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BUSINESS NEWS MINNEAPOLIS ARCHITECTURE FIRM ALLIIANCE CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF INSPIRING DESIGN When Alliiance opened its doors for architecture and design clients in 1970 in a 1910s mansion in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, the Walker Art Center’s “new” building by Edward Larrabee Barnes was just opening and Carole King’s “Tapestry” topped the charts. Fifty years later, the firm is still in its original home, thriving and growing in diverse practices — including aviation, science and technology, corporate workplaces, civic and community, higher education, retail and a newer specialty in environmental learning spaces. Alliiance serves public and private clients, corporations, Fortune 500 companies and legacy clients including many projects for Medtronic, Ecolab, General Mills, the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport. “I’m so proud of our hundred-plus team of planners, architects and interior designers and ourwork to create inspired environments for people,” says Eric
Peterson, president and leader of the agency’s international aviation practice. “Throughout the pandemicwe continued to deliver for clients, remained profitable, and are now in hiring mode. Longevity is one of our core strengths – our team has deep experience in our core industries, and many have been with Alliiance for 20 years or more.” With 75 people focused solelyon aviation design, Alliance has worked with MSP Airport since 1978 as well as more than 115 airports across the world. “Alliiance sets the standard for user experience, elevating and enriching the lives of all who use airports – from passengers to airport staff to airlines,” says April Meyer, principal, Alliiance. “We unite people and place through design for airports everywhere from Papua New Guinea to Brazil, Louisville to Spokane — we even have a branch office at MSP Airport to keep our projects on task.” The pandemic and the social unrest of the last year has helped Alliiance initiate several important dialogues. The first, architecture’s role in helping support a
more just society, has developed quickly. “We aligned our firm objectives, looking through lenses of sustainability, quality design, equity, diversity and inclusivity,” adds Peterson, “And we’ve expanded our collaborations, including a partnership for Target Center with 4RM+ULA, a Black-owned firm in St. Paul, Minnesota.” Alliiance has also instituted a new change management consulting service to help clients approach flexible and safe work spaces post-pandemic. As a full-service architecture and design firm that unites people and place through design, Alliiance allies with the best engineering and specialized consulting partners to provide a comprehensive family of integrated services for clients, from feasibility studies, master planning, and brand integration through design, construction, and post-occupancy project phases. Alliiance is an open and energetic team of planners, architects and interior designers, working together to create inspired environments for people.
will just leave. Running over the scheduled meeting time is like hosting a five-hour dinner. Ugh! Serving cheesecake before the steak is confusing! Make sure your agenda is presented in logical order. Information should be presented generally, then in detail. Concise information is key! Don’t serve soup with a fork. Provide information and direction that’s easy to digest. It may take you longer to prepare, but the effort is well worth it for your guests! 2. Create your guestlist and send out invites. Don’t forget to invite dear Aunt Yolanda! Make sure that anyone who will benefit from attending is invited; it will save you time to share the information just one time. If it’s a potluck, say so! Don’t expect people to bring information to the meeting if you haven’t told them to. 3. Be the perfect host. Create a great atmosphere. Everyone is busy – find innovative ways to keep their attention so they leave your meeting with the info they need to be successful (snacks work magic). Don’t let Jerry, your college BFF with no manners, offend all your other guests. Make sure you are the perfect host. Don’t let anyone sidetrack your meeting or distract others from having a good time. Set the tone. Be inspirational and make sure everyone leaves your party full and happy. They will look forward to your next one! Aya Shitanishi is a partner and architect at TETER. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Megan Chang, P.E., is an associate and professional engineer at TETER. Contact her at megan.chang@ teterae.com.
AYA SHITANISHI & MEGAN CHANG, from page 3
easier to do. When a meeting is engaging and encourages participation, you’ll get my attention and a better end product, because this allows myself and the design consultants to do what they love best – designing. As the project manager, the sooner everyone is collaborating together, the better the solution will be as it will take into account the different concerns and design constraints of the entire team when changes are easier (and cheaper!) to accommodate. As a side perk, I feel my effort is appreciated. There’s nothing quite so discouraging as having worked hard to gather information for a meeting and then proceed to talk to politely smiling faces (or worse yet, blank screens staying on mute) who receive the information and then walk out of the room (or sign off of Zoom/Teams) without saying more than two words. Each time the design team gets together should be used effectively; it doesn’t happen often. To that end, below is some sage advice I’ve received that I’d like to pass on. A well-executed project kick-off meeting is like a dinner party, and you, the project manager are the gracious host. Your project teammates are your guests and it’s your job to make sure they have a great experience. 1. Set your menu (agenda). Your guests will show up starving for information, and you’re serving up five courses of it. Make sure it’s presented beautifully, on time, and everything is easy to eat! If dinner takes too long, people
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THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 10, 2022, ISSUE 1423
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