Do You Know What Today Is?

Contributed by Eric D. Lussier & Cherise Lakeside

Part I: Written by Eric D. Lussier - Co-Founder - Let's Fix Construction

A year certainly goes by faster than it used to.  This past year?  Even more so.

One year ago, a spur of the moment conversation with my friend, Cherise Lakeside, spawned my squirrel brain to kick into action.  After discussing the continued ills of the construction industry for seemingly the umpteenth time, something clicked.  We could continue talking about these issues, or, better yet, we could try and correct these issues.  We knew we weren’t the only ones facing hurdles in the office or in the field.  There had to be others.  We had to do something about it.

Three hours later, I presented Cherise with www.LetsFixConstruction.com, complete with its first two blog posts, 'The Fifth C of CSI: Collaboration'  and 'Product Manufacturers: Are You Doing it Right? Construction Education for Product Reps'. In addition to the website I created a Facebook page, a Twitter and Instagram account and an official hashtag: #FixConstruction. 

The concept was simple, share your gripe, but offer positive, left of center solutions to the problem at hand.  We both recognized some of the shortcomings of the AEC industry – the aversion to technology adoption, the skilled labor shortage and communication issues among plenty of others.  It was finally time to admit the problems, engage individuals to discuss them and publish proactive solutions for all to benefit from. 

Response was immediately enthusiastic.  But we knew the voices couldn’t be just ours.  It needed to be anyone and everyone in AEC who saw an issue and had a solution.  Each person we asked were happy to contribute posts and offer their view.  In this past year we’ve gained twenty-some contributors and have stayed true to our initial mission: to better the industry by sharing our knowledge, openly communicating & encouraging collaboration, all while being an unsponsored and unbiased platform.

We've received two best of construction blog nominations and in the process Mark Buckshon of ConstructionMarketingIdeas.com said 'This blog is one of the most solid interdisciplinary resources for architects, engineers, contractors and specifiers I’ve seen in the business.'  Not too bad for a side project that launched over Twitter direct messaging.

We knew we struck a chord, but how could we go about spreading the word wider? 

What if we leapt off of the screen and talked about the issues in person?  The LIVE concept was born and Cherise took it under her wing to deliver the first ever Let’s Fix Construction workshop to her office at Ankrom Moisan Architects in Portland and the response was collectively favorable and appreciative.  Add another workshop at a CSI Bi-Region Conference to reaffirm our belief that the live setting could work, and we were off.  We added my voice to the mix and three more workshops were booked – two in Portland, OR and one in Eugene.  With some on the fly planning and the capability to quickly change things up from one workshop to the next, the feedback remained upbeat.

With a year under our belt, it’s time to broadcast this message even further.  We need to talk to more people, reign in more contributors, get in front of our bodies.  With the addition of the Let’s Fix Construction podcast, which will be debuting soon, I know we’re on our way to reaching that goal.

Speaking of CONSTRUCT, we know the biggest challenge lays ahead of us in Providence on September 13th, with the Let’s Fix Construction interactive luncheon, but I know we’re up for it.   

I also know I’m up for year two.  A HUGE thank you goes out to our readers, supporters, contributors and especially Cherise for making August 15, 2016 to August 15, 2017 a year I won’t soon forget.  

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Part II: Written by Cherise Lakeside - Co-Founder - Let's Fix Construction

Today is a special day. 

“If you are going to complain about it, you should be ready to step up and help change it.”

That was the conversation that Eric Lussier and I were having after seeing yet another post on Social Media where most of the responses were grousing and pointing fingers and almost none of them were positive, solution based feedback.   Now don’t get me wrong, I see lots of great feedback as well, just not nearly enough and not always from the right people.

We pondered the concept of a place where people could go to get feedback, ideas and solutions to problems they face every day in Architecture, Engineering and Construction.  A place where all disciplines could weigh in with their unique perspectives on those issues and everyone could learn and grow from that feedback.  A place that ONLY allowed forward moving input and did not allow finger pointing and unproductive negativity.  A place to learn, not complain.

Then, we went back to work.  A few hours later I got a message from Eric “Cherise, go check this out.”  Expecting some goofy joke or heads up on a great band, I clicked the link.

That was the day that LetsFixConstruction.Com was born.  In a few hours, Eric had built a website where we could walk the walk.  Well now, I guess we had a project.

This was completely spontaneous.  We didn’t really know how we were going to accomplish this crazy idea but we decided to jump in head first and see where it went and we are still changing and growing every day.  Are we there yet?  Of course not!

To be honest, we don’t think that we are going to ‘fix’ all the worlds ills with this effort.   With each post, if just one person improves something they do because they learned something or had the benefit of a perspective from another discipline that makes them see that same issue in a different light – I call that a success.  As we continue to grow, improve and change – we hope we can help more than just one person.

Today though, I want to celebrate.  Today is our Birthday and I am damned proud of what we have accomplished.  An impulsive idea that began with no clear direction has turned into:

• Weekly blog posts from a stable of over 20 well respected contributors (and growing).
• Attention and requests for reprints from multiple industry rags.
• Nomination for two Best Construction Industry Blogger Awards.
• A recent expansion to facilitating in-person, interactive and collaborative workshops approaching our goal from yet another direction.
• And our latest in-development project of a Let’s Fix Construction Podcast.

We have a lot of work to do and we are committed to improving each and every day until we have created that place that all can go to get something that helps them contribute to a better built environment.

I never would or could have done this on my own.  I wouldn’t have even considered it.  My partnership with Eric in this effort has been the best part.  How we work together is the epitome of what Let’s Fix Construction is all about.  Our relationship is open-minded, collaborative, respectful, and conflict free.  We bring different ideas, perspectives and skill sets together to work toward a common goal of success.  We are not afraid to change and we are not afraid to try new things when something isn’t working.  We are definitely not afraid to throw out the box.  We actually listen to each other and we are having a blast.  Isn’t that what we all want?  What we need?
 
So today, though we are celebrating the one year anniversary of a wild idea, I would like to take this moment to thank Eric for a great year and say how excited I am for the wild ideas we have for the year ahead.  I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

It’s ALWAYS about the people.

Happy Birthday LFC!

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On this first anniversary, we are very excited to announce that CONSTRUCT has become an official partner of Let’s Fix Construction. Sylvia Wofford, Marketing Manager for CONSTRUCT, says “We feel this partnership will help spread the message of collaboration and resolution to problems that are faced in the construction industry.  CONSTRUCT wants to help proliferate solution messages through this partnership.”  You can read more about our partnership here.