http://www.remontech.com The Construction Industry Podcast presents interviews, tips, trends, and other content relevant to businesses and professionals in the construction sector. Tue, 21 May 2013 19:27:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 The Construction Industry Podcast presents interviews, tips, trends, and other content relevant to businesses and professionals in the construction sector. Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc. no Fresh Ideas for Today's Construction Professional http://constructionindustrypodcast.comhttp://remontech.com/images/ConstructionIndustryPodcast144x144.jpg construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,securityBusiness/Management & Marketingfeedback@constructionindustrypodcast.comCesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/attract-hire-and-retain-employees-in-the-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/attract-hire-and-retain-employees-in-the-construction-industry/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 11:53:16 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1756 http://www.remontech.com/attract-hire-and-retain-employees-in-the-construction-industry/feed/ 0 Hiring is a science. Though we are a small company here at Remontech, we have had to hire in the past and it was a difficult task. - Often we hire because we have a sudden need of help.  This becomes an issue because the sense of urgency will tend to ... Hiring is a science. Though we are a small company here at Remontech, we have had to hire in the past and it was a difficult task. Often we hire because we have a sudden need of help.  This becomes an issue because the sense of urgency will tend to cloud our judgement. The fact is that organizations are merely the collection of souls who work there, bonded together by a common culture.  Hiring and letting go of people is perhaps the most important aspect of any business - construction or not. On this episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I speak with Scott Sayers, president of Sayers and Associates.  Here are some of the topics we covered: How important is labor/workforce management in construction ? What do successful construction business owners do to attract great workforce and what are they looking for? What is recommended for hiring young workers in construction? How technology can help construction business owners to face challenges such as shortage of skills? What is the importance to have workers who match corporate culture? To listen to this episode, click the orange "play" button above this post. Scott Sayers Scott Sayers has been actively employed in the construction industry since 1972. His experience ranges from working on construction projects as a summer student through to and including his current position President/CEO of Sayers & Associates Corporation, one of the largest construction companies in Canada. Scott has been involved with all aspects of construction, from delivering materials to construction sites to negotiating and seeing the successful execution of contracts in excess of one hundred million dollars. With over forty years of construction experience, he has a vast knowledge of all people, positions and culture required to make a construction company successful. To listen to this episode, click the orange "play" button above this post. ClearFit Scott Sayers is a user and a big fan of a service called ClearFit.  Be sure to check out their website and see the interesting process they have in place to help companies hire the right people. My Interview with TechZulu On this episode I also share this neat little video taken during the latest New Media Expo in Las Vegas last January. Check out the video below where I explain how the Construction Industry Podcast started and how it fits with our marketing strategy here at Remontech. http://youtu.be/kBqkEzaV3EU Live Construction Feed from Toronto We are currently monitoring the construction of a silo that is employing a slip form.  It's a very nice project to watch, so I thought I'd share the link here with you. Please visit: http://essroc.remontech.com and check it out! What's your experience? Share with us your stories and best practices when hiring people by using the box below.  I'd love to read your input. Episode Links Use Recruiting Technology to Reduce Costs  ClearFit for Construction Hiring Resource Center (ClearFit)     Remontech no 45:25 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/what-is-bim/ http://www.remontech.com/what-is-bim/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 12:26:35 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1740 http://www.remontech.com/what-is-bim/feed/ 3 After meaning to do it for a long time, I finally have an episode on BIM, or Building Information Modelling. - As you may know, BIM is completely changing the construction landscape.  While BIM involves 3D modelling, it is much more than that. After meaning to do it for a long time, I finally have an episode on BIM, or Building Information Modelling. As you may know, BIM is completely changing the construction landscape.  While BIM involves 3D modelling, it is much more than that. It is really revolutionizing the way we do construction, especially how we communicate within project environments. What I find with BIM is that a lot of people in the construction sector have not yet been introduced to it.  In my case, I know of BIM, I have a pretty good idea of what it is - I even read a book on it - but never had the opportunity to actually work with it.  Whether you are in a similar position or have already been working with BIM, I think my guest today will be able to shed some extra light on the benefits of this technology. Press the orange "play" button above the post to listen to this episode. James Salmon, Attorney James is President of Collaborative Construction Resources, (CCR) a company that empowers stakeholders in the Construction Industry to utilize collaborative agreements, BIM and lean construction methods to deliver construction services more efficiently and productively. James is an experienced construction lawyer and he serves on both the National Building Information Model Standards (NBIMS) Project Committee and the Build SMART Alliance's Business Process Integration Task Team, (BPITT). James and his family live in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and spoke with me from office in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here's a summary of services James can provide. Press the orange "play" button above the post to listen to this episode. What is your experience with BIM?  Use the comment box below this post to share your experience with us. Episode Links Collaborative Construction Collaborative Construction Blog No Silos James Salmon on LinkedIn Collaborative BIM Advocates - LinkedIn Group Integrated Project Delivery Remontech no 49:56 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/constructonomics-with-john-poole/ http://www.remontech.com/constructonomics-with-john-poole/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:42:05 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1728 http://www.remontech.com/constructonomics-with-john-poole/feed/ 0 Today I speak with John Poole, the man behind the popular blog constructonomics.com.  We talk about the US economy, education in construction, and his work, both online and offline. - It was great to chat with John, Today I speak with John Poole, the man behind the popular blog constructonomics.com.  We talk about the US economy, education in construction, and his work, both online and offline. It was great to chat with John, who like me is in the construction sector and doing online work. On this episode we cover: The US economy and the effects of the stimulus pushed by the US government in 2009 The value and future of education in the construction industry What is a project manager? The future of the construction industry in the US To listen to the episode, press the orange "play" button above this post. John Poole, LEED AP John has been involved in the successful delivery of several large construction projects of over $50 million in value assuming the roles of civil engineer, general contractor, construction manager, as well as subcontractor.  His project list includes Lincoln Financial Football Stadium, Memorial Hospital, Arrabelle Hotel and Resort, and the Revel Casino. John has a diverse construction industry background on the design professional side as well as construction.  He holds an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and a graduate degree in Construction Management where he focused his study on leadership and management practices in the construction industry. John spoke with me from his office in the US. Episode Links Constructonomics.com The Constructonomics Blog John Poole on LinkedIn Book: E-Myth Revisited How has the economy affected your work? Use the comment box below to share your thoughts on the economy and how it has affected your work in the construction industry.  I would love your input! Remontech no 34:57 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/building-30-stories-in-15-days-modular-construction-with-the-broad-group/ http://www.remontech.com/building-30-stories-in-15-days-modular-construction-with-the-broad-group/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:32:01 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1707 http://www.remontech.com/building-30-stories-in-15-days-modular-construction-with-the-broad-group/feed/ 4 I know it sounds crazy, but a company built a 30-story hotel building in China in just 15 days. - As in two weeks. - I'm sorry, that would be two weeks plus one day. I don't want to exaggerate :) - On today's episode of the Construction Industry Pod... I know it sounds crazy, but a company built a 30-story hotel building in China in just 15 days. As in two weeks. I'm sorry, that would be two weeks plus one day. I don't want to exaggerate :) On today's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I speak with Juliet Jiang, senior vice president of the BROAD Group, a Chinese construction company responsible for this amazing project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdpf-MQM9vY Juliet Jiang, Senior Vice President, BROAD Group Juliet Jiang founded BROAD International in 1998 and acted as CEO of the company until 2010.  During that time she developed sales networks & exported BROAD’s non-electric air conditioning systems to more than 70 countries, including projects like the Madrid Airport, Bangkok New International Airport and the Fort Bragg Air Force Base in North Carolina. Since then, she has set up BROAD International Air Quality Products & BROAD Sustainable Building International, acting as CEO. In December, 2010, she contributed to the establishment of COP16 BROAD Pavilion in Cancun, inaugurated by Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Since 2012, Juliet has been BROAD Group's Senior Vice President and has spoken on behalf of the company many times, including at the UN and international conferences on energy conservation and green buildings. Ms. Jiang spoke with me from her office in China. Press the orange "play" button on top of this post to listen to the interview. Thank you for all your questions! As I prepared for this interview, I went on a number of social media sites and groups related to construction and posed the question: What would YOU like to ask the people who built a 30-story high-rise in 15 days? I have received literally hundreds of questions.  The construction community has lots of questions, opinions, and even concerns over this feat of engineering and project management. While I was not able to ask Ms. Jiang every single question I received, I painstakingly went through all of them and grouped them into main categories.  I then was able to convert them into a handful of questions that we could tackle during the interview. Press the orange "play" button on top of this post to listen to the interview. What do you think? I'd love to know what you think of this building and the impact that the BROAD Group is having on traditional building methods. What are your thoughts on this?  Please use the box below and speak your mind. Have a great day everyone!   Remontech no 38:41 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/construction-safety-101/ http://www.remontech.com/construction-safety-101/#comments Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:44:31 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1691 http://www.remontech.com/construction-safety-101/feed/ 0 Happy Thursday everyone! - I hope you are enjoying our bi-weekly episode release schedule. - On today's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I speak with my friend Luke Nixa, PMP, on the topic of construction safety. - Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you are enjoying our bi-weekly episode release schedule. On today's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I speak with my friend Luke Nixa, PMP, on the topic of construction safety. Because I visit construction sites constantly, and am usually in dangerous situations involving heights, this is a topic that is close to my heart and often in my mind. I'd been meaning to do an episode on safety in construction for a long time, and Luke is the perfect guest to talk about this topic. Press the orange "play" button above this post to listen to this episode. Luke Nixa, PMP Luke Nixa, PMP is a Construction Project Manager and the Safety Training Program Manager for Sabre Industries – a communication tower and steel utility pole manufacturer based in Sioux City, Iowa.  He has experience in industrial and construction safety; in one instance overseeing 400+ contractors during a large coal power plant overhaul in 2009. Luke also has an immense background in public safety.  He is a Field Instructor for the State of Iowa with the Fire Service Training Bureau; and is a Specialist Instructor with the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.  He also continues to serve his community as a volunteer firefighter and Nationally Registered EMT, having served now for 10 years.  As if that wasn't enough, he also has experience working in local and federal security and law enforcement. Press the orange "play" button above this post to listen to this episode. Subscribing to Podcasts Using Smartphones I started a video series explaining how to subscribe to podcasts using different devices.  As of the day of this episode, I have created a video demonstrating how to subscribe to podcasts using an iPhone and an Android phone. Though you can listen to this podcast by visiting the website and pressing the orange "play" button above the post, I think the power of podcasts is in that it can be automatically downloaded to your device and you can have it on the go, either when you drive, or work out, etc. Check out this post for a brief explanation of what podcasts are and how to subscribe to them using your smartphone. Episode Links Sabre Industries State of Iowa Fire Services Training Bureau Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) OSHA Statistics Luke Nixa on LinkedIn Remontech's Mobile Monitoring Stations Remontech no 38:33 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/integrated-project-delivery-ipd/ http://www.remontech.com/integrated-project-delivery-ipd/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:00:19 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1648 http://www.remontech.com/integrated-project-delivery-ipd/feed/ 0 On today's episode I bring you an introduction to the topic of Integrated Project Delivery, also known as simply IPD. - As both a philosophy and a delivery method, IPD seems to address many of the shortcomings of the traditional Design-Bid-Build and t... On today's episode I bring you an introduction to the topic of Integrated Project Delivery, also known as simply IPD. As both a philosophy and a delivery method, IPD seems to address many of the shortcomings of the traditional Design-Bid-Build and the Construction-Manager-at-Risk models. Some of the issues that IPD addresses involve the sharing of risk and reward among the main stakeholders. For this episode, I interviewed attorney John Sier, from Kitch Attorneys and Counsellors. Click the orange "play" button above this post to listen to this episode. John M. Sier, Kitch Attorneys & Counselors John Sier is an attorney with Kitch Attorney & Counselors and concentrates his practice in dispute avoidance and resolution of commercial, health care and construction contract issues as the head of the firm's construction and commercial litigation group. In the construction industry, he analyzes the legal aspects of various project delivery methods and assists in project completion and dispute resolution. Mr. Sier received his Juris Doctor and Master of Arts in Mass Communication and Journalism from Drake University Law School and Graduate School in 1986, and his A.B. in Political Science and Communications from Loyola University of Chicago in 1983. He has published and presented on construction, health care and commercial issues across the country. John spoke with me in person, at his office in downtown Detroit. To listen to the interview, press the orange "play" button above this post. Subscribing to Podcasts Using Smartphones I started a video series explaining how to subscribe to podcasts using different devices.  