Technology in the Classroom

For this blog topic, we were asked whether technology helped or hindered us in a group setting as we worked on our project.  I felt that the group page in blackboard was helpful in some ways, but annoying in other aspects.  The link that let us email our whole group was pretty helpful, because I would often forget my group member's email addresses.  Attaching a document to the group page was somewhat helpful too.  The only thing different that I wish you could change about those 2 features is to somehow have more control over it.  I wish that you could connect the member's email addresses to your own email page.

Our group never took advantage of the virtual page on blackboard.  I feel that blackboard is becoming obsolete after having used it for the past four years.  I think there has to be a smarter way to relay information than to constantly login to this server that often is down or has glitches to it.

Ethical Principles

In class we discussed a letter that was written during the holocaust.  At the time of reading it, I had no clue that it took place during that time frame.  I learned that even in business writing there are conspiracies and cover ups.  It seems like that example was very black and white ethically, but many cases would probably be categorized into shades of gray.

Upon graduation, I plan on entering a 2nd degree/graduate school.  I hope that through my professional career I can continue to maintain a positive ethical rapport.  I think it is very important to stand by your ethical principles and to draw the line at certain points between what is right and wrong.  

Miscommunication in the Work Setting

Over the past 3 summers and 2 winters I have worked as an intern for an architecture firm in Augusta, GA.  Information can be miscommunicated all the time.  Many of the times information was just not specific enough during meetings.  One of my bosses would tell me or another employee to perform certain duties, but they would not say specifics about what they wanted.  In architecture, specifications can sometimes dominate a project, thus the importance.  Miscommunication can be prevented by being specific, documenting as much as possible whether by taking pictures, writing the facts down, or taking measurements.

One More Presentation & Past Experiences with Portfolios

I enjoyed Tyler Cooney's presentation on Prague the most this week.  Traveling is one of my favorite things to do, so it's not hard to persuade me into liking a presentation about European cities.  I also think Tyler's experiences have been similar to mine while traveling abroad to certain European cities, hence the reasoning behind the choosing.  I thought the pictures and description of the city were great and would really enjoy visiting the city when I get the chance.

I have never really done an online portfolio before.  However, last semester I took a portfolio class where we had to design two portfolio's, one more of an academic type look to it and another tailored more towards the professional realm.  I had some bad experiences with the professor because she was a bit harsh and gave rash advice when it came to the design.  I thoroughly enjoyed the designing of the portfolio.  I used the Adobe Indesign to design the portfolio, I found this program made it extremely easy to navigate through each spread and make easy adjustments to text and imagery.  I think I will be ready for the draft on the 23rd, after our professor explains how to load the online version.

Presentations

My classmates and I have had to give presentations over the last two weeks.  Out of all the presentations I saw, I enjoyed David Gordon's the best.  I thought he was very creative with the topic of The Best Active Athlete.  David made his presentation very humorous and thought of how his audience would react.  For me the best part of his presentation were the reasons why he named each athlete the winner in the tournament.  I learned that Usaine Bolt was the fastest runner.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Joe Broerman's Cincinnati's Skyline Chili.  Joe gave some background info on its origination.  The thing I enjoyed most about Joe's presentation was him actually bringing the chili for us to taste after having presented about it.  Anytime someone talks about food, I usually get hungry...so what better way to full-fill that appetite.  I learned that Cincinnati is famous for this chili.  I also thought the imagery that Joe showed of an old man enjoying his three-way and having a bib on at an old time restaurant was hysterical.

And last but not least, Ryan Cromer's presentation on Racquetball was informative.  I guess it caught my attention because I use to play racquetball some.  The way he described the sport about a little rubber ball flying through the room between two to four people was pretty funny.  Some of the imagery grossed me out about how people have been hurt in the sport, such as a bloody eye from being hit by the ball and not wearing goggles.   I guess with his presentation I was able to connect really well since I've played the sport for some amount of time.

Cover Letters & Advice

For this week's blog, we were asked to respond to a link about cover letters and their advice.  I think that some of the general advice was helpful.  You obviously would not want to send out a generic cover letter to a mass amount of companies, but you want to instead be specific, direct, and to the point.  I did not realize the majority of the focus of the cover letter should be geared towards the company.  I have always thought of it as another means to market yourself with the resume.

I think that most cover letters are probably ignored in larger companies and like the article said they tend to look at the resumes and already have some type of recruiting program in place.  On the other hand, with smaller companies, if they are interested in your resume, then yes they probably will look at your cover letter.  I was unaware of the ratio of cover letters to resumes that large employers only read.  I did not realize that it was such a big gap.

Client Project

After having the client visit in class, I havn't had any really outstanding ideas.  I think I will be more inclined to use the marketing based strategy and come up with a catchy video that has a provocative slogan.  My biggest concern is that we do something creative, nothing too mediocre that won't grab the public's attention.  Perhaps something funny enough to spark an interest first and then more into the details.  Things are going alright in our group.  I do not have any questions at this time about our project.

Interview Mistakes

I recently read an article that listed the 10 biggest interview mistakes which included: 

1)Don't Ask Stupid Questions

2)Don't Treat the Secretary Poorly

3)Don't wait to respond when asked questions and don't give false/promissory or inaccurate information in your response.

