Emerging Leaders Learn to Communicate Effectively

Posted on by cguske

The 2015 Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) class met in May where the focus was on helping the students write more persuasively and present more effectively.

Ed Crews, principal at Crews Communications, spoke to the students about some of the outlining, writing, and editing that he has seen improve his and others work over the years. He took the students through a series of writing exercises designed to help the students make their point efficiently and effectively.

photo by Marshall Dreiling
photo by Marshall Dreiling

Michael Chapman from the Martin Agency reviewed some of the techniques that the agency uses to make their presentations more impactful. From his experience on being part of the teams that have made some of the most memorable commercials in recent years, he explained to the students that each presentation should be a story.

Work continues on the class project – the neighborhood of Chesterfield Heights in Norfolk. Each student individually presented their ideas of how to deal with the problem of the rising sea level in this area.

The students next session will be taking place on June 12, 2015 in Virginia Beach where they will be learning about the importance of group work dynamics.

ELA Class Starts Work on Chesterfield Heights

Posted on by cguske

The March ELA Session was this year’s first Project workday, and with this year’s project brief focused on the neighborhood of Chesterfield Heights in Norfolk, the students spent the day learning about the history and future of this neighborhood. Early in the day the students heard from Shereen Hughes, Mason Andrews, and Mujde Erten-Unal, from Wetlands Watch, Hampton University, and Old Dominion University respectively. With help from the Hampton and ODU students, Shereen, Mason, and Mujde presented the current research and projects about Chesterfield Heights. They spoke on how this area is being greatly affected by sea level rise, discussed some current methods for dealing with the issue, and provided concepts that the students had developed during their fall and spring semesters.

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ELA Class of 2015 starts work on their project in Chesterfield Heights, Norfolk

To put this new knowledge into practice, the students were treated to a tour of Chesterfield Heights. During the tour, the students were presented with the many ways that the Elizabeth River Project is educating residents and trying to bring the community together to help alleviate the pressures presented by constant flooding. Also during the tour, the students were able to visit the new Grandy Village Learning Center. During the presentation and tour of the facility given by Russell Carlock, AIA, the students learned how this LEED Gold certified building was helping to bring the community together through education and other activities on the water.

Once the students returned to the Slover Library, they met with Christine Morris, the Chief Resiliency Officer from the City of Norfolk. She spoke about how Norfolk needs to become more adaptable to various manmade and natural shocks and stresses. To point all this information in the right direction, the students used the rest of the day as a project work day.

The next session takes place on April 10th in Alexandria.

ELA 2015 Class Project Announced

Posted on by cguske

The 2015 class of the Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) met on Friday, February 13 in Charlottesville. Titled “Serving Communities,” The students heard from a number of speakers about what it means to volunteer and give back to their communities.

Bruce Wardell, AIA, Kathy Galvin, AIA, and Kurt Keesecker, AIA, each used examples from their own lives where they had volunteered and what it meant to them. Knowing how busy architects lives can get, each speaker also stressed how important is is to find that aspect of volunteer work that intrigues you and that you love to do so that you get the most out of the experience. The students also visited the Greater Charlottesville chapter of Habitat for Humanity to see firsthand what giving back can do in the community.

Everything that the students participated in that day was designed to prepare them for their annual project, which begins in earnest during their meeting this month. The 2015 class project is focused on a region of Norfolk named Chesterfield Heights. This is a historic district of Norfolk that is in danger of flooding due to the rise in the sea level, and presents an interesting challenge for the students in the year ahead.