As of the day of this episode, I have created a video demonstrating how to subscribe to podcasts using an iPhone and an Android phone. Though you can listen to this podcast by visiting the website and pressing the orange "play" button above the post, I think the power of podcasts is in that it can be automatically downloaded to your device and you can have it on the go, either when you drive, or work out, etc. Check out this post for a brief explanation of what podcasts are and how to subscribe to them using your smartphone. News regarding the Construction Industry Podcast On this episode I also mention that the Construction Industry Podcast is officially a bi-weekly show now.  As I share in the episode, it has been hard to keep up with the weekly schedule and deliver a quality show at the same time.  My work at Remontech and with other initiatives has taken a lot of my time and instead of publishing less-than-great episodes every week, I believe I can bring you more value if I concentrate on a show every 2 weeks. I'd love to know your thoughts about this.  Feel free to drop me a line in the comment box below or through my voice mail link using the tab on the right edge of the website. PMI Southwestern Ontario Chapter Symposium I'm super excited to be one of the speakers at the upcoming Project Management Institute's Southwestern Ontario Chapter symposium on April 26th. My session will be called Why Project Managers Should Have Their Own Online Presence and Platform.   I'll be sharing my experience with the Construction Industry Podcast and how other project managers can use an online platform and new media to stand out in their industry. There's still not a website for the event, but as soon as there is one I will mention it on a future post.  For now, you can visit the PMI Southwestern Ontario Chapter's website.  For more information on the Project Management Institute, check out episode 17 of the Construction Industry Podcast. One Woodward Avenue Building Pictures At the end of this episode John Sier shares with me some of the interesting history behind the building in which he has his office.  Here are some pictures I took while I was there, and others from the web. Episode Links Kitch Attorneys and Counselors Remontech no 56:08 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/hydrophobic-materials-ultra-ever-dry/ http://www.remontech.com/hydrophobic-materials-ultra-ever-dry/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:18:22 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1610 http://www.remontech.com/hydrophobic-materials-ultra-ever-dry/feed/ 0 We're ALIVE! - It's a few weeks past due, but here's the latest episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, and the first for 2013.  It has been a crazy few weeks for me as I returned from Las Vegas where I was a speaker at New Media Expo. - We're ALIVE! It's a few weeks past due, but here's the latest episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, and the first for 2013.  It has been a crazy few weeks for me as I returned from Las Vegas where I was a speaker at New Media Expo. But believe me when I say that the wait was worth it.  I have a number of episodes in the pipeline now and they are amazing. Today I bring an interview with Mark Shaw, the person behind this product that could change our entire construction industry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPM8OR6W6WE There are thousands of people all over the internet drooling over this video and with tons of questions.  Mark answered a bunch of my own questions and a few others that I have been seeing online about this.  Click the orange "play" button above this post to listen to the episode. Mark Shaw, Ultra Tech International Mark Shaw is the founder and principal at Ultra Tech International.  He has 29 years of experience in the designing, developing, sales and marketing of products in the fields of spill containment, spill response, stormwater management, construction compliance, facility protection, bio-remediation (microbes), oil spill, and radioactive waste management. He has developed over 500 new products and is the inventor of over fifty patents. Mark spoke with me from his office in Florida. Press the orange "play" button above this post to listen to the interview. Buy Ultra Ever Dry This product is not a prototype.  It's available right now and you can get it right away. Click here to buy Ultra Ever Dry on AmazonSupply.com New Media Expo Update This is the first episode of the podcast since my experience at the New Media Expo in Las Vegas, so I'd like to give you a quick update. It was an awesome experience.  Besides having the honour of being a speaker, I had a chance to meet some friends in person for the first time including: Cliff Ravenscraft, from PodcastAnswerMan.com Pat Flynn, from Smart Passive Income Leo Laporte, from This Week In Tech Albert Hathazi, from The Local Method podcast (and a former guest on this show) Dustin Hartzler, from YourWebsiteEngineer.com (who has saved my skin a few times when remontech.com was hacked) Jonathan Shank, from Your First Virtual Assistant Peder Aadahl, from 168 Opportunities and many many other awesome people. This was my first time in Vegas and I had a blast hanging out with people who are creating some fantastic things on the web, either with their blogs, podcasts, or web TV initiatives. I'd Like to Speak at a Construction Conference I had such a great experience speaking at NMX that I set a goal for 2013 to speak again at a conference.  This time, however, I'd like to speak at a construction event. I am really passionate about using new media within the construction sector and I would love to talk about this to a construction audience.  I'm already in talks with the organizers of a few shows, but if you think I'd be a good fit for a show that you attend, or a conference that you help organize, I'd love to hear from you.  Contact me using the contact link on the main menu of this website.  Thanks! Episode Links Ultra Ever Dry New Media Expo Oh So Pinteresting with Cynthia Sanchez Remontech no 41:43 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/designing-and-building-churches-and-places-of-worship/ http://www.remontech.com/designing-and-building-churches-and-places-of-worship/#comments Fri, 21 Dec 2012 21:01:43 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1583 http://www.remontech.com/designing-and-building-churches-and-places-of-worship/feed/ 2 Merry Christmas!  On this special edition of the Construction Industry Podcast we talk about designing and building churches and places of worship. My guest, Professor Duncan Stroik from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Merry Christmas!  On this special edition of the Construction Industry Podcast we talk about designing and building churches and places of worship. My guest, Professor Duncan Stroik from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, is a talented architect who is responsible for the design of some of the most stunning churches built in the US in the last few years. In this episode, we will cover the following: What are the trends happening to church construction? How can classical themes in architecture can be represented without simply copying the old? How do construction documents for traditional churches vary from a standard set of construction drawings? What's the best structural building system for churches? What are some of the challenges contractors face when managing and erecting a traditional church? What is the biggest obstacle found in church construction projects? Professor Stroik also went into some detail when describing the design and construction of the beautiful Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, completed in the Spring of 2009. Press the orange "play" button above the article to listen to this episode. Prof. Duncan G. Stroik Duncan G. Stroik is a practicing architect, author, and Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame.  His award-winning work includes the Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel in Santa Paula, California and the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.   A frequent lecturer on sacred architecture and the classical tradition, Stroik co-edited Reconquering Sacred Space and has recently authored The Church Building as a Sacred Place:  Beauty, Transcendence and the Eternal.  Mr. Stroik is an inaugural member of the Society for Catholic Liturgy and founding editor of Sacred Architecture Journal.  He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Yale University School of Architecture. Episode Links Book:  "Theology in Stone: Church Architecture From Byzantium to Berkeley", by Richard Kieckhefer Example of heroic modernism: Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Spartanburg, South Carolina, currently under construction Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California Reece's Rainbow: advocacy agency for special needs orphans Do you have beautiful or interesting churches in your hometown?  Tell us about it below. Remontech no 47:34 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/036-self-building-your-own-energy-efficient-home/ http://www.remontech.com/036-self-building-your-own-energy-efficient-home/#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:51:38 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1568 http://www.remontech.com/036-self-building-your-own-energy-efficient-home/feed/ 9 This week's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast takes me back to my high-school years in Brazil when my dad and I built our own home with our own hands. Though this is not exactly what Ben Adam-Smith talks about on his outstanding House Planni... This week's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast takes me back to my high-school years in Brazil when my dad and I built our own home with our own hands. Though this is not exactly what Ben Adam-Smith talks about on his outstanding House Planning Help podcast, being in charge of building your house is definitely something that I can relate to. Ben's story is quite interesting.  A former radio presenter, he is not a construction professional but is in a quest to learn as much as possible to eventually be the project manager for the building of his own energy-efficient home.  In the House Planning Help podcast he shares with the audience his journey into the world of self-building.  I'm fascinated by his story and by his show. Press the orange "play" button above this post to listen to my interview with Ben Adam-Smith. Ben Adam-Smith Ben Adam-Smith is the owner of Regen Media, a UK production company that specialises in creating video and audio for the construction industry. He is also researching what homes we should be building in the 21st century and his personal goal is to build or renovate a property before he turns 40 in August 2016. Episode highlights: Why anyone would want to self build a home Does self building mean building the house yourself? How one would start the self build process What challenges can a self builder expect along the way? Why is the self build industry important? Why is energy efficiency going to become increasingly important in the future? What is Passivhaus (or passive house) Episode Links House Planning Help  International Passive House Association Regen Media iLightech, LED lighting distributor Who Killed the Electric Car? Ben Adam-Smith on Twitter Handyman Startup New Media Expo Are you a self-builder?  Have you built an eco-home? Share your thoughts below! Remontech no 42:33 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/the-burj-khalifa/ http://www.remontech.com/the-burj-khalifa/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2012 19:26:06 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1550 http://www.remontech.com/the-burj-khalifa/feed/ 5 I'm on a mission to feature the most amazing projects here on the Construction Industry Podcast. - After bringing you the Sydney Opera House, and the Panama Canal, today we will talk about the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai. I'm on a mission to feature the most amazing projects here on the Construction Industry Podcast. After bringing you the Sydney Opera House, and the Panama Canal, today we will talk about the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai. I'd like to start with this little trivia:  the Burj Khalifa is so tall that you can watch two sunsets on the same day. Standing at 829.8 m (2,722 ft), the Burj Khalifa is not only the tallest in the world, but the tallest structure of any kind.  The number of records that this project broke is staggering:  It is the building with most floors (163), has the fastest elevators in the world (64km/h or 40mph), the world highest nightclub, restaurant... The list goes on and on. When a project of this magnitude is envisioned, designed, and executed, it is obvious that challenges never before encountered will have to be dealt with.  As an example, the elevators had to be shaped like bullets in order to help with aerodynamics. George Efstathiou, FAIA, RIBA, Consulting Partner, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill My guest today is George Efstathiou , consulting parter in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM).  SOM was the firm responsible for the architecture, infrastructure, interior design, and the electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and structural engineering for the Burj Khalifa. George shared with me the story behind the concept of this project, the challenges faced during construction, and answered a number of questions from our listeners. Check out my interview with George Efstathiou by pressing the orange "play" button above this post. What do you think of the Burj Khalifa?  What are your thoughts on the future of large skyscrapers? Have you ever worked on such a unique project that it demanded you innovate on the spot? Leave a comment below, I'd love to know your thoughts. Burj Khalifa Photos  Episode Links Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill The Burj Khalifa Burj Khalifa on Wikipedia Remontech no 47:12 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/all-about-partnerships-in-the-construction-sector/ http://www.remontech.com/all-about-partnerships-in-the-construction-sector/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:56:18 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1529 http://www.remontech.com/all-about-partnerships-in-the-construction-sector/feed/ 2 My guest today is Aarni Heiskanen, who heads the aec-business blog.  One of Aarni's especialties is to consult with A/E/C firms that are into or considering getting into partnerships. - This is a topic I'm very interested in. My guest today is Aarni Heiskanen, who heads the aec-business blog.  One of Aarni's especialties is to consult with A/E/C firms that are into or considering getting into partnerships. This is a topic I'm very interested in.  Remontech was incorporated in 2004 as a partnership and it was great for me to learn his thoughts on what best practices are for this delicate issue.  As technology changes and the construction body of knowledge grows, companies tend to become more and more specialized.  As a result, partnerships become almost inevitable, especially in complex projects. Leave a comment below this post and tell us about your experiences in partnerships. Aarni Heiskanen is a management consultant and an entrepreneur. He graduated in architecture from the Helsinki University of Technology. His company, AE Partners, is a consultancy for companies and organizations in the AEC industry. Aarni helps his clients with strategy formulation, business model development, and service innovation projects. Aarni is also a partner at Thinking Business, a company that develops and sells project portfolio management software as a service. He has written books and articles for international publications. Aarni’s blog for AEC professionals is at aec-business.com. Topics covered: What benefits would a company get from partnering up with another company? What alternative forms of partnership are available? What are the potential problems in partnerships? How to partner up successfully? Could you mention some examples of partnerships in the AEC industry? Aarni also made available a pdf with the outline of the topics covered on the interview.  You can download it by clicking here.   Press the orange "PLAY" button on top of this post to listen to this podcast episode. Winners of the "Social Media in Action" book The winners of the awesome "Social Media in Action" book are also announced on today's episode.  They are: Nicole Griffin, one of the listeners who left a comment under episode 32 show notes Azeek, one of the listeners who left a review and rating in iTunes Again, there's still a chance to win the book mentioned last week, "Seventy Years of Strength," on the history of the demolition industry in the UK.  