4)Don't forget to ask follow up.

5)Don't forget to follow up.

6)Don't rely solely on the interview.

7)Don't forget to practice.

8)Don't be afraid to ask for help.

9)Don't forget to prepare for the phone interview.

10)Don't sweat the little things.

After having read this article, I agree that all of these are large interview mistakes and can hinder the outcome of applying for a job.  I believe that there are further things you can do to prepare for an interview rather just forgetting or not doing these tasks.  Something that I would do, is research the company that you are interviewing and come up with questions for them so that the interview can be a dialogue rather than a one sided questionnaire.  Many times if you do research about the company and ask questions in an interview, the decision makers will be impressed and more likely to hire you.

My last professional interview went very well.  It was very small and private, and consisted of meeting at a table with 3 architects.  I showed them some of my selected academic work, demonstrating to them that I had the capability to perform certain duties and conveyed my professional goals.  The atmosphere was pretty relaxing outside of being a little bit nervous and the dialogue went smoothly.  I responded to their questions in honesty and based on their facial expressions and their tone of voice.  At the end of the interview, the architects responded by offering me an internship.  This upcoming week, I have another interview with the same company, but for a different position now that I am graduating.

Free Blog Topic

Since the spring season is right around the corner, something of interest to me is Spring Break travel destinations.  I love traveling... so going to any of these places would be ideal for me.  Here were some of the top locations that I found...

Bahamas Party Cruise

Cancun, Mexico

Panama City Beach, FL

South Padre Island, TX

Acapulco, Mexico

Mazatlan, Mexico

Nassau, Bahamas

Negril, Jamaica

Porta Vallarta, Mexico

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Miami & South Beach, FL

Amsterdam

London

Paris

Whistler Blackcomb, BC Canada - ski resort

Winter Park, Colorado

Aspen

The great thing that I recently found out, was that Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean can still be traveled to by land or sea without a passport (check with the company if taking a commercial cruise).  The exception is if you are returning to the US from all of them by air they require a passport.

In Ten Years...

I hope to be licensed as an architect...working with a firm that I feel passionate about, creating designs that are meaningful to the community that I am engaged with.  I do not wanna be working on some meaningless projects, yet I understand that architecture is not all glamorous every moment.  From what I understand the profession can be stressful at times, but I think it is what you make of it.  After graduation, I am planning to complete my Intern Development Program (usually a 3 year period), then at some point complete my Masters of Architecture.

As far as my personal life...I am sure that I will be married and have kids by that time. My family will definitely be my everything to me and probably consume me outside of my professional life.  I am looking forward to traveling a heck of a lot more after I graduate and get married.  I feel like I have already been to the most romantic spots in the world and hope to continue that lifestyle.  I intend to stay in the south, but I have no real commitments yet.  I would like to find a permanent spot in the south and travel on vacations as often as possible.  I do not see myself being the type of guy that has his heart set on greed or money... I'll be fine as long as I am having fun at my profession and enjoying time with my future family.  

I hope that my lifestyle will be reflective in being a good steward of things given to me, rather than being too caught up in American consumerism.  I also hope that the type of architecture that I practice can give back to the economy, be green, efficient, and be an investment.  God is the one that I will turn to during all these lifelong decisions.

Week 2: Web 2.0

In my opinion this video hit on some very key issues to my generation.  I think that the title of the video is very appropriate.  I agree with the ending remarks that we'll need to rethink a few things...copyright, authorship, identity, rethorics, governance, privacy, commercy, love, family, and ourselves.

Web 2.0 is probably going to affect people who are already in the work force by a great means.  I think it will call for employers to change their ways of getting things done.  I think some of the old school employers will have great reluctance to change and adapt, but with a convincing argument they can be won over.  It would be in their best interests to take advantage of what Web 2.0 has to offer with linking people together, making it easier to share, connect, collaborate, and exchange information.  As far as people who are currently entering the workforce such as ourselves, I would think we are expected to be the most technologically advanced generation and be very familiar with everything that the web has to offer.

I still think there is a great ways to go before everyone will rely on the web.  Some believe that there is too much reliance on the web and technology.  In my opinion there has to be a good medium between using the web and being old school.  There is a certain advantage in many cases of having a hands on edge rather than using the web.  Rethinking all of these ideas for me is going to be how to get things done more effectively and with a better return in your investment of such technologies.

Landon's Introduction

(me @ the riverfront in Charleston in front of art sculpture)

Hi Class,

My name is Landon Ray.  I am currently finishing my last semester as an architecture major.  I have mixed feelings about graduation.  I hope to work for an architecture firm after graduation and complete my internship.  Maybe in a couple of years I will go back to graduate school to obtain my Master's in Architecture.  I am from North Augusta, SC and have lived in Augusta, GA for the last few years.

I love to travel!  I studied abroad in Genoa, Italy for a semester and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I lived in Japan for 3 years as a child.  My interests range from attending theatrical/acoustical events, meeting new people, trying new foods/wines/beers, playing pool/ping pong, ice skating, hiking, snow skiing, doing photography, to trying to keep fit.  My favorite band is Coldplay!  My new year's resolution was to start back running and to be in the best shape of my life by graduation.