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BUSINESS NEWS JUNE CONSTRUCTION STARTS DROP 7 PERCENT New construction starts in June decreased 7 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $595.1 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The nonbuilding construction sector (public works and electric utilities) fell sharply after being lifted in May by the start of a $3.8 billion oil pipeline in the upper Midwest and seven large power plant projects totaling $4.3 billion. Residential building in June edged down with reduced activity reported for both single family and multifamily housing. At the same time, nonresidential building registered moderate growth in June after sliding back in April and May. Through the first six months of 2016, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were $318.1 billion, down 11 percent from the same period a year ago. The January-June period of 2015 included 13 exceptionally large projects valued each at $1 billion or more, including a $9 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal in Texas, an $8.5 billion petrochemical plant in Louisiana, and two massive office towers in New York – the $2.5 billion 30 Hudson Yards and the $1.2 billion One Manhattan West. In contrast, the January-June period of 2016 included only four projects valued at $1 billion or more. If these exceptionally large projects are excluded, total construction starts during the first half of 2016 would be down a slight 2 percent from last year.

BERNIE SIBEN, from page 9

is generally the order in which the client wants to see your submittal. In the absence of such instruction, I like to start with my project understanding and approach. I really believe that, if I don’t demonstrate an understanding of the client’s challenges and my ability to solve them, the client has no need to read 50 pages about my firm before discovering that I can’t help. “Good thinking, good writing, clear presentation of thoughts – that’s what differentiates your submittal and makes for a winner.” In the long run, I don’t believe it’s about how you design the cover, or the colors and formats you choose for your graphics. As Matt Handal says, the purpose of images is not to support the text, but to make someone want to read the text in the first place. So it’s always about the content, the ideas – whether you use “features, benefits, and proofs,” or other approaches. Of course the page has to be attractive, an “inviting” read, but the ideas are always more important. I don’t ever want to submit a proposal that is so “overdesigned” that the client can’t find my message. Find the style that best conveys what you want to say – whether it’s the font, the page layout, the placement and design of graphics, the headers and footers, or any other element. But make sure your message is strong and clear, and not obscured by the visual aspects of the submittal. If you want to take one of the classes or subscribe to one of the systems, use those aspects that work for you, but don’t adopt the complete system blindly. Good thinking, good writing, clear presentation of thoughts – that’s what differentiates your submittal and makes for a winner. BERNIE SIBEN, CPSM, is owner and principal consultant with the Siben Consult, LLC, an independent A/E marketing and strategic consultancy in Austin, Texas. He can be reached at siben@sibenconsult.com.

from one-person marketing departments, some from large centralized marketing departments; and others from multi-office decentralized marketing departments. The instructor was a man who turned out to know a lot about A/E marketing, and could communicate what he knew so simply that nobody had trouble “getting it.” From the textbook, I found very little that I didn’t already know. But from the instructor, I learned a lot of new things. I was also reminded of many things that I knew and did years ago, but didn’t do anymore. The most valuable lesson I learned from the multi-day class was that anything that hadn’t been done in a long time would seem like something new the first few times it was done again. So ideas that had been used in the past and set aside when new technology or new techniques came along could once again have value. As the 1974 Peter Allen song proclaimed: “Everything old is new again!” So what is my current process? Essentially, I write to the RFQ/RFP. Obviously, you have to follow the instructions in the RFQ/RFP, and follow them to the letter. You cannot omit anything the solicitation specifically calls for. You cannot reorganize the contents if an organization is given, no matter how much better or more logical you believe your organization would be. “If you want to take one of the classes or subscribe to one of the systems, use those aspects that work for you, but don’t adopt the complete system blindly.” For some reason, most clients/owners first ask about the firm submitting the proposal. In that case, I like to add an executive summary to show that I understand the project and have the capability to develop a good solution. If no specific organization is given, the order in which the details or explanations of the requirements are presented

THE ZWEIG LETTER September 19, 2016, ISSUE 1168

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