If Wednesday was about defining a candidacy, yesterday was about the candidate selling himself. Once again, I can’t help but draw the parallel to the world of architecture.
At midnight, I was sitting at the B.A.N.K. having a glass of wine, contemplating the day’s activities and figuring out what the theme of today’s comments would be. Joe, chairman of an investment holding company based in New York was sitting close by. He asked me what I thought of McCain’s speech. He thought there was too much about Vietnam. I said that I thought McCain was trying to build trust with a large audience. That started a great conversation.
I told with him that I was a local architect attending the RNC for the AIA, and have been sharing thoughts of the convention that might connect with architects. I explained my Wednesday’s comments, and he raised his eyebrows. I continued on and said that the election will ultimately be won on which candidate is trusted most by the voters. (My nephew, an investment fund manager in D.C., believes that voting is more visceral than logical. I tend to agree with him.)
We came back to my Wednesday’s comments. I said that I believed people hire their architect because they trust him. Joe was quick to say that he would hire an architect for his home because the architect is more creative than he. He would look at the architect’s past work, check references, and see if the architect performed relative to schedule. He really placed a high priority on creativity.
As we drilled down a little more, I asked him if he thought it was important that the architect he would hire reflected the client’s spirit or his own? He talked about needs (space) and then continued on with comments about volume, light, exterior connection, interior design, etc. I then asked him if he would hire an architect that he didn’t trust to reflect his spirit. His eyebrows rose again.
So, whom do you trust to be America’s lead architect for the next 4 years?
PS: Other activity yesterday…
11:30: Met several mayors from across the country at a US Conference of Mayors gathering on the Mississippi River.
- Mayor Tim, from Connecticut, working on $500M redevelopment – Mixed Use. City incentives to allow density for affordable housing. Retail only at ground level
- Mayoral Candidate Hal, from Omaha, discussed issues of redevelopment, particularly affordable worker housing.
- Mayor Nathan, (www.smallcitymayor.com) from MN, after 2 year public planning process, has the support from his constituents to aggressively re-develop downtown, along with development of high-speed communications backbone. Community knows it must compete to encourage younger entrepreneurs to stay.
A big thanks to the AIA for the opportunity to participate in the RNC. This has been a great learning experience, and it has been fun sharing thoughts.
Nick Ruehl, AIA
Nick is an advisor and resource to high-performing companies (and those striving to be) in strategic planning, business development and team building. He is an architect, and has been in business for 37 years. Nick is also the Mayor of Excelsior, MN. He can be contacted at nruehl@mchsi.com.