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BUSINESS NEWS HDR ESTABLISHES NEW LOS ANGELES OFFICE HDR ’s new office at Two California Plaza in the Bunker Hill District of downtown Los Angeles reflects the firm’s strong commitment to connect and improve lives through the design of the built environment, clean water, and transportation projects throughout Los Angeles. Leading HDR’s architecture studio in Los Angeles is Usman Tariq, the new managing principal. At HDR for eight years, he was most recently the associate managing

principal of HDR’s Washington, D.C., studio, and was instrumental in its successful growth. Tariq is looking forward to being part of this renewed sense of identity for HDR. “The move from Pasadena is a catalyst for a storied future for HDR that is driven by excellence in design, quality, and innovation, while remaining focused on client and community engagement,” he said. Leading the engineering practice in Los

Angeles is Kip Field, southern California area manager. “We’re currently delivering on some of the largest highway and transit projects in Los Angeles County,” Field said. A grand opening celebration for the new office – and HDR’s 100th anniversary – was recently held with approximately 250 people in attendance. “It was a vibrant event that reflected the passion of all of the HDR professionals who call Los Angeles home,” Field said.

RANDY WILBURN, from page 9

where they write articles from time to time. In addition to blogging, there is also the option to shoot a vlog about your company. Next to blogging, podcasting is probably the lowest barrier to entry since you only need a recording device – usu- ally a smartphone, a microphone, and a place to upload your recording. From a vanity perspective, you also don’t have to worry about “hat head,” or how you look that day. You can re- cord and post your podcast on iTunes or Google Play quickly and make it available to the world. 4)The cost to start a podcast is very low. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t need a lot of special equipment or a fancy studio to record a podcast episode. I’ve recorded an episode in a car, on an airplane (sitting on the runway), in a bathroom, and in the middle of a trade show. All you need is a quiet room, a smartphone with a recording app, headphones with a good mic – I’ve used my generic white Apple headphones on several dozen podcast episodes – and a podcast server that will host your podcast. You can also spend a consider- able amount of money by using a professional sound studio, expensive equipment, and a professional editor. It depends on what you want to achieve. My recommendation is to get started and make adjustments as you go. 5)Create an audience that didn’t exist before. Finally, the thing that I enjoy most about doing a podcast is that you don’t know who will put your message between their ears. When we first started The Zweig Letter podcast, I wasn’t sure anyone was listening. That is until I went and visited with a client in Iowa. He sat down next to me at a conference table before a meeting and proceeded to tell me he had just listened to me on his morning run. I looked at him and said, “What!?” He told me he listens to all our podcasts and was a big fan. I was totally floored. That conversation has happened over and over during the last two years with a variety of clients. It never gets old. You can’t go wrong with starting a podcast. I tried to make my case here with some of the tangible collective benefits for your firm. The barrier to entry is very low and you can quickly gain momentum with your audience. Referencing the statistics from earlier in the article, I believe the numbers will only increase in the future as more people download and listen to podcasts on their commute, in the gym, and even at work. If you have questions about getting started or need some guidance in this area, please feel free to reach out to us. We’d be happy to help you any way that we can. Happy podcasting! RANDY WILBURN is director of recruiting strategy at Zweig Group. Contact him at rwilburn@zweiggroup.com.

Nowadays, you can lift your smartphone to your ear, using applications like Anchor.FM, and talk about virtually anything and end up with a finished product that can be automatically uploaded to iTunes, Soundcloud, or a host of other services. If you’re still not sure about podcasts, consider these statistics from Edison Research: ❚ ❚ 112 million Americans have listened to a podcast, up 11 per- cent in one year. ❚ ❚ 42 million Americans listen to podcasts weekly. This repre- sents 15 percent of the U.S. population. ❚ ❚ Two-thirds of podcasts are heard on a phone or tablet. We could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Podcasting is on the rise, and more people will adopt the technology and listen in as more podcasts are created. “With the growth of smartphone technology and a little focus we are in a place where everyone can get started with a podcast and become their own production house.” And that’s where you come in, and for five good reasons! 1)Expand your brand internally. One way to spread your firm’s culture, history, and current events, is to create an in- ternal podcast for your employees. Walt Disney World does this for their people, and it’s reported to be very valuable for team members. You can talk about historical firm events, spe- cial internal programs, and what management is up to. Larger firms will really benefit as this gives you more than one meth- od of communicating with your team. 2)Educate clients and potential clients on how you do things. In addition to telling your firm story internally, you can use a podcast to educate clients and potential clients on your organization, how you operate, and what makes you different than the competition. You can create an editorial calendar and develop podcast episodes around the different sections of your business, highlight successful projects, and discuss your plans for the future. 3)Develop new mediums to share your firm’s story. Most design firms have a website, and some even have a blog page

THE ZWEIG LETTER December 18, 2017, ISSUE 1228

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