyone had differing opinions, but in the end everyone landed on the same favorite photos. I really loved the photos and was impressed with them. The photos will be entered into an IIDA design competition. They will be great to have on our company website and for marketing purposes! 

Lastly, I worked to create a project book for the newest residential design LDG completed. I did this using indesign and a pre existing template that has been used for many different project books LDG has. These books are used to show potential clients our work physically instead of digitally. 

This Week’s Focus:

This week I focused on learning about Lauderdale Design Group’s marketing strategy and accounting procedures. 

Creating a residential book to print for marketing.LDG markets itself in so many ways. They have a company website and also use social media such as facebook. Another great thing LDG participates in is First Friday, which allows them to market themselves as well as connect with architects in town. Architects are a huge part of LDG’s marketing strategy and they often have lunch meetings with architects in town to discuss Knoxville’s design community and potential project opportunities. They also participate in US Green Building Council lunch and learns. The LDG office was just remodeled as a marketing strategy. The office now represents the interior design LDG is capable of producing. This way when architects, potential clients, and contractors come into the office they are seeing LDG’s work first hand.

LDG also participates in UT events, as well as sponsoring their own events. They were involved in the AIA golf tournament and have recently entered in an IIDA competition. They do most their marketing through networking and talking around town. They love face to face interaction and Joy is a great face for the company. Also- like I talked about last week, LDG just recently put an ad out in the UT 2013-2014 Academic Planner. Their target markets are education, hospitality, corporate, retail, and commercial design. To view their website, click here. To view a gallery with pictures of their work, click here.  

LDG does strategic planning two times a year during their company days. These are usually held during the spring and fall. Company days consist of an all day office meeting. During these days the employees go over core values, the mission statement, visions for the future of the company, internal and external goals for not only the company, but each employee, and many more aspirations. The accounting is handled both within the company and externally. Joy and Cathy work within the office to help keep the books but they also have an external account who helps handle the more complicated matters like tax returns, etc. 

This Week’s Introduction:

Cathy, Office Manager, LDGThis week I am introducing you to our office manager and go to girl, Cathy! Cathy is absolutely a joy to work with and I am so lucky to have her as one of my mentors. Cathy went to school for merchandising. She went into retail and decided it wasn’t for her, however, it opened the doors for sales. Cathy spent 2 years selling shipping and postage systems-computerized options, and decided she really liked sales but wanted to sell something fun. She went to work for Commercial Interiors and worked there for 10 years. This is how she met Joy- who was then right out of school working for Commercial Interiors. After 10 years Cathy had become a sales manager and had went as far as she could within the company. From there she interviewed and got a position at Knoll. She was an office furniture rep for Knoll for 10 years before retiring. But not for long! When Joy started up LDG she contacted Cathy to come be part of the team as the Lauderdale Design Group office manager. Cathy does everything but design at LDG.

Cathy and her husband have 2 grandsons who are moving to Ethiopia for 2 years while their father is in the foreign service. Cathy’s husband in an engineer and they hope to be retired in the next 7 years. They have 6 acres in Karns where they garden and produce fresh vegetables. They just welcomed a new doggy into their home 2 weeks ago. Cathy loves to create sun catchers using driftwood, copper wire, and beads. She also makes her own greeting cards. 

Week 4: Project Organization

How projects are organized in relationship to design phases

     Knox Heritage has many different types of projects that are unique and require different organization techniques. For example, this week I was a member of the Event Planning team. The Event Planning Team is composed of the following: Board Members, Community Representatives, Knox Heritage Office representative. The team meets regularly to plan and organize events. The Knox Heritage Office member’s primary task during the meetings is to keep the Committee focused on the goal of Knox Heritage.  The Board Members present event ideas during the meetings. They also coordinate with the other Board Members to coordinate plans. The Community Representatives serve as the voice of community interest. The Knox Heritage Office representative guides the Events Committee as they select Events for the year to ensure they are within the parameters of the Knox Heritage Mission. 

Signature Drink at Summer Supper     This week at the meeting the members discussed an overall event plans for the year including basic details such as seating, quality of refreshments and design style. Then the group discussed the specific details of the event of the week which was a Summer Supper. They delegated responsibilities to make sure details were attended to appropriately. My task was to meet the party rental representative the day before the event. Also, the morning of the event I assisted event design set up. During the event my job was to welcome guests and ensure they had previously purchased a ticket. I also provided information about the Summer Supper series to guests. 