To win it, leave a comment under episode 33 show notes and/or a review and rating in iTunes. Episode Links Aarni's blog post on lean construction at http://aec-business.com/making-construction-efficient-again-with-lean-and-bim/  Book: Getting Partnering Right: How Market Leaders Are Creating Long-Term Competitive Advantage by Neil Rackham, Lawrence Friedman and Richard Ruff  Consulting Business Blog and Aarni's book: http://www.consulting-business.com/products/the-management-consulting-blueprint Outline of today's interview Remontech no 42:13 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/demolition-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/demolition-industry/#comments Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:07:35 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1520 http://www.remontech.com/demolition-industry/feed/ 5 Be honest. - If you're like me, you don't know much about the demolition industry.  In fact when I think of demolition, I picture a wrecking ball.  Oh, there's cool implosions too. - This episode of the Construction Industry Podcast really helped... Be honest. If you're like me, you don't know much about the demolition industry.  In fact when I think of demolition, I picture a wrecking ball.  Oh, there's cool implosions too. This episode of the Construction Industry Podcast really helped me understand the place that demolition has in the construction sector, and I couldn't think of a better guest to talk about this than Mark Anthony from DemolitionNews.com. Mark is the press officer of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) in the UK.  He is also the author of the book titled "Seventy Years of Strengths: The History of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors." I had a fascinating conversation about the history of the demolition industry (particularly in the UK) and the role it has played from the post-war era until today. Listen to the episode by pressing the "play" button on the top of this post. Win a free copy of "Seventy Years of Strengths" Mark is offering two free copies of his book to the Construction Industry Podcast community! You have two ways to win:  You can leave a comment below this post and/or leave the Construction Industry Podcast a review in iTunes. I will select a random winner from the comments below AND a winner from those who leave me a review in iTunes. Here’s a little video showing you how to leave an iTunes review(it’s by another podcaster, but it’s the same procedure). So, to increase your chances, you can leave a comment here and also a review in iTunes. I’ll reveal the winners on next week’s episode.  Good luck!  Listen to the episode by using the orange “PLAY” button above this post or on iTunes. Episode Links Builders Conference Live DemolitionNews Institute of Demolition Engineers Building Research Establishment UK Asset Construction restoration project Green Building Pro Reed Construction Data Canada Remontech no 47:06 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/social-media-in-action-for-the-construction-sector-with-amanda-walter/ http://www.remontech.com/social-media-in-action-for-the-construction-sector-with-amanda-walter/#comments Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:51:54 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1490 http://www.remontech.com/social-media-in-action-for-the-construction-sector-with-amanda-walter/feed/ 7 My friend Mark Johnson, who has been a guest on the Construction Industry Podcast a few times in the past, introduced me to Amanda Walter a few weeks ago.  Amanda is very active in the area of social media, especially for the A/E/C industry. My friend Mark Johnson, who has been a guest on the Construction Industry Podcast a few times in the past, introduced me to Amanda Walter a few weeks ago.  Amanda is very active in the area of social media, especially for the A/E/C industry.  She sent me a copy of her book "Social Media in Action: Comprehensive Guide for Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms." The book is co-authored by Holly Berkley. I have been reading the book and the content is fantastic. There are tons of self-acclaimed "social media gurus" out there cranking out books.  The difference with Amanda and Holly's book is that they back up their points with tons of research and case studies.  The case studies alone are worth the read.  They show in detail how companies in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction sector have successfully used social media to accomplish a large number of business goals. When you read it, I recommend you have a laptop or an iPad next to you; some of the things mentioned in the book can be implemented immediately. Also make sure you have a marker, you'll be highlighting lots of things. Amanda was a great guest and I really recommend you check her material out if you are in Architecture, Engineering, or Construction. Listen to the episode by using the orange "PLAY" button above this post or on iTunes. Win a free copy of "Social Media in Action" Amanda is offering two free copies of her awesome book to the Construction Industry Podcast community! You have two ways to win:  You can leave a comment below this post and/or leave the Construction Industry Podcast a review in iTunes. I will select a random winner from the comments below AND a winner from those who leave me a review in iTunes. Here's a little video showing you how to leave an iTunes review (it's by another podcaster, but it's the same procedure). So, to increase your chances, you can leave a comment here and also a review in iTunes. I'll reveal the winners on next week's episode.  Good luck! Listen to the episode by using the orange "PLAY" button above this post or on iTunes. Episode Links Social Media in Action Amazon.com Listing SWA Group Main Website SWA Group Facebook Page Amanda Walter's Blog, waltercomms Future Power Generation The Honest Buildings Network Entasia Studio demo reel Remontech no 47:51 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/sustainable-architecture-renewable-energy/ http://www.remontech.com/sustainable-architecture-renewable-energy/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:13:13 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1430 http://www.remontech.com/sustainable-architecture-renewable-energy/feed/ 2 Sustainability seems to be the word of the day.  I'd been meaning to talk about the topic for a while now but had been waiting for the right guest to bring on the show.  Recently I came across David Scott, from CONTENT, Sustainability seems to be the word of the day.  I'd been meaning to talk about the topic for a while now but had been waiting for the right guest to bring on the show.  Recently I came across David Scott, from CONTENT, and he seemed to be the perfect guy to introduce this topic to me and my audience.  David works closely with firms that take pride in working sustainability and renewable energy into their designs and projects, and he is truly passionate about the topic. I had a fascinating conversation with David about this topic and at times we got so taken by it that we seemed to go off on philosophical tangents. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that sustainability is indeed a philosophy. No conversation about it could honestly stay away from references to personal feelings, subjective insights, and some of the ultimate questions that have always troubled the human mind. Take a listen and leave a comment below - I would absolutely love your input! Sustainable Architecture and Renewable Energy with David Scott from CONTENT David Scott is Principal of CONTENT, a public relations firm that positions their clients as thought leaders in the media, with an emphasis on architecture, development and energy. On Twitter @TweetingContent, they cultivate exposure for their clients in such outlets as METROPOLIS, Forbes, The New York Times, PBS, Archinect, Curbed and many others. His short documentary THE LANDFILL appeared at Sundance 2012, a collaboration with URBANIZED director Gary Hustwit, who explores the design of world cities. THE LANDFILL looks at the new energy economy, particularly around the conversion of trash into energy. David spoke with me from his office in Colorado.  Press the orange "PLAY" button above this post listen to the episode. 2012 Be2Awards update: WE WON! I'm so proud to say that the Construction Industry Podcast is the winner of the 2012 Be2Award for Best Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Social Media Blog! Your support and vote really made it possible, and it is thrilling for me to see the Construction Industry Podcast receiving recognition and a prestigious award such as this. Thank you SO MUCH for being a part of the Construction Industry Podcast community and for supporting myself and Remontech. Click here for more information on the Be2Awards and make sure you check out all nominations: these are the best of the best when it comes to social media and the construction sector. Episode Links CONTENT Public Relations Pareto Energy Wind Turbines by Urban Green Energy Voltaic Solaire Be2Awards Wordpress Expert, YourWebsiteEngineer BackupBuddy, Wordpress backup solution Entrepreneur On Fire: New daily podcast on entrepreneurship Lever Court Project by SnowArchitects in Liverpool   Remontech no 1:00:11 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/mobile-technology-in-the-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/mobile-technology-in-the-construction-industry/#comments Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:40:29 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1403 http://www.remontech.com/mobile-technology-in-the-construction-industry/feed/ 0 It's the 30th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast!  Thank you so much for listening to the show for these 12 months.  I'm very grateful for your support and encouragement during this time and it's really a privilege to have you as a subscriber, It's the 30th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast!  Thank you so much for listening to the show for these 12 months.  I'm very grateful for your support and encouragement during this time and it's really a privilege to have you as a subscriber, listener, and contact. Mobile Technologies On today's episode I spoke with Mr. Michael Oster, from McCarthy Building Companies. He is in charge of the Information Technology group there.  In many ways, McCarthy is leading the way when it comes to mobile adoption in our industry. He shared with me how McCarthy is using mobile in their projects and how you and I can start implementing mobile technology in our projects. To listen to this episode, click the orange "PLAY" button on top of this post. Be2Awards If you haven't voted yet, I was nominated for a Be2Award as the best AEC Social Media Blog.  There are two other nominees, so if you'd like to vote for the Construction Industry Podcast, you can visit http://www.remontech.com/2012award and follow the instructions there. Episode Links McCarthy Building Companies BIM 360 Field for iPad Vela: Used for issue tracking, punch lists, safety inspections, quality verifications, commissioning, and BIM in the field Bluebeam Revu: Used for PDF Drawings in the field. Evernote: note taking app Sketchbookx: blank sketch pads plus integration with camera GoodReader: Another PDF review package OneNote: Microsoft note-taking app OSHA Mobile: Great reference tool for safety coordinators or others wanting to ensure things are being done safely Be2Awards Voting Page: Vote for us! How are YOU using mobile in construction?  Leave your answer below! Remontech no 31:58 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/what-to-do-with-construction-waste/ http://www.remontech.com/what-to-do-with-construction-waste/#comments Sat, 15 Sep 2012 18:35:10 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1382 http://www.remontech.com/what-to-do-with-construction-waste/feed/ 0 On this episode of the construction industry podcast I talk with the Construction Informer, Duane Craig, on some interesting ideas on what to do with construction waste.  Duane shared with me a few articles he has come across that shed some light and p... On this episode of the construction industry podcast I talk with the Construction Informer, Duane Craig, on some interesting ideas on what to do with construction waste.  Duane shared with me a few articles he has come across that shed some light and put into perspective the problem that construction waste represents. To listen to this episode, click the orange "Play" button on top of this post. Serra Azul Project On this episode I also mention my latest trip to Brazil, where I supervised and oversaw the installation of a construction camera system for the Serra Azul project for MMX.  Here's a link to the project's page (in Portugese). Unfortunately I cannot share the link to the live cameras, but believe me, it's a beautiful project. New Media Expo I'm so excited to share with you that I will be speaking at the next New Media Expo (formerly known as BlogWord) in Las Vegas this January.  I was one of the few selected to conduct one of the sessions during this prestigious conference dedicated to bloggers, podcasters, and creators of Web TV content.  My session will be on the benefits of being the first to podcast within your niche, and I look forward to sharing with the audience my experience at the helm of the Construction Industry Podcast.  As we approach the conference, I'll share with you my thoughts and how I'm preparing for my talk. We're Nominated for a Be2award! The Construction Industry Podcast was nominated for a Be2Award for the "Best AEC Social Media Blog" category.  I'm really grateful for the nomination and it is an honour to stand next to the other three nominees.  They are Pauley Creative Blog, Heliflix Blog, Su Butcher's Justpractising.com.  If you you enjoy our show/blog and would like to vote for us, you can click here. I appreciate your vote, and please take the time to visit the other contenders, they are doing a great job with their blogs. Duane Craig, the Construction Informer Duane Craig is a widely-published writer in print and online. He also writes promotional copy and press releases for businesses and public relations firms. His articles on agriculture, construction, finance, food, business, exporting and technology have been published in the Washington Post, BYTE, Tech Target, American Food and Ag Exporter, Deli Business and many online venues. His blogs include Construction Informer and Construction Cloud Computing. Duane spoke with me from his office in Texas.  Enjoy! To listen to this episode, click the orange "Play" button on top of this post. Episode Links Recycled Haitian Concrete Can Be Safe, Strong and Less Expensive Waste Management and Recycling for Construction’s Rubble Hi-C40 Mini Crusher for Site Recycling Construction Waste Recycling Web Site 4 Steps to Ensuring a Successful Construction Waste Recycling Program Construction Informer Construction Cloud Computing Projeto Serra Azul New Media Expo, Las Vegas 2013 The 2012 Be2Awards Again, I would love your feedback.  Please leave a comment below and let's talk! Cesar Abeid Remontech no 36:16 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/slideshare-for-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/slideshare-for-construction-industry/#comments Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:18:14 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1372 http://www.remontech.com/slideshare-for-construction-industry/feed/ 0 In today's episode I talk once again with Mark Johnson, FAIA.  Mark shared with me his experience and expertise in leveraging SlideShare.net. - SlideShare.net is to power point presentations what YouTube is to home videos. In today's episode I talk once again with Mark Johnson, FAIA.  Mark shared with me his experience and expertise in leveraging SlideShare.net. SlideShare.net is to power point presentations what YouTube is to home videos.  It is a free service that allows you to share your presentations on the web with a very targeted, large B2B audience. Mark told me his experience and successes with SlideShare.  Here's a small summary of some of the questions I asked him: Episode Blurb (to listen to the entire interview, click the orange "play" button on top of this post) Cesar: Mark, I read about SlideShare.net recently being purchased by LinkedIn. We all know about LinkedIn for professional networking and online resumes, important to the Construction Industry, but why is SlideShare now so hot? Mark: Cesar, SlideShare is similar to YouTube, the world's largest repository for online videos. Only SlideShare is the world's largest repository for presentations posted online. These presentations are created mostly by professionals, for a professional audience. They're very visual, a nice contrast to all the words on LinkedIn. A "picture is worth a thousand words" as the saying goes. I think that is key to SlideShare's popularity and why they get 60 million visitors a month to their site. Cesar: How can using using SlideShare benefit those of us in the Construction Industry? Mark: Marketing efforts in Design and Construction are largely B2B. Since SlideShare's users are primarily professionals, it's a great way to compliment a marketing campaign to reach a professional audience. 