Chapter Events
September Chapter Meeting
May 27th Meeting
Hello Members and Friends,
February 25, 2008 Chapter Meeting
R&D Tax Credit
Wednesday, February 25
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: If your firm has invested time, money, and resources towards the advancement and improvement of its products and processes, then you may qualify for the R&D tax credit. A tax credit could provide among other things, a hidden and immediate source of cash as well as significant reduction to current and future years’ federal and state tax liabilities.
In this meeting we will review the tax credit regulations; identify activities that qualify, examples of success, and the process for identifying, gathering and documenting the credit. We encourage you to bring your principals and officers.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Kevin Corley is a Senior Managing Director at alliantgroup’s Houston national office. Kevin brings over 15 Years of diversified public accounting experience. Kevin’s expertise includes middle market and privately held companies. Working closely with owners and investors on tax consulting and financial analysis, Kevin was intimately involved with tax strategies and consulting on specialized engagements. Prior to his current role, Kevin was a partner at regional CPA firm and headed up the firm’s R&D tax services practice and was instrumental in marketing strategies. Kevin also worked with several companies as an outsourced CFO. He is a CPA, member of the AICPA and a certified financial planner.
Architects: 1.5 AIA CES credit will be awarded to AIA members.
Annual Holiday Luncheon
November 19, 2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Bob Staed is a St. Louis Chapter SDA member, as well as a partner in and the founder of the St. Louis office of Ames & Gough, an insurance and risk management consulting firm, specializing in serving the needs of architectural and engineering firms. Ames and Gough serves in excess of 1,000 A/E clients who, collectively, have offices in all 50 states and projects in more than 100 countries throughout the world.
Bob joined Ames & Gough in 2008. Prior to that, he was a senior principal with HOK Sport where he served as chief legal officer, as well as a member of the six-person management team responsible for running HOK Sport’s day-to-day U.S. operations. Prior to joining HOK Sport in 2005, Bob served as senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, and advisor to the board of directors of HOK Sport’s parent company, HOK Group, Inc. Before that, he was in private law practice in the St. Louis area from 1987 through 1994, with a primary focus on defending professional negligence cases. He also served from 1995 through 2000 on the Corporate Counsel Committee of the American Bar Association's Forum on Construction. Bob is a 1984 graduate of St. Louis University, from which he also received his law degree in 1987. He is the current Chairman of the Board of Rebuilding Together – St. Louis, a not-for-profit that assists elderly and disabled homeowners stay safely in their homes.
DATE / LOCATION AGENDA
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:30am – Lunch
Engineer’s Club 12:00pm –Tour
4359 Lindell Blvd. 1:00pm – Adjourn
St. Louis, MO 63108
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$25.00 Members / $35.00 Non-Members
Make Checks Payable to: SDA St. Louis
Payment is due at the door, cash or check.
Reservations required. No-shows will be billed. No refunds
Members @ $25.00 each =
Non-Members @ $35.00 each =
Total
RSVP by 3:00pm Friday, November 14, 2008
For reservations, please contact Cindy Risman at 314-289-9202 or cindyr@herainc.com
October 22,2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION AND SPEAKERS:
In 2002, leaders at Alberici Corporation decided to be a leader in their industry and turn their corporate headquarters into the “greenest” building in town. In 2004, their efforts became reality when this building became the St Louis area’s first LEED Certified Platinum commercial building. To achieve this milestone, Alberici transformed a circa-1950s brick office building and large metal fabrication shed into a “green” class A office space and campus. But before that could be done, significant challenges had to be overcome. This included:
- An unneeded 60,000 sf existing brick and concrete office building
- A 485 ft by 300 ft metal structure previously used for metal fabrication and warehousing
- A heavily-paved brownfield site
- Excessive stormwater runoff, handled conventionally
- Asbestos and lead
- Demolition and waste
- 13.86 acres of neglected landscape
On October 22, 2008, our chapter will meet at Alberici’s Headquarters. We’ll get a tour from a project specialist who will take us through the story of this building’s dramatic transformation. You don’t want to miss this chapter event. Lunch will be provided before the tour in Alberici’s cafeteria.
