October 2, 2008
Consultants, subconsultants come together at second Capital Projects networking event
The Capital Projects Office recently held its second highly successful networking event for companies seeking a share of the UW’s capital projects, which typically amount to at least $300 million annually.
This event was designed to connect prime consultants from the architectural/engineering community with subconsultants, with special emphasis on minority- or women-owned businesses.
Last year, Capital Projects held its first networking event for prime consultants and campus units that would be potential clients. As with the first event, this one attracted a strong response, with 27 prime consultants and 38 subconsultants attending.
This event also attracted additional sponsors: the Washington State Department of General Administration, the City of Seattle, King County and Seattle Public Schools. Supporting agencies included the Washington State Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises, American Institute of Architects Seattle and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“We are getting great feedback from the prime consultants and subconsultants,” said Doug Jennings, manager of Capital Projects’ architect/engineer partnership program. “Many good business contacts were made.”
The networking event was designed to maximize the number of subconsultants who had the opportunity to meet the “primes” who might hire them, and vice versa. Each meet-and-greet was 15 minutes long, but those who wanted to arrange longer discussions at a later date were encouraged to do so.
The prime consultants welcomed the opportunity to broaden the pool of firms from which to choose. “DKA is committed to seeking qualified sub-consultants to join our project teams,” said Donald King, chief executive officer of DKA. “The networking event provided a one-stop shop to meet a number of firms.”
King confirmed the value of these face-to face meetings. “Our firm is a relationship firm and our social networks are critical to the success of our practice. We seek to do business with firms that have a matching approach to business opportunities. The networking event was an opportunity to meet new firms and learn more about ones that we knew already.”
Robert Miller of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson believes that networking events are much more effective than traditional marketing approaches. “To sit down face to face and jump right into the meat … is invaluable,” he said. And while Miller doesn’t believe that social connections automatically open doors for future contracts, networking meetings provide an opportunity to meet new people. He points out that projects are long and intense, so it’s important to work with people who enjoy one another’s company. His firm tends to continue to use subconsultants with whom they have had good experiences. “But events like this are good reminders that there are other great firms out there, and that we could mutually benefit through an opportunity to work together on a project team.”
Alex Rolluda of Rolluda Architects agreed. “When we hire a sub, we need to feel comfortable that they will perform to our standards, and that we will be able to work effectively with them. To help us gain this comfort level, a face-to-face meeting can be much more compelling than receiving a cold call or materials in the mail. It allows a two-way conversation so that the sub can learn about our needs, and we can learn about their qualifications specific to the work we do. It also enables us to begin to get a feel for the type of working relationship we might have with the individuals in the firm, and how they might fit into our team.”
Subconsultant Tiffany Aprecio, marketing coordinator for Berona Engineers, Inc., describes the event as “a fun way to get face time with some of the most important firms in the area. The event offered a lot of opportunity by formally setting up structured meetings with a variety of firms.
“Additionally, it allowed us to hear firsthand what the prime consultants were looking for when considering a subconsultant. Overall, we were able to meet many firms of interest, learn more about their needs for mechanical engineers and how to build relationships moving forward.”
A chief reason that Karen Braitmayer of Studio Pacifica, Ltd., attended was “the significant number of prime firms doing large projects. Many were firms I haven’t had the opportunity to work with, so this was a chance to get my services in front of a new group of eyes,” she said. “I met with over a dozen firms and most were unaware of my services. This was a great chance to market my work.”