'Business Owners', the decision makers, are the largest group of SlideShare users. Presentations on SlideShare can be easily tagged for search optimization. I know a consulting firm that goes to SlideShare all the time whenever they want to research a topic. Presentations are more timely than books and often they include content that was presented to an internal business audience, providing insights into that particular business. Cesar: So how can this relate specifically to our industry? Mark: Here are some examples I can imagine based on my success with SlideShare. I just posted a presentation about Poggenpohl, a manufacturer of high-end kitchen cabinetry. It details their success at the recent Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in using social media to launch a new product line, the ARTESIO KITCHEN. They actually worked with a famous German architect on the product design. This presentation has been viewed over 1,000 times in two days. They have also embedded it in their company blog. It's driving traffic to Poggenpohl's website and sharing their new product line (link below). Technology is a very popular topic on SlideShare's site. I created a presentation with my friend Eric Schimelpfenig, called iPad+Apps for Designers. Many of the apps we featured are applicable to the construction process, not just design. That presentation went 'niche viral' and has been viewed over 21,000 times (link below). I'll be doing a presentation on design trends in two weeks at the Southeast Builders' Conference (SEBC) in Orlando in two weeks. It's a group panel and we hope for 100 attendees. I decided to put my content on SlideShare to see what would happen. The presentation has been viewed online over 1,000 times in two weeks, reaching over 10 times as many people as we expect to reach at the live venue (link below). Cesar: These are good examples for building products and construction industry technology and design trends. Do you think sharing construction projects and services would be popular using SlideShare as an online platform? Mark: I think the possibilities are endless. Yet I would make some recommendations: Try to include a hot topic in the presentation. This is similar to large construction firms like Turner that offer extensive online education programs for their employees and others. Remontech no 39:52 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/branding-for-the-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/branding-for-the-construction-industry/#comments Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:28:13 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1329 http://www.remontech.com/branding-for-the-construction-industry/feed/ 1 In today's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast we will talk about a topic that is really exciting to me - branding for the construction industry. - You probably have been hearing the word "brand" more often now than in the past. In today's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast we will talk about a topic that is really exciting to me - branding for the construction industry. You probably have been hearing the word "brand" more often now than in the past. With the advent of the internet and social media, businesses and people can't help but leave an electronic trail, or as I call it, an "e-trail" every time we interact with other businesses and people. Also, the experience that people have when interacting with us or with our businesses is more easily shared today with other potential customers and clients. That is why branding is such a hot topic right now. It can literally make or break a business, or when it comes to personal branding, it can really propel an individual to getting his or her dream job. My guest today is Jean-François Major, a partner at Domicile Experts, where he has been working as a strategist and copywriter for over 8 years. Listen to today's episode by subscribing to us on iTunes or by clicking the orange "play" button on top of this article. In today's show we talked about the following topics: What’s the difference between a brand and a logo? When we hear about “branding”, we often think of multi-million dollar companies like Coca-Cola and Nike. How does it apply to smaller businesses? How important is branding for construction businesses? When should a company start thinking about working on its brand? How should they go about it? If you have multiple products, or are speaking to very different audiences, should you have separate brands for each? Should a company hire an outside designer, or is this something that can be done internally? What do most construction businesses get wrong when it comes to branding? Domicile Experts provides marketing insight and communication tools to help the home building and improvement industry connect with customers through the most profitable channels. The agency's head office is in Montreal, with locations in Toronto and Seattle. Jean-François guides new projects by writing marketing plans, hosting marketing workshops and supporting graphic design through moving copy. He has written multiple articles on the topics of branding and construction marketing for B&C Canada and Construction Today magazines. He also acts as the agency's voice on Twitter and manages the agency blog. Episode Links Domicile Experts Website Article on B&C Canada Magazine: Why Should Construction Companies Care About Branding? Inside Apple's Secret Packaging Room Domicile Experts on Twitter Jean spoke with me from his office in Montreal. Enjoy! Listen to today's episode by subscribing to us on iTunes or by clicking the orange "play" button on top of this article. Remontech no 59:51 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/strategies-for-public-sector-construction-owners/ http://www.remontech.com/strategies-for-public-sector-construction-owners/#comments Fri, 13 Jul 2012 05:45:54 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1315 http://www.remontech.com/strategies-for-public-sector-construction-owners/feed/ 0 On this 26th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke with Casey Sledge of Sledge Engineering.  He shared his experience in helping construction owners in the public sector in delivering projects they're proud of. - On this 26th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke with Casey Sledge of Sledge Engineering.  He shared his experience in helping construction owners in the public sector in delivering projects they're proud of. Take a listen by pressing the orange "play" button above . Winner of the "Construction Management Strategies" book As promised on episode 24, Dr. Milan Radosavljevic chose one lucky listener to win a copy of his brand new book, "Construction Management Strategies."  Michael Cholden-Brown left a comment on the show notes for that episode and was chosen to be the lucky winner.  Congratulations! Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Thank you for the reviews! Again, thank you for leaving some written reviews for the Construction Industry Podcast in iTunes.  It really means the world to me that you take the time to give me a review.  This helps us climb the ranks in iTunes and as a result the show is found more easily by other listeners.  THANK YOU! Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Featured Segment: Interview with Casey Sledge For over 18 years, CEO Casey Sledge has successfully worked for cities and schools. He was a vested city employee before starting his company, Sledge Engineering, in 2004. His firm provides consulting and project management services to both cities and schools on major capital projects as well as for routine operations. It has helped produce successful and cost effective city and school projects that citizens are proud to call their own, on budget, and on time. He truly understands the value of the City-ISD relationship and the difficulties in actually working together effectively. Most recently he was a speaker at the 2011 annual conferences for both TML and TASB (Texas Association of School Boards) on his process for improving capital projects. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, Sledge Engineering was selected for The Aggie 100. This prestigious award identifies, recognizes and celebrates the 100 fastest growing businesses in the world owned and led by graduates of Texas A&M. Mr. Sledge is married and the father of four children. The family spends time together enjoying water sports.  Mr. Sledge has been a volunteer youth sports coach for many years. Casey spoke with me from his home in Texas. Enjoy! Press the orange "Play" button at the top of this post to listen to the interview. Episode Links Sledge Engineering Center for Public Construction (site not active as of July 12th, 2012) Subscribe To The Construction Industry Podcast: Remontech no 34:44 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/how-to-choose-the-right-construction-contract-or-delivery-method/ http://www.remontech.com/how-to-choose-the-right-construction-contract-or-delivery-method/#comments Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:03:44 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1221 http://www.remontech.com/how-to-choose-the-right-construction-contract-or-delivery-method/feed/ 1 After a "brief" hiatus, I bring you a new episode of the Construction Industry Podcast.  Today I speak with Debra Inwald, from Works-in-Progress Associates, on the topic of best practices in choosing the right construction contract or delivery method f... After a "brief" hiatus, I bring you a new episode of the Construction Industry Podcast.  Today I speak with Debra Inwald, from Works-in-Progress Associates, on the topic of best practices in choosing the right construction contract or delivery method for your construction project. Take a listen by pressing the orange "play" button above . Thank you for the reviews! Thank you for leaving some written reviews for the Construction Industry Podcast in iTunes.  It really means the world to me that you take the time to give me a review.  This helps us climb the ranks in iTunes and as a result the show is found more easily by other listeners.  THANK YOU! Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Green Home Live Feed We are currently monitoring and recording the construction of a green home here in London, Ontario, Canada. This is a great project that is being built with recycled materials, high performance windows, water conserving plumbing, and a bunch of other "green" features.  The greatest aspect is that labour and materials are being donated by members of the London Home Builders Association, and the proceeds from the sale of this home will be used to build a garden in honour of cancer survivors.  This is an issue close to my heart, since my father is a cancer survivor and my sister-in-law passed away from breast cancer a few years ago.  We here at Remontech are helping by providing the live feed and the time-lapse recording, so this project will be forever documented.  You can check it out by clicking here. Beverly Willis on Buildipedia.com A few episodes back I talked to Coty Fournier on the topic of women in construction. This is probably one of my most popular episodes. After sharing it with Kristin Dispenza from Buildipedia.com - who was a guest on the podcast back on episode 14, she shared with me an excellent article that they ran on Buildipedia. Buildipedia interviewed Beverly Willis, from the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Ms. Willis started this foundation after being a woman in construction for 50 years. It's a great interview, and I recommend you check it out. Highlights of the BWAF's work include the annual lecture series "Women of Architecture," in partnership with the National Building Museum during Womenʼs History Month; and the film "A Girl Is a Fellow Here: 100 Women Architects in the Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright," which premiered at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2009. Click here for the article. Featured Segment: Interview with Debra Inwald from Works-in-Progress Associates Debra Inwald began her career as an architect in nationally known architectural firms and then was a Project Manager in the courthouse unit for the City of New York at the DDC. Taking what she learned from her civic work, she chose to bring her construction management experience directly to institutions and agencies. She found that they work hard to obtain the necessary funding and do not always have the in-house expertise to manage the projects. However, as Ms. Inwald experienced firsthand by being a member of that team, there was great room for improvement and expert decisions to be had on judiciously spending the granted funds. Ms. Inwald founded WPA, with a commitment as the client’s representative to being the eyes and ears to their clients; to protect and maintain a cost effect plan and control spending, schedule and quality of work delivered that meet with their programmatic needs. WPA maintains impartiality and unwavering commitment to the project’s success. Debra spoke with me from her office in Manhattan. Enjoy! Press the orange "Play" button at the top of this post to listen to the interview. Episode Links Construction Industry Podcast on iTunes London Home Builders Association Green Home Live Feed Bevery Willis on Buildipedia.com Works-in-Progress Associates Website Remontech no 28:06 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/new-construction-management-strategies/ http://www.remontech.com/new-construction-management-strategies/#comments Thu, 31 May 2012 11:35:38 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1193 http://www.remontech.com/new-construction-management-strategies/feed/ 4 On this week's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I talk with Dr. Milan Radosavljevic from the University or Reading. - Dr. Radosavljevic talks about his experience in the Construction Industry and also about his brand new book called Constr... On this week's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I talk with Dr. Milan Radosavljevic from the University or Reading. Dr. Radosavljevic talks about his experience in the Construction Industry and also about his brand new book called Construction Management Strategies. Take a listen by pressing the orange "play" button above and see how you can win a free copy of this great new book on construction management.   Tech Segment: What's going on with RIM and Blackberry? On the tech tip, I spoke with my friend Tim Arthur from the Talking Tech Show podcast. Since many of us in the construction sector use Blackberrys, I spoke with Tim about the difficult situation in which RIM is right now as it continues to lose market share and have its stock price drop. Tim had great insights on the mobile market and how Blackberry fits in it. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Feature Segment Transcription If you’d rather read the featured segment of this episode, click “show” for a complete transcription:[spoiler]Cesar: Good morning, Milan. How are you? Milan: Good morning. I’m fine. How are you, Cesar? Cesar: I’m good. I guess it’s not morning there for you, is it? Milan: Well, it’s 10 past 1:00 so it’s not morning but I’m kind of adjusting to your time here. There you go. Cesar: Thank you. I appreciate it. Now, today we’re going to talk about your new book called Construction Management Strategies: A Theory of Construction Management. But before we get into that, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you come from in the industry? Milan: Yes. I mean looking back on – I mean I’m originally from the Continental Europe. I come from a small 2 million country, Slovenia, which used to be part of the former Yugoslavia. Also graduating in civil engineering, I worked in the offsite construction company, precast concrete manufacturing where basically what we were doing is we were building factories and schools and various different other industry facilities offsite and then installing them on the construction site and other sites. Then that was the first time where I got the experience of something that in the book we call total construction services and then I was kind of lucky enough to get a PhD opportunity at University of Dundee in Scotland where I’ve finished under the supervision of Malcolm Horner. I worked there for another three years and after that, I got another marvelous opportunity, a job here at the University of Reading in England which is about half an hour from London and here I am now. So experience in offsite construction, I would say, then having an insight into the UK construction industry. I have mentioned that during that time when I was in Scotland, I was one of the managers for the demonstration projects in Scotland where basically what we were doing is we were selecting the best projects and then demonstrating them to the wider industry by writing case histories, reviewing projects, assessing them whether they’re of good enough standard to be called demonstration projects and so on. So that’s my background very briefly. Cesar: Thank you. So having come from that background, where does the idea for the book Construction Management Strategies come from? Milan: Yeah, that’s another interesting story, I would say, because I had for quite many years – looking at how construction is done around the world and actually seeing a lot of similarities particularly in terms of the fragmentation but then on the other hand, having the experience and witnessing what the companies – some of the companies particularly in the Central Europe, I would say Germany, Austria, et cetera and Far East and Japan are doing, I actually realized that there is a better way of approaching construction. For some time, I had the idea of construction 2.0 along with the lines of web 2.0, kind of let’s reset it and let’s start it afresh. Remontech no 45:21 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/construction-owners-association-of-america/ http://www.remontech.com/construction-owners-association-of-america/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 05:01:17 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1167 http://www.remontech.com/construction-owners-association-of-america/feed/ 0 I'm very excited to showcase the Construction Owners Association of America on this week's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast. - I recently attended the 2012 Spring Conference of COAA in Dallas, Texas.  