In this first episode of 2020, Andy sat down with Nick Camp from Humanscale about Acoustic Privacy, workspace ergonomics, and where workspace design is headed in 2020!

Arwen McMakin works as an Interior Designer and Account Manager for Furniture Solutions Now.

So many people today complain about the open office. There are articles all over the place that say we should all move on from the open office setup and find a different way to design office space. The reason? Noise and distractions.

While we at MPS know all too well about these issues, Arwen McMakin of Furniture Solutions Now thinks the open office design can be great. “I think it is a good thing,” she said. “When you hire someone who’s young and new, you wanna be able to be visible with somebody who’s experienced.” The idea that working together in an open environment can contribute positively is something she is passionate about. “The majority of us love to be around people, so I don’t think it’s gonna go.” Says Arwen, when talking about what may eventually happen to the open office design. The idea that a proper work environment can be accomplished with open space is something that Arwen and others at Furniture Solutions Now believe in. When asked why she is so focused on helping put together the right furniture plan but also incorporating acoustics and other treatments, she says “The customers don’t know, they’re relying on me to do that.”

Arwen has a passion for helping her customers get a space that works. Her focus on utilizing partners to help her create the right space has made her one of the leading designers and account managers for a great partner in DFW.

Jeff Carlson joins Andy Vawter on the podcast to discuss the way technology is changing the way designers integrate information from manufacturers, and in particular how MyResourceLibrary's virtual product library is itself helping drive this change.

Construction can be a tough business. Contractors have to be extremely good at coordinating people, materials, budgets and problems. What makes one contractor different from another? Elias Bahar of Balfour Beatty thinks it has a lot to do with the culture of the company and personal passion. “one of our big focuses is on culture.” Says Elias. Elias believes that an aligned organization can go much further when all employees understand the big picture. This vision pushes Balfour to be different than other contactors. One example of this is the process by which Balfour is overly transparent with the construction numbers to a client. Elias believes that transparency helps them win business because they can show in detail what it will take to build the building the way the customer is requesting. This transparency has built a large group of existing customers who know and trust that the price they get from Balfour will be a very good representation of the final cost.

An organization that has alignment and understanding of the overall goal can typically accomplish great things. Elias points out how his company tries to achieve this type of thinking, “understanding the bigger picture versus just focusing in on, hey, I’m good at this one thing, or hey, I’m bad at this one thing…it is how do these all complement each other.” When employees can see what the organization as a whole is trying to accomplish, there is a better chance of everyone getting behind a particular way of doing things or philosophy. The employees at Balfour Beatty in Dallas understand this better than most.

Elias’s passion for construction is evident. “when you start thinking about if money’s not an object, what would you do? Honestly, I’d be in construction.” He has been in construction since he graduated and has plans to only continue in the industry. “I would like clients to be told the truth” is his final wish for the industry. There can be a lot of low bids and misinformation floating around in this industry, so Elias believes that passion for construction, aligned culture within the organization and focus on truth and transparency will ultimately put both he and his company ahead of the pack.

METROCON 2019 was a fun event for MPS™ as we exhibited in a design vignette with other companies in partnership with the design firm Smith Group, we sponsored a classroom and met tons of people around the CEU classrooms and delivered a CEU for designers and architects. The event brings in designers and architects from around Texas who are looking for exposure to different manufacturers as well as earning continuing education units. Andy Vawter delivered our AIA course on privacy in office design for the event. He also sat down with Daniel Litwin of Market Scale to discuss designing for privacy in modern offices on the Market Scale B2B Podcast.

The interview was all about how office space is changing to more open collaborative space and how MPS™ is working to educate everyone involved about the issues of acoustics and privacy. Andy and Daniel discuss how this change is impacting the office space. “Believe it or not” says Andy, “phone booths are coming back.” Businesses are trying to find a way to save costs and open up the space, but they know they will have issues with privacy. “I think it boils down to cost. How do we get more people in the space?” Andy points out that education is the most important part. People come to the designers looking for a space plan, so if that designer understands how acoustics works, they can be a very valuable resource.