September 24, 2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: The Changing Face of Construction
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Tracy Hart, President of Tarlton Corporation, is the first woman to become president of a major general contracting company in St. Louis, and one of a few nationally. Since joining the company in 1988, she has been involved in strategic planning, client care, human resources, finance, business development and marketing. She has greatly contributed to the company’s repeat business record, with 75 percent of the firm’s business now coming from repeat clients. Revenues also have increased under her leadership. Tracy is a successful area business and community leader, serving on the boards of local civic and cultural organizations and receiving awards for her contributions to the community, including the St. Louis Business Journal’s “40 Under 40" award, as well as being named among the area’s “25 Most Influential Business Women.” In 2008 she was elected the first woman chairman of the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis, having served on the board since 1996. She has also served the AGC on the state and national levels. Tracy received a degree in English and Communication from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
August 27, 2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: Are you new to SDA? Thinking of trying it out? Are you a veteran member who’s not sure if you’re getting the most out of your membership? Can SDA help your professional career…how? What’s it like serving on the National Executive Committee (ExComm)? How many national members are there? Is SDA growing or shrinking on a national level? Find out answers to these questions and more at our August meeting. A member from the ExComm will be in town to speak.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: J. Melodee Futch is an Associate with FKP Architects, Inc., in Houston, TX, where she supports three principals / project managers. She has been with the firm for over nine years. In February 2008, Melodee was named one of nine Initiative Leaders for the firm. Responsibilities involve assisting the principals in their day to day roles, budget preparation and fee analysis, client and consultant agreements, client and consultant correspondence / coordination, managing all team travel, and supporting other members of the FKP team. Other responsibilities include preparation of FKP’s professional liability insurance application and coordinating the yearly program for professional liability education for all employees. She also manages all of FKP’s AIA software licenses and renewals. She is a member of the following FKP committees: Project Managers’, Associates’ Group, Initiative Leaders Group, FKP's Training and Education, and Professional of the Quarter.
Melodee joined the Houston Chapter Society for Design Administration in 2001 and has held the Chapter offices of Vice President, President-Elect, President for two consecutive years, and Immediate Past President for two consecutive years. During her years on the Houston Board, significant accomplishments for SDA Houston included developing and launching SDA Houston’s first website (sdahouston.com), hosting the 2004 Central States Regional Conference, as well as receiving SDA Houston’s first invitation from the AIA Houston Board to attend board meetings, acting as the SDA liaison. She enjoys organizing the SDA Holiday Social each year in December. Melodee is currently serving the Society for the third year as a member of the Executive Committee, this year serving as the Society’s National President-Elect.
July 23, 2008 Chapter Meeting
EdSymposium Recap
Come and find out what happened at the SDA National Convention last month in Boston, MA. We had four St Louis chapter members attend and they had a great time. Each will give a brief run-down of something worthwhile they saw or learned about.
June 25, 2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: Are you frustrated because you can’t seem to get rid of your paper piles? Do you know where you’re wasting time during the day? Claire Keeling will provide participants with the latest information on paper flow, action systems, time wasters and time management. Attendees will leave with strategies to deal with the continuous onslaught of paper and inefficiencies due to interruptions and other time management issues. Claire will share tips, tools and methods to help participants to become more efficient in their workday.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Claire has been sharpening her interpersonal skills for many years. Prior to establishing Sort It Out, Claire had over 10 years of experience working as a sales representative, in the pharmaceutical industry. Her responsibilities included project management, goal setting,
time management, product training, communication skills development, and strategic
planning.
Claire is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and serves on
the board of directors with NAPO – St. Louis. She is certified in both the Clear & SIMPLE
and FreedomFiler systems. Her community efforts include involvement in the United Way
Women's Leadership Giving Initiative - The Power Of The Purse. Claire has been featured
in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Suburban Journal. She has been interviewed on the
three St. Louis morning television news shows, Channel 2, 4 and 5, as well as KMOX
radio.
Claire Keeling founded Sort It Out, Inc. in 2004 in response to a growing demand for
organization and efficiency expertise in the corporate world. “Some people are born with
an ability to maintain order and categorize and prioritize their tasks. It is my goal to fill a
gap in people’s professional tool kit and provide training and coaching to support people
as they learn how to maximize how they use their time, energy, and money”, quotes
Keeling.
May 28, 2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: Office sustainability- going beyond the paper vs. plastic debate!
Learning Objectives: By the end of the session the attendees will walk away with:
1. A guideline to start the process of an office sustainability plan
2. Resources to help guide the plan.
3. Ideas to maintain the process.
4. Ways to market their sustainability plan.
Description: We are bombarded daily with options for a sustainable lifestyle. The question is how sustainable do you want to be?
Kim will discuss ways and show examples on how to start the process of making sustainability not only an option for your clients, but for your office and your life. We hope that by the end of the session you will have the groundwork to start, maintain, or revamp a sustainability plan.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
Kimberly Hughes has worked for Mackey Mitchell Architects for 10 years. She is currently the Office Manager, and previously worked as a Project Assistant.
Kim has been a member of the Society of Design Administration since 1999. While in SDA, Kim has served on numerous committees in addition to several Board positions.
