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BUSINESS NEWS TWO PFLUGER PROJECTS ARE FINALISTS FOR THE TASA/TASB CAUDILL AWARD Two projects designed by Pfluger Architects are finalists for a Caudill Award for the 2019-2020 Exhibit of School Architecture competition sponsored by the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards. The Exhibit of School Architecture recognizes new and renovated Texas schools with stars of distinction in six categories, Design, Value, Sustainability, Community, Planning, and School Transformation. To be considered for a finalist in The Caudill Class, selected projects must receive at least four stars of distinction. Pieper Ranch Middle School (Comal ISD), was recognized for Design, Sustainability, Planning, and School Transformation. As one of the fastest-growing districts in the nation, Comal ISD needed a middle school that could be flexible in use and purpose. The terraced, circular layout created a busy, activity-filled courtyard that serves many purposes for the campus and community. The Nature to Neighborhood Studio (Round Rock ISD), received stars for Value, Sustainability, Community, and School Transformation. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife
Refuge, the N2N Studio is 100 percent off-grid and honors the unique nature and topography that surrounds it. The Caudill Class winners will be announced at the 2020 Texas Association of School Administrators Midwinter Conference in Austin in January. Other Pfluger projects receiving recognition are the E.L. Turbon Student Center (Alamo Colleges), for Value; and the San Gabriel Campus (Austin Community College), for Design, Sustainability, and Planning. Founded in Austin, Texas in 1973, Pfluger Architects plans and designs educational facilities that engage and inspire. With offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, Pfluger has completed more than 450 projects totaling more than $1 billion in the last five years alone. Pfluger is committed to the responsible use and management of energy and natural resources by recommending locally sourced products and efficient building systems that meet client needs and budgets. The Exhibit of School Architecture awards are given at the discretion of a 12-member jury, which includes: four school board members, four administrators, two representatives from the Texas Society of Architects and
two representatives from the Association for Learning Environments. To be eligible for consideration for the 2019-20 Exhibit of School Architecture, projects had to be newly constructed or renovated public education facilities completed in the past five years. The Texas Association of School Administrators is the professional association for Texas school superintendents and other administrators. The mission of the organization, which focuses on professional learning, advocacy and member engagement, is to promote, provide and develop leaders who create and sustain student-centered schools and develop future- ready students. The Texas Association of School Boards is an association established in 1949 to serve local public school boards. School board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the state. The districts they represent serve approximately 5.3 million students. The Texas Association of School Boards’s mission is to promote educational excellence for Texas schoolchildren through advocacy, visionary leadership, and high-quality services to school districts.
MARK ZWEIG, from page 3
5) It may show a side of your firm and people to your clients that isn’t helping your image in the marketplace. When clients see all of your company parties, or learn about the political orientation of your staff or the person in your firm responsible for their business or project, they may feel that they aren’t getting what they are paying for or that you even think bad things about them. Or perhaps all they notice is the person they are dealing with posts a lot of stupid, superficial stuff or bad jokes, and that leads them to think they aren’t very intelligent. None of this is helping you. The only solution I know of for all of this stuff is to just get off of social media. And if you won’t do that yourself, you will have a hard time getting your people to do so. Remember, it’s “monkey see, monkey do” when it comes to leadership. And if you can’t make yourself get off social media entirely, spend your time on it carefully and only post things that are potentially helpful or inspirational to your clients and coworkers. Let’s face it – social media is a virtual world. It’s a false world. Spend more time in the real world and less time on your individual PR program, and encourage your staff to do the same. Your relationships, both inside and outside of the company, will improve. We were all so excited with email and texting as productivity boosters. I know I was. But social media – I’m confident to predict – will prove to be a negative for us in the end. MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
out, too. Neither of these situations is good for you as their employer. Not to mention all the jealously that comes from coworkers when they see someone moving into a new house or buying a new car. They may think the other person is making more than they are or being treated better by the company. This can lead to them being dissatisfied with their jobs and lives. “I’m sorry to say this, but social media is bad. While there may be SOME good that comes from social media, the bad far outweighs any benefits. And it is causing lots of problems for your business!” 4) It divides your people and creates relationship problems for them with their coworkers. We all know too much about each other thanks to social media. We know how everyone we work with feels about politics, religion, current events in the community, and much more. And all of this divides us. Some people find it difficult or even impossible to work with someone who feels differently from them about some of these contentious topics. They judge them when they wouldn’t if they didn’t have so much information. Not to mention all of the relationship woes that come from who “likes” or doesn’t “like” a particular social media posting. These things can give someone the idea that another person doesn’t like them. None of this enhances your employees’ work relationships with each other or with you.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER November 11, 2019, ISSUE 1320
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