Andy went on to talk about lessons learned on various projects and how to focus on the customers’ needs. “I think I’ve learned that just caring about the customers’ experience is really the only thing that matters.” This focus on the customer allows MPS™ to determine the correct solution for the client. Even if the original build of the space created some very difficult problems, helping improve the acoustics is always the goal.

Ethan is one of our newest independent sales reps out of Austin, TX. He does not have an acoustics background, but Ethan is quickly learning how to have acoustic conversations with the people he interacts with on a daily basis. “A large majority of the people we interact with on a day to day basis do not know anything about acoustics,” Says Ethan. The key is in being curious about what the customer is looking for in a solution. He has already learned that most people are open to learning about new and exciting solutions, but you have to be willing to ask good questions and be focused on them.

One of the keys to success for Ethan has been his ability to leverage experts at MPS. Ethan talks up how he uses Jeff Adams as a resource, “Jeff is really the expert, which makes it a lot easier because Jeff can talk about the theory behind acoustic solutions.” Ethan has learned to get Jeff on a webinar presentation so they can together uncover the right solution for the client. Ethan and the dealer are in-person with a demo and product samples, while Jeff is sharing his screen and presenting. The process has worked well for everyone. One of the best results Ethan has seen was when they uncovered other problems to address during the presentation. “we actually found out that there were more issues to this one customer than just what we were talking about at the time. So, with the webinar, we turned one project into three.”

Learning how to solve acoustic issues and all the potential solutions involved can be a tall hill to climb for a new rep. Ethan has learned that being unafraid to have conversations as well as utilizing an expert alongside him can quickly open up opportunities to help customers. The more conversations he has about acoustics, the more comfortable he gets, “Those interactions really enforce it home for me, it gives me more confidence.”

Ethan is an accomplished sales professional with a proven record of sales quota achievement. He has extensive experience using solution-based selling, relationship building, and new business development to successfully win B2B, retail, and institutional customer accounts. He is an expert user of several business software applications including SalesForce Lightning, Microsoft Office, BPCS, Stratum, Viewer, and Qualtrics.

Designing a space that works can be a tough challenge. Designing a healthcare space that works can be near impossible. In the past, the design has been very subjective in nature, and what looks good or works for someone might be the complete opposite for someone else. But, with the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare design and operation, scientific evidence for design is becoming the new standard for providing the best space.

Richard Rucksdashel, Director of Healthcare for HKS Houston is one of the people pushing for a more evidence-based design standard in the healthcare design community. Richard explains, “We think this is where we see us going to best serve our clients. And one of that is in our ability to deliver research that allows our clients to be confident in the decisions that they want to make. So that leads us to be trusted advisors…”  

The idea that the best practice for design in a medical facility should be based in the scientific method sounds somewhat obvious, but until recently it has rarely been used, according to Rucksdashel. Fortunately, HKS has devoted a research team to spend countless hours evaluating various design ideas and determine if the data supports those ideas. Richard also praised several of his colleagues who would be considered his competition in also driving design from a scientific point of view.  He says that his passion for the patients who come to the facilities that he designs drives him to focus on their well-being, even if the design came from a competitor.  

With all the constant change that technology brings to the healthcare industry, HKS is leading the charge through evidence-based design. Richard adds an additional point about what the focus should be for all designers in healthcare, “The thing that really makes that so important is that technology leads to better recovery... And that's the one thing that you never want to get too far away from.”

Together with host Andy, Brian and Mike answer questions about Netrix as well as the impacts of technology on sectors and employees. They will also both open up on what they want to alter with the involvement of technology in sectors and answer some personal questions from Andy.

Cassidy Compton is an Interior Designer at Meade & Hunt, specializing in airport space planning - which makes for some unique challenges!

In this episode, Andy and Cassidy discuss how a niche type of thing like aviation design is actually very broad and encompasses many various interior design elements. She talks about why communication is key for vendors and contractors so everyone can work together to make the client’s vision come to life.