This was a great experience for me. I'm very excited to showcase the Construction Owners Association of America on this week's episode of the Construction Industry Podcast. I recently attended the 2012 Spring Conference of COAA in Dallas, Texas.  This was a great experience for me. Listen to today's episode for my take on COAA in general and their conference. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Feature Segment: Interview with Kevin Lewis, Vice President of COAA Kevin Lewis sat down with me during COAA's 2012 spring conference and gave me a great overview of the association, its mission, and how it helps construction owners.  We also talked about the unique challenges that construction owners face and the benefits of COAA membership. Mr. Lewis is also the chairman of COAA's membership committee. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Tech Tip: eznetpay On the tech tip, I spoke with David Gion from eznetpay.  David shared how his company is approaching payment submittals and processing with transparency and efficiency. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Episode Links Construction Owners Association of America (COAA) eznetpay Subscribe To The Construction Industry Podcast: Remontech no 38:54 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/market-leadership-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/market-leadership-construction-industry/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 05:01:13 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1149 http://www.remontech.com/market-leadership-construction-industry/feed/ 3 Today's episode is dedicated to those in the construction industry who own their business. - I spoke with Albert Hathazi, a marketing expert, about his 5 steps on becoming a market leader in your community.  These apply to any industry, Today's episode is dedicated to those in the construction industry who own their business. I spoke with Albert Hathazi, a marketing expert, about his 5 steps on becoming a market leader in your community.  These apply to any industry, and you would ... Remontech no 54:07 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/women-in-construction-challenges-and-opportunities/ http://www.remontech.com/women-in-construction-challenges-and-opportunities/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 02:57:05 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1128 http://www.remontech.com/women-in-construction-challenges-and-opportunities/feed/ 7 On this 21st episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, I spoke with Coty Fournier, on the topic of the challenges and opportunities that women face in the construction industry. - Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. - On this 21st episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, I spoke with Coty Fournier, on the topic of the challenges and opportunities that women face in the construction industry. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Coty shared with me how she got started in the sector and her amazingly successful journey through our male-dominated construction industry. If you are a woman, I guarantee you will be inspired by this interview. As a man, my conversation with her made me more aware of the challenges that women face in construction and more appreciative of the unique value that they can bring. Coty Fournier Bio Coty began her distinctive construction management career as a field engineer with Turner Construction Company in 1991, where she excelled in several project superintendence, cost projection, scheduling and preconstruction management roles, and joined their national training team at famed Turner Camp by age 27. She was then tapped to serve as national manager of construction administration for Blockbuster Entertainment, during the height of their growth and acquisition by Viacom, leading construction contract approval and audited cost control for 350+ new store openings per year across North America. Coty was later recruited by Miller Construction Company – a prestigious, privately held design-build and general contracting firm located in South Florida – to establish penetration into new markets and lead revenue generation as senior vice president of business development, where she ultimately purchased a minority stock position at the firm while serving on their board of directors. She also went on to co-found a consulting firm that provided program management and owner’s representation services for hospital expansion and renovation projects, and similar services for related healthcare providers across Florida; their clients included the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Jupiter Medical Center, Broward Health and Hyatt’s ACLF division. She is currently the co-founder and chairman of Jobsite123.com and one of the U.S. commercial construction industry’s most prominent visionaries, providing frequent addresses for chapters of the ABC, AGC, NAWIC, ASPE and other national industry organizations, and guest lectures to 100’s of aspiring construction professionals at the top U.S. construction management schools every year. Coty’s distinctive career has garnered her numerous industry awards and recognition, such as The Business Journal’s Business Woman of the Year, Fast Track Magazine’s Top 40 under 40, and The Movers & Shakers Award. Fournier is a NAWIC scholarship recipient and a summa cum laude graduate of Michigan State University with a B.S. in Building Construction Management. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode. Episode Transcription If you’d rather read the featured segment of this episode, click “show” for a complete transcription:[spoiler]Cesar Abeid: Good morning, Coty. How are you? Coty Fournier: Good morning, Cesar. I’m doing very well. And yourself? Cesar Abeid: Oh, I’m doing great. I’m sorry about my voice. I’m a little under the weather. So I sound like I have a radio voice when I really don’t. [Laughter] Coty Fournier: Yes, it’s very distinguished. Cesar Abeid: So I called you down in Florida hoping that you would have this southern accent and it turns out you’re Canadian. Coty Fournier: It turns out I am Canadian. That is correct. Cesar Abeid: What’s up with that? Coty Fournier: But, you know, there’s a lot of Canadians living in South Florida so I’m in good company. Cesar Abeid: I know and there’s a lot of – you see here in the summary. You see a lot of Florida plates and I’m sure there are a lot of Ontario plates down there in the winter. Coty Fournier: Right. Cesar Abeid: It’s the great thing about North America, right? You don’t have to go very far. Coty Fournier: That’s right. Remontech no 1:00:26 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/construction-online-collaboration/ http://www.remontech.com/construction-online-collaboration/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:12:36 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1102 http://www.remontech.com/construction-online-collaboration/feed/ 9 Introduction Have you heard the term "online collaboration?"  Have you wondered how you can get started as a construction professional without spending a lot of money and resources? - To tell us all about online collaboration for construction projects, Introduction Have you heard the term "online collaboration?"  Have you wondered how you can get started as a construction professional without spending a lot of money and resources? To tell us all about online collaboration for construction project... Remontech no 45:00 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/019-construction-web-cameras-why-youre-doing-it-wrong/ http://www.remontech.com/019-construction-web-cameras-why-youre-doing-it-wrong/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:09:29 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1084 http://www.remontech.com/019-construction-web-cameras-why-youre-doing-it-wrong/feed/ 1 Episode Links Construction Industry Podcast Episode 18 Craig Adam's Proschedule's website Presentation on remote construction monitoring on SlideShare Example of construction monitoring live feed Episode Links Construction Industry Podcast Episode 18 Craig Adam's Proschedule's website Presentation on remote construction monitoring on SlideShare Example of construction monitoring live feed Example of construction monitoring "smart" time-lapse recording PHOTO-NET Dynamic Scheduling Demo Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Hello everybody, my name is Cesar Abeid and this is the Construction Industry Podcast, and this is the podcast dedicated to helping you as you navigate the waters of the construction industry.  Whether you're looking to start your career, looking to improve your professional knowledge, or if you are a construction project or business owner, this show is for you. Today I will talk about why you are not using your construction camera to its full potential, and if you do not have a construction web camera, I will teach you how they can be an excellent tool in project management.  stay tuned! My friends, let me tell you, it has been a crazy busy week for us here at Remontech.  I have seen a great response to the last episode of the Construction Industry Podcast.  If you haven't listened to it, I recommend you check it out.  I interviewed Mr. Jorge de la Guardia, engineer in charge of the expansion project of the Panama Canal.  I asked him some questions about the history of the construction of the canal and the current expansion project. The feedback I'm getting has been awesome.  I think it's really cool because I really had a lot of fun doing that episode, and I guess it shows, because I think you can pick up on my excitement as you listen to the interview. One thing that I've struggled in the past was to choose a focus for the construction industry podcast.  As you know very well, the construction sector is very diverse.  We can talk about things such as the economic aspects of public-private partnership projects, all the way down to how to lace up your safety boots, and it would all be "construction topics."  The problem is, if I start talking only about this or that aspect or area of the construction industry, I will excite some of you and put 90% of the rest of my audience to sleep.  It's hard. I'm not alone though… Every website, magazine, podcast, even TV shows, who set out to appeal to construction people struggle with choosing a niche.  The problem is, once you choose a segment and focus on it, you alienate a large part of an audience that considers themselves to be in the construction sector. As a result of this, I think we are an industry in search of a "glue" or a voice that keeps us together. So what does make us one?  What unites the construction industry? After the response I had from last weeks episode, I started to think that what real glue that creates unity in construction is our passion for building things.  It's that passion for being a part of a project that changes the landscape forever.  It's that pride that we get from driving around town and pointing to bridges, buildings, factories, and telling our family that we helped build them. Whether you are a carpenter or a Ph.D. in concrete technology you can relate to this. So my promise to you is that regardless of the topic we will cover here in this podcast, I will always try to bring it home to our passion for building and changing the landscape. Now, last week I mentioned we have a "voice mail" feature button on our website now.  You can go to constructionindustrypodcast.com and click on the tab on the right end of the page that says "Send Voicemail" then just speak into your computer's microphone to leave me a message.  Think about this: besides giving me some feedback, you can promote yourself or your business, so don't forget to tell me your name and the name of your company when you do leave a message. So listen to the episode to hear our first voice mail message from my australian buddy and listener Craig Adams. Remontech no 38:31 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/panama-canal-construction-history-expansion-project/ http://www.remontech.com/panama-canal-construction-history-expansion-project/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:49:37 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1066 http://www.remontech.com/panama-canal-construction-history-expansion-project/feed/ 1 Hello Construction Industry Podcast community! - For the 18th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke with Mr. Jorge de la Guardia, the Contracting Officer for the Design Build contract for the construction of the new set of Locks which i... Hello Construction Industry Podcast community! For the 18th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke with Mr. Jorge de la Guardia, the Contracting Officer for the Design Build contract for the construction of the new set of Locks which is the largest contract in the Expansion Program of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, one of the 7 wonders of the modern world.  It symbolizes a triumph in Engineering, and a tremendous step in setting the stage for the incredible worldwide trade that we see today. Mr. de la Guardia shared with me the history of the building of the Panama Canal and the extreme challenges that it represented at the time. He also made the case for the current expansion project that is now taking place there in order to increase traffic capacity in this growing global economy. If you want an awesome inside view of the workings of the Panama Canal, click the orange "play" button above to listen to this episode. Again, I'd like to thank you for listening to the show. I would love your feedback. Please use the contact us link at the menu on top of the page or use the "Send Voicemail" tab on the right edge of the site. Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Construction Industry Podcast on the Libsyn blog Google Earth Images of the Panama Canal Panama Canal on Wikipedia Panamax Ship Size Presentation on Innovations in Navigation Lock Design by Prof. Philippe Rigo University of Liege, Belgium Panama Canal Website Panama Canal Expansion Camera Feeds Panama City: Miraflores Locks Visitor Center on TripAdvisor.com Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Or you can check out the entire text transcription of the discussion by clicking here:[spoiler]Cesar: Good morning, Jorge. How are you? Jorge: Fine. Thank you, Cesar. Cesar: I was just talking to you before we started the recording that I used to be able to speak Spanish and if you don’t use it, you lose it. But I think it’s a good thing for the audience. I think mostly the people who are listening to this show speak English anyway so it’s not … Jorge: Yes. OK. Cesar: Anyway, so we’re here today to talk a little bit about the Panama Canal and I think this is the – it’s such a landmark, right? I think it was named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and I think pretty much the whole world knows of it and what it is. But I was wondering if you could give us a brief history of how the canal came to be. Jorge: Well, the canal really is an answer to something that was being done – first, it was being done by the Spaniards when – the days of the colony. They used to use the Isthmus of Panama and practically where the existing route of the canal today to – they have what we call the Camino de Cruces which is the route or the camino they at that time for mules, et cetera, to pass the gold and silver that came from South America and route to Europe. And then it’s because of the geographic location that we have and the narrowness of the Isthmus which made it ideal to cross to the – from the Pacific to the Atlantic and vice versa. So eventually, it migrated from the mules and everything into the railroad and we have the first railroad that joined the Pacific and the Atlantic here in the Americas in 1855 and then this railroad eventually converted itself into the canal. It was going to be – it was in fact a process of evolution that the area, the location and everything created the place to be able to make it – to build the canal. Then the French started with the idea of building a sea level canal because de Lesseps who was the architect or the engineer that made the Suez Canal made the sea level canal and that’s what he knew. So he tried then he sailed and then they tried again later on with locks but at that time, Remontech no 33:18 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/the-project-management-institute-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/the-project-management-institute-construction-industry/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:37:03 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1034 http://www.remontech.com/the-project-management-institute-construction-industry/feed/ 6 On this 17th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I'll introduce to you the Project Management Institute and the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. - As you may know, I'm a member of the PMI and also have the PMP certification. On this 17th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I'll introduce to you the Project Management Institute and the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. As you may know, I'm a member of the PMI and also have the PMP certificatio... Remontech no 47:50 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/construction-bonds-for-dummies/ http://www.remontech.com/construction-bonds-for-dummies/#comments Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:32:58 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=1017 http://www.remontech.com/construction-bonds-for-dummies/feed/ 1 On this 16th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast we bring you the topic of bonds in construction. - In it I interviewed Luann Cole of SIA Group.  