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BUSINESS NEWS ARCHITECT APPLICATIONS FOR OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DUEWEDNESDAY The international competition for an architect to design the Obama Presidential Center kicked off last month when the Barack Obama Foundation issued a request for qualifications to a select group of architects, though others may also apply. The foundation requested that the architects submit credentials, references, a portfolio, and examples of diversity efforts by September 16. Submissions that include design concepts or sketches of the library will be disqualified. According to the Chicago Tribune , foundation chairman Martin Nesbitt would not reveal the names or even the number of selected firms. But officials confirmed that 90 percent of the invited firms are American, and Chicago architects are well-represented in that group. A foreign architect winning the competition would mark the first time a non-American has designed an American presidential library. And that wouldn’t be the only “first” for this project: The OPC will be the first presidential library located in the heart of a low-income, predominantly African-American community. Though the specific site has not yet been se- lected, the center will be located in Chicago’s South Side, in either Jackson or Washington Park. The center will consist of a library to hold presidential archives, an interactive museum fo- cusing on Obama’s time in office, expansive green space with community gardens, indoor and outdoor performance spaces, offices for the foundation, and innovation labs. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are expected to select the final- ists and issue a request for proposals later this year, with a winner and a Chicago site to be announced early next year. Construction, expected to cost at least $500 million, is not scheduled to begin until after Obama leaves office in Jan. 2017 and will be completed in 2020 or 2021. NEW EDITION OF AWS D1.1 STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE – STEEL NOW AVAILABLE A revised edition of the American Welding Society’s Structural Welding Code – Steel, AWS D1.1/ D1.1M:2015 has been published and supersedes the 2010 edition. The new edition spells out the requirements for design, procedure and performance qualification, fabrication, in- spection and repair of steel structures made of tubes, plate and structural shapes that are subject to either static or cyclic loading. In addition to editorial changes in the text and commentary, this edition includes the reorganization of tubular clauses, tables, and figures previously located throughout the code into a new “Tubular Structures” clause. A corre- sponding new section of commentary is included in the revised edition. The 646-page publication is the joint effort of the D1 Committee on Structural Welding and its D1Q Subcommittee on Steel. AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2015, Structural Welding Code – Steel, is available at go.aws.org/2015D1 for $548 for non AWS members and $411 for members.
ON THE MOVE JAN TUCHMAN BECOMES FIRST SMPS HONORARY FEL- LOW The Society for Marketing Professional Ser- vices (Alexandria, VA), an A/E/C marketing and busi- ness development association, has announced that Jan Tuchman, editor in chief of Engineering News- Record , has been bestowed the first SMPS Honor- ary Fellows award. She was honored at SMPS’s an- nual conference, Build Business, during the gala on Thursday August 20. The Honorary Fellows program is a designation for extraordinary service. It is bestowed to an individual of esteemed character and achievements who sup- ports the practice of marketing and business devel- opment within the A/E/C community. An SMPS Fel- low may nominate a qualified individual for Honorary Fellowship. Nominations may also be accepted by a member of the SMPS Board of Directors or the CEO. An Honorary Fellow is not a current SMPS member or has not been a member of SMPS within the past 10 years. Tuchman began her career at Engineering News- Record as assistant editor, later becoming the man- aging editor, and taking the helm as editor-in-chief in 2001. Tuchman has led many landmark projects at ENR : She helped manage its conversion to desktop publishing, guided the launch of its website, led its two redesigns, and launched 10 regional editions. Tuchman has also contributed to the Society. She served on the SMPS Foundation’s Board of Trustees and in 2012 participated in the Foundation’s Think Tank. In the same year, she dedicated her time and experience on the Society’s conference committee. With a career spanning close to 40 years, Tuchman has helped raise the credibility of the profession, the SMPS Foundation, and the Society.
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photographed from field biologists,” he says. Shortly after the calendar mailed, one of their managers called and asked: “What’s up with this calendar?” He had gotten a call from one of the firm’s better clients, a develop- er with projects throughout California. The client asked the manager why they had sent him a calendar that reminded him each month of the endangered species that presented permitting challenges to his projects. Fortunately, the client was only half-serious. “It was a ‘no harm, no foul’ wake-up call to better under- stand the firm’s diverse client base,” Forster says. “Since then, we’ve evolved the popular calendar into a fun and in- formative publication about multiple aspects of California life – from staff-selected 12 best spots for a California road trip to an infographic-based calendar about the most popu- lous state in the nation.” Moorefield says that people can learn from these mistakes and that professionals should share their gaffes with peers. “Pass on the lessons learned to others inmarketing and your firm staff as needed. Some more important advice: Have a sense of humor … we need it in this business,” she says.
favorite pet screen saver. Also, don’t receive emails while making a presentation. “I’ve witnessed some embarrassing moments by others,” Moorefield says. “Don’t let it happen to you.” TAKE AWALK ON THE WILD SIDE? MAYBE NOT. Mark Forster, marketing director at DUDEK (Encinitas, CA), a 300-person environ- mental consulting firm, says that he joined the organization after 15 years in the high-technology and Internet industry. “I knew marketing, but I was a greenhorn to the environ- mental consulting industry,” he says. “In my first year, I de- cided to step up the design and content of the firm’s calen- dar to make it more interesting, with the hope that more people would hang it to keep our name in front of clients and prospects.” Though DUDEK has multiple environmental disciplines, its biology practice had perfect content. “We published a calendar that featured a beautiful image of an endangered species each month. These were images
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THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 14, 2015, ISSUE 1119
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