April 23, 2008 Chapter Meeting
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: Sometimes it is difficult to demonstrate your
value as a non-revenue generating employee in a professional service
organization. Our speaker, Wendy Werner, will explore this topic.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Wendy L. Werner is a consultant specializing in the
areas of career management, employee development, and practice
management. For over twenty years she has worked with individuals in the
creation of career development plans and implementation of effective job
search strategies. Werner Associates, LLC also works with professional
services firms to help them develop effective recruiting and retention
plans and marketing strategies. She also has extensive experience in
executive coaching, developing training curriculum, and conducting
seminars.
Since 2001 Wendy has written a monthly column on careers and practice
management for the Saint Louis Lawyer, the monthly publication of the
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. She has a master's degree in
Personnel Administration and Counseling from Indiana University, and an
undergraduate degree from DePauw University.
March 2008 Chapter Meeting
Color history, color theory, color assembling and color forecasting.
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: Color has a huge impact on the design industry. Should the doctor’s office walls be painted blue or yellow? Why? How does the economy impact color forecasting? How can the color wheel help us understand design decision-making? We’ll explore these questions and much more in this presentation.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Bob Winters, AIA, principal with Ottolino Winters Huebner, a full service architectural, planning and interiors firm here in St. Louis presented on this fascinating topic. Bob earned an undergraduate degree at Grinnell College with a major in Studio Fine Arts and a Master of Architecture degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Past President of the St. Louis Chapter of the AIA, Bob served continuously on the Board of Directors from 1993 through 2000. He was a jury member of the first AGC Building Awards and he has also juried the AIA National Photograph Contest. He also has served on the University City Commission for Arts and Letters and is past president of the University City Swim Club. Currently, Bob is a member of the Washington University Alumni Advisory Board and is the President of the AIA’s St. Louis Scholarship Committee.
March 2008 CANstruction Buildout on Display
March 6, 2008—CANstruction Buildout
Structures on display until March 18, 2008
February 2008 Chapter Meeting
Setting a Technology Plan
ABOUT OUR PRESENTATION: Technology is critical to every business. A good technology plan will align your business objectives with IT objectives, solving many of the problems which face IT departments and business executives. Business owners want to understand what they are getting for their IT investment. Both internal and contracted IT support staff need clearly defined goals and objectives to work towards. A properly executed technology plan will provide clarity for both groups, and the buy-in created in the process helps IT organizations obtain funding and business owners get the project-driven, results-oriented culture they desire.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Bill Russell, of Pioneer Solutions Group, Inc., is an experienced CIO and service delivery expert. He focuses on helping companies select, implement and support the right technology to improve results. As a contract CIO, Bill specializes in working with executives and managers to apply technology to their business models. As a service delivery expert, Bill works with geographically dispersed organizations to implement technology in a uniform and manageable way.
Prior to Pioneer Solutions Group, Bill was the CIO for Concordia University Ann Arbor for four years and prior to that he served as Vice President of Service Delivery for MicroAge, a national service delivery organization with 2000 technicians and engineers. Bill has earned several awards for technical and managerial excellence during his 22 years as a technician, engineer, and technical manager.
Bill has taught several college level technology courses on programming, and web technologies. He has held major certifications from Cisco, Microsoft, VMWare, Novell, Compaq, 3Com, IBM and others. Bill is actively involved in the community, and serves as the chairman for the board of Campus Commission in St. Charles. He holds a degree in economics from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
About Pioneer Solutions Group, Inc.
Pioneer is a contract IT executive and project management firm, specializing in leveraging technology to create solutions that enable businesses to succeed. Pioneers’ clients are primarily small to medium sized businesses as well as a number of Fortune and Service 500 companies.
January 2008 Chapter Meeting
Managing Generation Conflicts
About our Presentation: It's getting harder to manage people, because (1) work is becoming more high pressure, and (2) workers (particularly the youngest generation in today's workplace) are becoming more high maintenance. Come see why generational author Bruce Tulgan says there's an "under-management epidemic" in American companies and why managing well may be the answer to generational conflicts in the workplace. Encourage your project managers and principals to attend this presentation with your - they're sure to recognize some of their own foibles, and you'll all have a good discussion in the car on the way back to the office.
About Our Speaker: Cindy Petzoldt joined Mackey Mitchell Architects in 1988 as Assistant to the President and became Office Manager in 1990. She added various HR duties and was promoted to a new full-time position. Director of HR, in 2006. She has a BA in English from Missouri State University and an MBA from Maryville University.
Cindy Helped form SDA St. Louis and served as its first president in 1999. She served as chapter VP in 2007. She served as national coordinator for the 2001 Leadership Conference and continues to serve her chapter as certification chair. In June 2006, she presented "You're Talking, But I don't Hear You" at SDA's national convention in Los Angeles. She'll present "Generation Mixmanagement" at the Principals' Roundtable for SDA's 2008 Leadership Conference in Alexandria VA.