I learned quite a lot from talking to her and if you always had questions about bonds and how th... On this 16th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast we bring you the topic of bonds in construction. In it I interviewed Luann Cole of SIA Group.  I learned quite a lot from talking to her and if you always had questions about bonds and how th... Remontech no 29:10 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/015-construction-industry-podcast-pinterest-for-the-construction-sector/ http://www.remontech.com/015-construction-industry-podcast-pinterest-for-the-construction-sector/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:21:44 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=995 http://www.remontech.com/015-construction-industry-podcast-pinterest-for-the-construction-sector/feed/ 0 Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform right now.  It went quickly from being a new site to an internet phenomenon.  It is now the 7th most visited social media site. - As it turns out, Pinterest is a great fit for applications within ... Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform right now.  It went quickly from being a new site to an internet phenomenon.  It is now the 7th most visited social media site. As it turns out, Pinterest is a great fit for applications within the construction sector. For this episode on Pinterest, I brought back to the podcast Mark Johnson FAIA.  If you remember, he was a member on our panel on blogging a few episodes ago. Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Pinterest Website Inhabitat Website Inhabitat on Pinterest Mark's Pinterest board on the Formica Group Highlights from the International Builder Show - 2012 Article on Pinterest on the Entrepreneur website Mark Johnson FAIA's website Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Or you can check out the entire text transcription of the discussion by clicking here: [spoiler]Cesar: Hello Mark. How are you? Mark: I’m doing great today Cesar, how about yourself? Cesar: I’m doing great. We’re having a little problem there with our Skype connection, but I think we’ve got it all figured out now. So we can start talking about Pinterest. What do you say? Mark: That sounds great and it’s an exciting topic, thanks for having me on your show. Cesar: No problem. I follow your tweets a lot. You are very active in the social media realm. Especially in the construction area. You’re a bit of a pioneer that way and I think you’re doing a great job there. So every time something new that comes around. I know that I was going to ask you, you’re going to know something about it. More than I do. Mark: Ha-ha. Well thank you. Cesar: Mark I was watching the Oscars last night and I’d love to say that my wife made me do it but actually it was my choice. And there was a quote from a movie. And I thought it was really interesting. It’s from a movie called Margin Call. I haven’t seen it. I had to look it up. But the character says there are three ways to make a living in this business the first is smarter or cheat. And I thought it was brilliant. And a construction site for 30 days, but I don’t know about you I don’t really like to be competing on the lowest price all the time. I don’t think it’s a very good approach to doing business I think eventually the construction sector is going to migrate out of this hopefully. But when we’re talking about being first, being smarter or cheating. Of course we’re not going to cheat. So we have to be first or be smarter. And I think Pinterest. If you’re on the internet at all you’ve probably heard a lot of buzz around this. And so much so that I had to go and join and see what it was about. So since it’s new I think it’s a good thing for people to be first. For sure Pinterest is fairly new and it’s mostly used to display pictures and things that are visual. So can you tell me what your first thoughts are about Pinterest and how it could relate to the construction sector? Mark: You bet, glad to do that. Well I first became aware of it last fall as a site that’s been around for a little while. And for anybody who is wondering it’s just the word interest with a p in front of it and Pinterest.com is where you can pin any image that’s accessible from a website on the internet onto a board. So they call them Pinterest boards. And as I was watching it from afar, not yet a member, I noticed that the design community and especially the interior design community was all over Pinterest. And that’s when I decided I really needed to check this out and see how it relates to architecture and construction which are really more my core background. So the first thing that I thought was that was fascinating about it, as you know Cesar, architects and designers will often share a sample board of products that are going to be used on any construction project. It’s just part of the process and you review often times its interior finishes, colors, Remontech no 29:27 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/014-construction-industry-podcast-the-buildipedia-episode/ http://www.remontech.com/014-construction-industry-podcast-the-buildipedia-episode/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:23:41 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=975 http://www.remontech.com/014-construction-industry-podcast-the-buildipedia-episode/feed/ 0 Buildipedia is one of my favourite web resources for the construction sector.  I've been a subscriber of their articles for a while now and I was waiting for an opportunity to share this resource with our community. - Buildipedia is one of my favourite web resources for the construction sector.  I've been a subscriber of their articles for a while now and I was waiting for an opportunity to share this resource with our community. In the 14th episode of the Constr... Remontech no 28:50 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/013-construction-industry-podcast-using-youtube-videos-for-marketing-construction-services-and-products/ http://www.remontech.com/013-construction-industry-podcast-using-youtube-videos-for-marketing-construction-services-and-products/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:12:48 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=964 http://www.remontech.com/013-construction-industry-podcast-using-youtube-videos-for-marketing-construction-services-and-products/feed/ 0 On episode 13 of the Construction Industry Podcast I share with you the audio portion of a fantastic webcast put out by the Construction Marketing Association on the topic of using YouTube to promote your services and products to the construction indus... On episode 13 of the Construction Industry Podcast I share with you the audio portion of a fantastic webcast put out by the Construction Marketing Association on the topic of using YouTube to promote your services and products to the construction industry. In this webcast, they had both Neil Brown, the founder of the Construction Marketing Association (CMA), Brian Reuhl, Social Media Manager for CMA, and Brian Stokoe, Social Media Program Manager for Caterpillar. If you've listened to previous episodes of the podcast, you will see that I really like the work that the guys over at the Construction Marketing Association are doing.  They were very generous in letting me share this audio with you.  This is the audio-only portion of the webcast, so if you get a chance, use the links below and watch the video portion of the webcast as well. Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Construction Marketing Association Purchase the full webcast here Caterpillar YouTube "YouTube Killed the TV Star" article on socialmediatoday.com Vertetek's "Coat of Silence" Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Or you can check out the entire text transcription of the discussion by clicking here: [spoiler]Neil Brown: Let’s go into the benefits of video marketing. First is video supports search engine results, build search authority. YouTube is owned by Google and there’s no surprise that that has an impact on search results. There’s significant sharing of videos via Facebook embedding and Twitter and other social platforms. It’s well-known that video has the highest clickthrough rates or CTRs so it’s very appealing and very inviting for users to click on a video. I think demographically if we looked at that, we would see some differences there. So video is highly interactive. Next, video supports customer service with training, demos, installation, et cetera. So I think we saw this in the polling questions that video is an important part of customer service that in theory, could eliminate customer service calls and such. Video supports one of the fastest-growing mediums that is mobile marketing and one example of this is your cell phone screen, your very small cell phone screen whereas sometimes it might be difficult to view but then mobile-optimized website easily through a video. Finally, video helps lead generation with all of the above, the SEO aspect, the clickthrough aspect, the registrations to view videos, et cetera. So, those are some of the benefits and with that, we wanted to give you some indication of what are the channels that are driving video. So Brian found this piece of information. Is this from Nielsen? No, this is comScore. Brian Reuhl: This is comScore. Neil Brown: Yes. So there are a couple of things here. There’s total unique visitors which I think is a little obtuse but viewing sessions and minutes per view or when we look at Google sites which is primarily YouTube. That also includes some of the Google article sites and such but we see that YouTube is pretty dominant, close to 40 percent in viewing sessions and close to over 30 percent for minutes per viewer and then we see some other – some Facebook – as Brian pointed out to me the other day, Facebook is going to have a lot of embedded YouTube videos out. You’ve seen a lot of the network and publishing companies that have videos and Hulu as some of you may know is really more geared around TV shows, films and that kind of thing. So I don’t know if this is really apples to apples when you see you got a lot of Turner clearly as CNN and news versus social platforms like Facebook and then Google and YouTube. So I don’t know if this is really apples to apples per se but at least it gives you some perspective here. So, as we mentioned, video is extremely high-growth [0:08:43] [Phonetic]. One of the things that we pointed out in our social ebook is that in 2010, Remontech no 45:11 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/construction-industry-podcast-is-now-on-stitcher/ http://www.remontech.com/construction-industry-podcast-is-now-on-stitcher/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:40:24 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=956 http://www.remontech.com/construction-industry-podcast-is-now-on-stitcher/feed/ 0 http://www.remontech.com/012-construction-industry-podcast-rognosis-for-the-onstruction-market-in-2012-by-canadian-construction-association/ http://www.remontech.com/012-construction-industry-podcast-rognosis-for-the-onstruction-market-in-2012-by-canadian-construction-association/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:00:38 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=949 http://www.remontech.com/012-construction-industry-podcast-rognosis-for-the-onstruction-market-in-2012-by-canadian-construction-association/feed/ 1 Hello everyone! On episode 12 I spoke with Michael Atkinson, president of the Canadian Construction Association.  In this conversation he puts the recent recession into context and gives us a great overview of what's ahead for the construction market i... Hello everyone! On episode 12 I spoke with Michael Atkinson, president of the Canadian Construction Association.  In this conversation he puts the recent recession into context and gives us a great overview of what's ahead for the construction market i... Remontech no 29:20 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/011-construction-industry-podcast-the-lowest-bid-problem/ http://www.remontech.com/011-construction-industry-podcast-the-lowest-bid-problem/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:52:23 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=944 http://www.remontech.com/011-construction-industry-podcast-the-lowest-bid-problem/feed/ 2 There is a problem with how most construction contracts are awarded today.  In the 11th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke about this issue with Dr. Jorge Abeid, Ph.D., director of Remontech. - There is a problem with how most construction contracts are awarded today.  In the 11th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke about this issue with Dr. Jorge Abeid, Ph.D., director of Remontech. Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode link: Business London Article on Remontech Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Or you can check out the outline of the discussion by clicking here: [spoiler] It is an old policy to award contract to lowest bidder. Today construction companies are much different than when this was established In the past: Contractors had their own crews They had many permanent employees Through their experience they would get better productivity by learning to work together and using less resources Productivity became part of the company's own culture Different companies had different productivity indexes. Today: Because of labour disputes, stronger unions and market uncertainties, companies' own crews are dramatically reduced They now have mostly project managers, superintendents and foremen. Labour is hired from the unions and as such productivity indexes are leveled across all contractors. Productivity is no longer an effective differentiator When pricing bids, companies have to rely on productivity indexes from publications like RSMeans, Reed or other publications. How can owners expect different prices from bidders if all of them are estimating from the same set of documents, using the same indexes, and working with labour from the same unions? Lowest bid was probably offered by a bidder that is Gambling with uncertainty Slashing profits Mistaken during the estimation process A combination of these factors How do bidders come up with their final price? Adding up quantities and multiplying by productivity indexes and subcontractor proposals Overhead costs Contingencies, usually around 10% Profit To win the contract, they have to lower their contingencies and/or profit. So if there are any small discrepancies in the estimating process, or if the original 10% of contingencies was needed, the contractor is in the red. The contractor knows of this possibility from the beginning, and its attitude reflects that. They will be ready to jump at any opportunity to find flaws in the design, tendering documents in order to place claims to reverse the risky scenario. Change orders are also a great opportunity to profit and mitigate risks. The construction site becomes a hostile battlefield as a result. It's time to rethink the lowest bidder policy and come up with new ways to choose contractors. In upcoming episodes we will discuss different ways to do so.