This coming week I will be working on project within Knox Heritage but with a different type of organizational plan. Ethiel Garlington has requested that I work on a project with him. This project is to create as-built drawings for an old mill. The drawings need to be created because in the future Knox Heritage wants the mill to become a residence. In this project I will also create renderings of the mill as a residence to show the public the potential of the mill. The first step in the organizational process was Ethiel discussing with me the project tasks and what I am capable of doing for the project. The next step was to plan a meeting between Ethiel, the mill owner, and me. After the meeting Ethiel and I will be taking measurements of the mill. We will also be photographing the mill and evaluating and recording details. The next step will be a discussion regarding the mill and drawing details. Then I will be starting the as-built drawings under the supervision of Ethiel. When the drawings are completed, I will create the renderings. The drawings and renderings will be used as a marketing tool to inform the community. 

Introduction

Ethiel Garlington works at Knox Heritage as Director of Preservation Field Services. I met Ethiel when Beth and I were working on the Alexander Inn sale. He studied in Finland which interests me because I will be studying there soon! Ethiel sets high standards of professionalism and has a strong work ethic. Ethiel was enthusiastic about the skills I have to complete the project that we are working on together. 

Week 4: Keeping pace

Week Four.

My desk at ESaThis week Anna, Lauren, and I worked together on most of our job assignments. We did this because a lot of the designers had meetings with their clients and they were out for a couple of days so it was pretty low key. We ordered a lot of samples for contractor boards, we filed away all the samples that needed to be taken care of, and we made some more finish boards. My favorite things I did this week consisted of photo shopping a project for one of the designers; I’ve come to love Photoshop more as I’ve learned new tricks. (Like holding shift makes a STRAIGHT LINE!! Would’ve been so helpful to know that). I also ordered a bunch of samples for two of the designers that work on most of the hospitality projects and got to ordered new fabrics because some were discontinued. I loved getting to be apart of a project and help make decisions. 

Finish Boards for Mckenzie-Williamette Project

Does the company market their services? Is there a particular market or particular markets the company targets? 

For ESa there is a marketing director named Sandy who is in charge of marketing for the company. She markets the company in a lot of different ways such as: healthcare design magazine ads, write ups in the local newspapers, TV interviews, and different conferences. Sandy is also in charge of photo shoots for the company and working with the designers. However, a lot of the way ESa gets business is by word of mouth from other companies that have received their work and passed on the reference. Or if a company visits the space and wants something similar designed at their facility. Leslie also said that 80% of the design work is repeat clients.

The target market is mainly healthcare.  However, when ESa started out Earl Swensson was known for condominiums in the 60s and 70s. Earl caught the vision for what designing for Healthcare could be and was one of the very first firms to start working with Healthcare. A lot of the standards and codes for Nashville today with healthcare were first worked through with ESa. ESa also works with higher/lower education, cultural arts, and hospitality.

http://www.esarch.com/places/portfolio/ 

What type of strategic planning happens?

Who ESa is as a company is a business and community minded company. The higher up leadership such as David Miller and Earl Swensson are the visionaries of the company. However, ESa employees have all gone a specific way of being hired. They are looking for a specific person that is hard working and works well with all kinds of people. They said it from the beginning that they are looking for people with good work ethic because they can teach people skills and build on that but they need someone with the drive. So there are a lot of ways that ESa has a vision for different parts of the company. 

Abbey Stepanek

This week I want to introduce you to your friend and mine, Abbey Stepanek. While I begin I need to start with thanking Abbey for telling me before career day to go speak with ESa, and because of that I have an internship with this company. Abbey Stepanek is a recent UT grad and the newest member of the ESa interior design department now making 25 interior designers at ESa. Abbey’s current role is to work with designers Ken Bowman and Christie McCullough on the St. Anthony’s healthcare project. Abbey was an intern last year and as an intern her favorite thing was learning about finishes and meeting with all the reps. As Abbey begins she is excited about being apart of the Nashville Design Community and getting to work with big companies.