[/spoiler] Remontech no 21:26 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/010-construction-industry-podcast-blogging-for-construction-professionals/ http://www.remontech.com/010-construction-industry-podcast-blogging-for-construction-professionals/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:12:44 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=921 http://www.remontech.com/010-construction-industry-podcast-blogging-for-construction-professionals/feed/ 2 The 10th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast brings you the topic of blogging and social media for the construction industry. - This is a follow up on our episode 1: Social Media for the Construction Industry. - The 10th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast brings you the topic of blogging and social media for the construction industry. This is a follow up on our episode 1: Social Media for the Construction Industry. This is was a great round table discussion I had with Neil Brown and Brian Reuhl from the Construction Marketing Association, Duane Craig from the Construction Informer blog, and Mark Johnson FAIA, an architech, writer, educator, speaker, and social media extraordinaire. This was a fun discussion and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Construction Marketing Association Construction Informer by Duane Craig Mark Johnson FAIA on LinkedIn Mark Johnson FAIA on Twitter Slideshares presentations by Mark Johnson Google Doc on Twitter chats TweetChat markitect.me Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Or you can check out the entire text transcription of the discussion by clicking here: [spoiler]Cesar: OK. Hello, everybody. This is Cesar Abeid from the Construction Industry Podcast and this is episode 10 of the show. I’m recording this one from Brazil and I apologize in advance for the call quality here. It’s not the best and you might hear a hiccup here and there on my voice especially. I have on the line with today a wonderful group of individuals here that are heavily involved with social media and blogging for the construction industry and I will introduce them to you in a second and you can check the show notes later on for contacts for all these guys and how to get in touch with them. So again my name is Cesar Abeid and I have on the line Mark Johnson FAIA from MARKITECT. He’s very heavily involved with the social media. I follow his tweets a lot and he goes to conferences. He blogs and I will provide everybody with a short bio on everybody here. I also have Brian who’s the Social Media Manager for the Construction Marketing Association and also Neil Brown who is the Chairman of the Construction Marketing Association. I also have Duane Craig. He’s well-known in the blogosphere. He blogs about construction topics. So, hello everybody. Duane: Hello, Cesar. Mark: Hi, Cesar. Thanks for having us on. Cesar: No problem. My pleasure and had a bit of a problem here getting started so we’re a little late and I’m a little flustered here with the internet. We’re used to North American standards for high speed internet and I’m here in the countryside of Brazil. I’m amazed that I could get everybody on the line at all. So I apologize in advance but anyway, so the questions that I would like to get started with is when I think of social medial and the construction industry, it’s construction industry is probably the oldest – one of the oldest, if not the oldest industry and I’ve been in it long enough to know that it’s very old school. People are usually reluctant or just resistant to change but we came to a point in the technology world that it’s inevitable and it’s interesting to see how this is affecting the industry. So I would like to start with Neil and Brian and ask them how they got started blogging and engaging social media in the construction industry. Neil: All right. Well Brian and I worked day to day at a marketing agency called Construction Marketing Advisors and so we run about a dozen blogs for different clients, mostly manufacturers but some construction firms as well; and so we’ve been big proponents of blogging from the beginning. So, you know, the advantages of blogging are certainly thought leadership but the other advantages are – well, there are lots of advantages but it ends up helping SEO extraordinarily well and some of the freeware like WordPress had a lot of built-in SEOs. So [Indiscernible] blog when it’s linked properly to your primary website. Not linked but also the domain structure. When it’s clear and simple to a search engine, Remontech no 51:03 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/no-episode-this-week/ http://www.remontech.com/no-episode-this-week/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:13:49 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=918 http://www.remontech.com/no-episode-this-week/feed/ 0 http://www.remontech.com/1000-downloads-for-the-construction-industry-podcast/ http://www.remontech.com/1000-downloads-for-the-construction-industry-podcast/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:44:35 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=916 http://www.remontech.com/1000-downloads-for-the-construction-industry-podcast/feed/ 2 http://www.remontech.com/009-construction-industry-podcast-creating-a-great-construction-project-schedule/ http://www.remontech.com/009-construction-industry-podcast-creating-a-great-construction-project-schedule/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:08:26 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=907 http://www.remontech.com/009-construction-industry-podcast-creating-a-great-construction-project-schedule/feed/ 0 In the 9th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke with Dr. Jorge Abeid, Ph.D., director of Remontech (he's also my father). - This is a follow up on an article he wrote for our blog called "10 Things You Must Do To Create a Great Project... In the 9th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I spoke with Dr. Jorge Abeid, Ph.D., director of Remontech (he's also my father). This is a follow up on an article he wrote for our blog called "10 Things You Must Do To Create a Great Project Schedule." Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Remontech 10 Things you Must Do to Create a Great Project Schedule (Blog post) RSMeans Building Construction Cost Data 2011 Listen to the entire episode by clicking the orange "play" button above. Enjoy! Remontech no 35:15 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/008-construction-industry-podcast-monitoring-and-controlling-construction-projects-with-time-lapse-photography/ http://www.remontech.com/008-construction-industry-podcast-monitoring-and-controlling-construction-projects-with-time-lapse-photography/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:09:56 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=901 http://www.remontech.com/008-construction-industry-podcast-monitoring-and-controlling-construction-projects-with-time-lapse-photography/feed/ 0 On the eighth episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I share with you the power of using time-lapse videos as a tool for project management. - Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Remontech On the eighth episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I share with you the power of using time-lapse videos as a tool for project management. Take a listen by clicking the orange "play" button above. Episode Links Remontech Dynamic Scheduling Time Lapse Recording Episode Notes What's Time-Lapse Photography? Regular movies are recorded by taking around 30 shots - or frames - every second.  The video is also played back on the same frame rate. Time-lapsed videos record less frames per unit of time, but are played back at a faster rate.  As a result, you can watch videos that were recorded over long periods of time in just a few minutes. The draw back of this method is that you lose content - what happened between frames is not captured. Why is Time-Lapse Photography is a great fit for Construction Projects Construction projects, typically have 5 phases: Initiation Planning Executing Monitoring/Controlling Closing There are many tools and best practices available for most of the phases, but "Monitoring and Controlling" is the phase that can benefit the most from a visual archive or record. Time-Lapse video is a great fit for many reasons: Construction projects move at a slow pace, even the quick ones. Activity duration is measured in days, sometimes months To effectively record progress, it is not needed to collect several images per second. Construction projects take a long time It is virtually impossible to watch a real-time recording of construction projects, unless you're willing to sit down for a few months. Time-lapse takes advantage of the fact that construction projects don't require several frames per second of recording, and as a result delivers a video that is only a few minutes long. Sure, it's great to watch your project being built.  But what's the value?  Pure entertainment? A simple time-lapse video of your project is not very useful.  Sure, it looks great in marketing materials, on your website, but there is so much more that can be done with it. How can TIme-Lapse videos help in monitoring and controlling? We have been producing time-lapse videos for the construction industry for 10 years now, and I can give you countless examples of how it can be useful. A simple Time-lapse video: Provides a visual record of everything that went on your project It helps settle claims It helps with security concerns Time lapse videos really show their true purpose when you associate it with your project schedule. By associating your time-lapse video to the gantt chart of your project, you enrich both your visual record AND your scheduling experience. Most projects will have a schedule that is created as part of the planning phase. During execution, measurements are usually taken in order to gauge project progress and to pay the contractor and subcontractor based on how much they've done. The power of time lapse videos is really unleashed when we can link it to the as-planned and the as-built schedule. So this is what we've been doing at Remontech.  This is a lot easier to see than it is to hear, so I suggest you go to our website at myconstructioncamera.com, and click on what we do, and then dynamic scheduling. By using the time lapse video, the schedule, and the as-built information, we create a visual tool for keeping track of your project. There you can easily see when you start falling behind on your delivery.  You can then easily assess which activity is to blame for the delay or cost overrun.  Then you can use the video to go back in time to the day said activity was supposed to take place and investigate the issue All of a sudden your time-lapse video becomes a powerful tool for making sure your project is being delivered on time and on budget. The examples I have to share are numerous. Some of our clients use the project schedule and time lapse video, or DYNAMIC SCHEDULE to settle claims and disputes. Remontech no 25:23 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/007-construction-industry-podcast-linkedin-for-construction-professionals/ http://www.remontech.com/007-construction-industry-podcast-linkedin-for-construction-professionals/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:00:35 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=869 http://www.remontech.com/007-construction-industry-podcast-linkedin-for-construction-professionals/feed/ 0 On the 7th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I share how to unleash the power of LinkedIn, specifically for us in the construction industry. - Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode or click on the icons to the right ... On the 7th episode of the Construction Industry Podcast I share how to unleash the power of LinkedIn, specifically for us in the construction industry. Press the orange "play" button above to listen to the episode or click on the icons to the right to subscribe (free) via iTunes or RSS. Show Links: LinkedIn Vertetek's "Coat of Silence" The Power of LinkedIn for Construction Professionals According to their own website, "LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals." In a way, it is like Facebook. It allows you to create a profile and then connect with people you know.  The main difference is that LinkedIn is solely a professional network, and you can only connect with people you've done business or went to school with.  If you'd like to connect with someone you don't know, the way to do it is to get introduced by a common contact. LinkedIn is great for a number of reasons: It helps you stay in touch with professional people you know By connecting with your contacts in LinkedIn, you can see what they have been up to, and reaching an old colleague is just a few clicks away. It facilitates networking LinkedIn really shines when it comes to ways to network.  You can network by: Connecting with people you already know: they can see what you are up to and who you are connecting with. Joining groups: find a LinkedIn group that is related to your industry and join in the conversation.  This is a great way to connect with new professionals, ask and answer questions, and establish yourself as an expert in your field. This can be done by freely sharing your knowledge with the community. Sharing good news!  Use your status update to share news with your contacts.  Let them know when your company gets an important contract, when you get a promotion, or if there are some important news related to your industry. Sharing your physical location: if you are going to be travelling, let your network know.  You might get invited to local events. It helps with market research Look into groups to see what people are talking about and get a sense of what's going on in the market.  You can also closely monitor your competition to see what they are up to recently. It helps with lead generation You can see what people are posting about in their status updates and in their groups.  Usually projects and opportunities will be mentioned. Check out the full episode by clicking the orange "play" button at the top of this post as I go into further details on how to accomplish these tasks. And don't forget to check out this weeks tech tip at the end of the episode, when I speak with John Finn of Vertetek. Remontech no 38:19 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/006-construction-industry-podcast-market-it-right-with-the-construction-marketing-association/ http://www.remontech.com/006-construction-industry-podcast-market-it-right-with-the-construction-marketing-association/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:57:28 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=828 http://www.remontech.com/006-construction-industry-podcast-market-it-right-with-the-construction-marketing-association/feed/ 1 Today's episode we will cover a topic that is very close to my heart: marketing for the construction industry. - As the marketing person for Remontech, I was really excited to talk to Neil Brown, chairman of the Construction Association of America. - Today's episode we will cover a topic that is very close to my heart: marketing for the construction industry. As the marketing person for Remontech, I was really excited to talk to Neil Brown, chairman of the Construction Association of America. Take a listen to this great interview by clicking "play" above or by subscribing to the Construction Industry Podcast on iTunes or RSS by using the links above. Episode Links: Construction Marketing Association CMA Awards CMA Certification Program: CCMP Program Construction Marketing Blog A/E/C Best practices summary Get your free Marketing Report Card from the CMA  Websitegrader.com Interview (Transcript) with Neil Brown, chairman of the Construction Marketing Association: [spoiler]Cesar: Hello, Neil. How are you? Neil: Good. How are you, Cesar? Nice to meet you. Cesar: Nice to meet you too. Thanks for talking to me today. You’re from Chicago, right? Neil: Correct. Yes, the Construction Marketing Association is based in Naperville, Illinois which is west of Chicago. Cesar: Well, let’s start with that then. Can you tell me what the CMA is and what’s your role in it? Neil: Sure, absolutely. Well, the Construction Marketing Association is a non-profit member organization that works with primarily marketing managers and executives that would work either in construction firms and related like architectural and engineering firms or they would work for manufacturers or brands that sell to construction firms or engineering firms. Marketing managers and executives in the construction industry would be our members and what we do is provide a lot of marketing resources, information and training for that type of manager. There’s probably no other industry like construction that has so many different types of associations whether they’re unions or trade associations, what have you. I know there’s a lot in management and finances and that kind of thing so we really focus on the marketing aspect of it. To that end, we have a monthly webcast program. Last month was a webcast, A/E/C Marketing Best Practices, and that is in our archive on the website. By the way, the website is ConstructionMarketingAssociation.org. Cesar: OK. Neil: There you will find a list of our webcast and training events and then beyond that, we have a monthly marketing e-newsletter. So it is a membership organization and there’s a modest fee for an annual membership and if you become a member, you have access to what we call our databank or our resource databank. That will have a lot of white papers and articles and research in the construction industry and how to market better. Then we’ll also have lists of editors and construction publications at trade shows in the construction industry, all kinds of different lists and such. So there are a lot of resources from again all marketing with a marketing focus to that and then we have a couple of other things I want to bring to your attention. We have an annual marketing awards program that actually for this year goes through this Friday, today that is, and so today is the deadline. Cesar: OK. Neil: Here you can enter your marketing projects and programs whether it’s an advertisement or a brochure or website and all the different functional types of marketing. So we have this annual awards program and so there’s recognition involved as well. We got training, we got the resources, we got the awards and then our other big initiative is a professional certification program. So again, those doing marketing in the construction industry can get certified for their skills and their experience through what’s called the Certified Construction Marketing Professional or CCMP Program and by registering for this. There’s a handbook study guide and then a web-based examination. If you pass the test which is an 80 percent grade, you are then able to use that designation after your name and be recognized for that as well. Remontech no 46:28 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/005-construction-industry-podcast-the-one-sector-of-the-construction-industry-that-is-growing/ http://www.remontech.com/005-construction-industry-podcast-the-one-sector-of-the-construction-industry-that-is-growing/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:49:46 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=812 http://www.remontech.com/005-construction-industry-podcast-the-one-sector-of-the-construction-industry-that-is-growing/feed/ 0 Hello once again and thanks for listening to the Construction Industry Podcast. - A lot of people have been coming to the show notes and actually reading the entire episode transcription, not knowing that you can actually listen to the episode. - Hello once again and thanks for listening to the Construction Industry Podcast. A lot of people have been coming to the show notes and actually reading the entire episode transcription, not knowing that you can actually listen to the episode. Right under the title of this post you will see a little player image.  Click on the play button and enjoy the Construction Industry Podcast through your speakers. You can also listen to it on your iPod or mp3 player using the links to the right. Today we bring you the one sector of the construction industry that is actually experiencing growth despite the economic turmoil.  Listen in to find out more. Enjoy! Episode Links: NARI: National Association of the Remodeling Industry Morrison Remodeling Gary Morrison's Blog Lead paint law resources (US) Interview with Gary Morrison (Transcription) [spoiler] Cesar: Hello, Garry. How are you? Gary: Fine, Cesar. How are you? Cesar: Good, good, good. How is the weather there in the East Coast? Gary: It has been very good. The last few days have been beautiful. Cesar: Are you anywhere near to where the hurricanes have stricken? Gary: Yes. Cesar: Oh, OK. Gary: Yes, it came right near us. I had some damage from it. As a matter of fact, one of the few around that had damage but I did have some. Cesar: Everybody OK? Gary: Everyone is fine. Yes, damaged  but we’ll live. Cesar: We had a tornado touchdown here and we’re nowhere near the East Coast and this never happens here. Just a couple of weeks ago in a town here called Goderich and just destroyed the place. Gary: Really? Cesar:  It’s crazy, yes. We never have that here. Gary: I’ll take a hurricane any day. Cesar: Yes. Gary: Yes, yes. Cesar: Yes. It’s just a bad storm. A tornado is a different story. Gary: Oh, I know. Yes. Cesar: OK. So how about we talk about the remodeling industry? Gary: Sure. Cesar: OK. So what kind of trends are you seeing in it? I decided to do this interview because it seems like the remodeling industry is one of the few sectors within the construction industry at large that is actually seeing some growth despite the economy. So what kind of trends do you see? Gary: Well, I mean if I go back three, four years, we had pretty steady backlog of about three months worth of work. It was pretty consistent. I don’t do huge jobs but a good job for me is if I get a whole house remodeled, that’s wonderful but quite typically, it’s like a kitchen is a good job for me. I do lots of bathrooms and I found that when we were going through that economic downturn there over the last couple of years, there actually was one full year where I did not do a complete gut kitchen. We kind of changed our approach to things and offering people kind of minor kitchen remodels, facelifts where we went and painted the cabinets, changed the countertops, new floor, do a tile backsplash, that sort of thing and it kind of really freshens the kitchen up. So we were doing a lot of those and in general, the jobs that we were getting in were smaller. We do smaller jobs anyhow so we’re kind of geared for that so it didn’t like horribly impact us. I would say at one point during that economic downturn, I might have gotten to a month and a half’s backlog and that was the worst. I’ll tell you, about a year ago, all of a sudden it just really picked up on me and I’ll tell you I had four and five months backlog. Cesar: Wow. Gary: Which is better than I had even before the downturn and it has been going that way all year for me until about three weeks ago or four weeks ago on that federal bond rating that downgraded from a triple A to a double A plus. Cesar: Oh, yes. Gary: All of a sudden I lost two jobs which might not sound like much but those two jobs were three months worth of work. The reason I lost them is one of them, the gentleman was going for a loan at the bank and everything was fine. Remontech no 41:38 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/004-construction-industry-podcast-construction-management-association-of-america/ http://www.remontech.com/004-construction-industry-podcast-construction-management-association-of-america/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:10:46 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=747 http://www.remontech.com/004-construction-industry-podcast-construction-management-association-of-america/feed/ 5 Construction Management,Software Tools After a busy end of August and early September when I had to deal with many issues at work including a mice infestation at one of our Mobile Monitoring Stations, episode 4 is finally here. - On the latest episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, After a busy end of August and early September when I had to deal with many issues at work including a mice infestation at one of our Mobile Monitoring Stations, episode 4 is finally here. On the latest episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, ... Remontech no 41:20 http://www.remontech.com/003-construction-industry-podcast-universal-design-and-web-based-tools/ http://www.remontech.com/003-construction-industry-podcast-universal-design-and-web-based-tools/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:48:19 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=685 http://www.remontech.com/003-construction-industry-podcast-universal-design-and-web-based-tools/feed/ 3 Hello once again and welcome to the construction industry podcast. Click on the player above to listen to it, or subscribe to it on iTunes or BlackBerry Podcasts. - Today we will talk about how a bad economy can be a great opportunity for your busines... Hello once again and welcome to the construction industry podcast. Click on the player above to listen to it, or subscribe to it on iTunes or BlackBerry Podcasts. Today we will talk about how a bad economy can be a great opportunity for your business and career.  We will also have an interview with Deborah Murphy on Universal Design, and on our tech tip we will bring you the advantages of web based tools.  I hope you enjoy it. Episode Links: Episode Transcription Interview (Transcription) with Deborah Murphy, from ADAMI ADA: Americans with Disability Act UD Institute Book: Building for a Lifetime: The Design and Construction of Fully Accessible Homes Book: Accessible Housing by Design: Universal Design Principles in Practice Book: Universal Design Ideas for Style, Comfort & Safety Book: The Accessible Housing Design File Shelters for Healthy Environments, Inc. Even more resources Tech Tip (Transcription) Service Task Google Docs Mozeo Episode Transcription It's no secret that the construction industry in north america and other parts of the world is taking a hit as the economy continues to stumble.  We at Remontech find that unless you have an edge, or you stand out from the crowd, it is very difficult to continue to succeed in the sector.  So we are always trying to find new ways to think differently and stay ahead of the game, so when trends and fads become the norm, we will be ready.  It is that mentality that drives us to try and innovate all the time.  Besides monitoring construction projects as a project management tool, we've created new services such as our dynamic scheduling for construction projects, remote security services, or our mobile monitoring stations.  For us those were great at diversifying what we do and providing something our potential competitors were not.  You can learn more about all that we do by visiting myconstructioncamera.com. One of the things I want to do with this podcast is to bring ideas to your business and to you as a professional to help you stand out and have an edge over your competition.  On our first episode we spoke about social media for the construction industry, and that was our first time bringing you some fresh ideas on how to help you make sure you are riding the wave of change instead being crushed by it. It may seem counter intuitive, but a struggling economy can be an excellent opportunity for businesses and careers.  It's been said that people will only buy to solve a problem or fulfill a need.  I will make a point that there is no better time for finding needs to be fulfilled and problems to be solved than during economic turmoil.  Companies like HP, Hyatt hotels, Burger King, IHOP, FedEx, CNN, Google, and PayPal, all started and thrived when the economy was struggling. Here on the construction industry podcast we will bring you ideas on how to fulfill needs and solve problems in the construction sector that other people might be overlooking.  And we will also give you tips on how to do it effectively and on a budget. With that in mind, today we will be interviewing Deborah Murphy on the topic of Universal Design.  And on our tech tip, Al D'Andrea from servicetask.com will talk to me about web based tools. Enjoy the podcast! Interview with Deborah Murphy Cesar: Hello, Deborah. How are you? Deborah: Hi. I’m doing well. Thank you. Cesar: You know, in Chicago, I lived there for four years and I absolutely love that place. Deborah: It’s a wonderful town. I’ve lived on both coasts in Miami and in San Francisco and I always told everybody I was going home and that’s what Chicago always will be and I’m proud of this. We have the best skyline because this is where the skyscraper started so … Cesar: Back to that same old place. Deborah: Exactly. Sweet home Chicago. Cesar: That’s right. Yes, it’s gorgeous there. I just wish the winters weren’t as bad and … Deborah: Yes. Well, this summer is pretty hot. Remontech no 38:05 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/002-construction-industry-podcast-the-sydney-opera-house-and-project-success/ http://www.remontech.com/002-construction-industry-podcast-the-sydney-opera-house-and-project-success/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:34:17 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=687 http://www.remontech.com/002-construction-industry-podcast-the-sydney-opera-house-and-project-success/feed/ 2 On the second episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, I interviewed Greg McTaggart of the Sydney Opera House.  We spoke about a variety of topics, including the issues that arose during construction from the revolutionary design of the Opera House, On the second episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, I interviewed Greg McTaggart of the Sydney Opera House.  We spoke about a variety of topics, including the issues that arose during construction from the revolutionary design of the Opera House, challenges of managing projects at World Heritage Sites, and what it is success in construction projects. Episode Links Episode Transcription Interview with Greg McTaggart, Director, Building Development & Maintenance for the Sydney Opera House New South Wales procurement website Pictures of the Sydney Opera House from the UNESCO website Episode Transcription Ah, construction projects.  As far as projects go, Construction projects are substantially different than other kinds.  Sure, the world of project management today covers a wide variety of types of projects, from space shuttle launches to event planning.  However, there's just something about construction projects that makes a permanent mark on the world.  Construction projects literally change the landscape that defines the background of our lives. Like mountains, they define the skyline, cast shadows, hide the sun.  Like trees, their foundations are roots that support the structures that give us shelter. Like monuments, they are a constant reminder of the people who designed them, the people who built them, the people who lived and worked in them. So what is a successful construction project? I recently posed this question on a number of LinkedIn groups related to the construction industry, and got a variety of answers.  I think it's fascinating.  During design and construction, the constraints of time, budget, and scope seem to define what success is.  But over the years, it is the history and timelessness of the project that seem to define what success really is. On LinkedIn, Eric says that "the problem is, s/he usually can't tell you (or won't) what his metrics are at the beginning - and s/he usually changes the purpose sometime during the execution (if not a couple of times). Kinda like being married; the interdependencies can be rearranged at any time when one party changes their mind on something fundamental and doesn't tell you about it - you have to spend inordinate amounts of energy trying to figure it out." There is one particular construction project that symbolizes this apparent conflict like no other. It is the Sydney Opera House.  The Sydney Opera House is at the same time one of the icons of human ingenuity and an example of poor project management.  However, while its troublesome past was an issue at the time - and a great example of poor management to be used in modern project management publications today - the Sydney Opera House cannot be described as anything but a tremendous success. It stands as one of the most recognizable structures in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  8.2 million people visit the site annually and it's beautiful design is a symbol of Australia - even more so than Mr. Kangaroo himself. On this episode of the Construction Industry Podcast, I spoke with Mr. Greg McTaggart, director of building development and maintenance for the Sydney Opera House.  We covered the history of the construction project, the challenges of conducting projects in a heritage site such as the Sydney Opera House, and their construction project currently underway. Greg McTaggart was appointed to his position in 2008.  He joined Sydney Opera House in 2003 and was previously the Project Director of the Building Development Group.  Since 2003 Greg has had responsibility for the planning and delivery of all major building projects at Sydney Opera House, including the Utzon Room, Western Colonnade, Western Foyers, external Lighting and the Opera Theatre Renewal Concept Design Study.  In his role as Director of Building Development and Maintenance he has responsibility for environmental sustainability, the maintenance and conservation of the building, Remontech no 41:44 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/001-construction-industry-podcast-introduction-and-social-media-for-the-construction-industry/ http://www.remontech.com/001-construction-industry-podcast-introduction-and-social-media-for-the-construction-industry/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:50:00 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=667 http://www.remontech.com/001-construction-industry-podcast-introduction-and-social-media-for-the-construction-industry/feed/ 4 Here it is folks, our very first episode of the Construction Industry Podcast! - Pardon my "ahns" and "uhns!" - Below you will find a transcription of the show.  I would love to hear what you think of our podcast. Here it is folks, our very first episode of the Construction Industry Podcast! Pardon my "ahns" and "uhns!" Below you will find a transcription of the show.  I would love to hear what you think of our podcast.  Write me by clicking "contact" on t... Remontech no 51:59 construction,construction,owners,bim,building,management,trends,project,management,construction,management,security http://www.remontech.com/construction-industry-podcast/ http://www.remontech.com/construction-industry-podcast/#comments Sat, 30 Jul 2011 21:22:42 +0000 feedback@constructionindustrypodcast.com (Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.) http://www.remontech.com/?p=655 http://www.remontech.com/construction-industry-podcast/feed/ 0 Cesar Abeid, Remontech Inc.nonadultFresh Ideas for Today's Construction Professional