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One key part of being a great marketer is understanding how people think and knowing why they act the way they do. 10 principals.
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Which Social Network Should You Advertise On? Social media advertising is a great tactic to use to supplement your print advertising.
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When we made the decision that 50% recycled premium bond would become our standard paper for all plotting and copy centre work we had no idea about how much we'd be reducing the environmental impact from the printing our customers do! What we found was that just one medium sized construction project alone was enough to make it all worthwhile. Now you can include this value added information in reports and proposals with your existing and prospective clients. Click Here to order a customized Eco-Friendly Report. To find out more about the Environment Paper Network click Here. Share &/or CommentΓû║
Thursday, 15 December 2011 10:46

Colour CAD.. Affordable & Easy

Colour CAD printing has now evolved to the point where it's affordable and high quality ColourWave printing adds amazing warmth and contrast to just about any of your drawings. Essentially what you see on your computer is what you'll get. Plus you can also plot onto Tyvek or Copy Tuff paper for waterproof drawings. Share &/or CommentΓû║
On May 11, 2011 Vancouver council voted in favour of increasing density along the entire Cambie Corridor. The plan calls for buildings up to 12 storeys, with even higher buildings around Oakridge Centre and Marine/Cambie area. An additional 15,000 to 20,000 people will live along the corridor once development is complete (around 20 years or so). Further, office space is as part of the plan and at least 20% of the larger developments will be earmarked for social housing.

This is a great first step for the city of Vancouver as it starts to embrace density outside Downtown and Uptown neighbourhoods. Now it's time that the residents of Vancouver embrace it as well. As expected the decision yesterday was met with the usual won't somebody please think of the children response from many area residents. The concept of change must be foreign to them, boy are they in for a rude awakening. As real estate prices  remain high in Vancouver, increased density is the option. Sure real estate prices might dip, but as soon as they do people from all over the world start pouring their money into our housing.

This decision should have been made a long time ago, or at the very least once the Canada Line was approved. However, just like anything,council first had to convince the naive residents in the area that arrival of rapid transit in their neighbourhoods will not mean more density. Fast forward five years or so and council has done what needs to be done.

Change isn't easy, I understand that. However, people need to come to the realization that the  future of Vancouver will bring more high density neigbourhoods outside the downtown core. It's starting to happen in East Vancouver and now it's coming to the west and south side. The next 20 years we'll see a lot more growth outside the core. Click Here to read the full story. Share &/or Comment►

Vancouver is well-known for its approach to urbanism, and using densification towards creating a more liveable city. In reality, however, this popularity is focused on the relatively small area of Vancouver's downtown core and the neighbourhoods immediately surrounding it. Moreover, emphasis is often placed on the city's podium-towers as the future of sustainable urbanism.

The vote Tuesday by city council to approve the Cambie Corridor Plan, allowing mid-rise towers of up to 12 stories along that key artery -- and taller towers at Marine Drive and Oakridge intersections -- shows a different version of what the future may hold. More recent developments in Vancouver outside the downtown core, such as Olympic Village, have successfully deployed a mid-rise urbanism, and the Cambie Corridor Plan builds off many of the lessons learned from such projects, instead of the renowned downtown peninsula.

Recently, I conversed with Vancouver's director of planning, Brent Toderian, about the Cambie Corridor Plan, and what it means for the future of Vancouver and the City's approach to urban planning. Click Here to read the summary. Share &/or Comment Γû║

  The debate over Vancouver's coveted view cones has been raging for a long time and, every so often, significant policy changes are brought forward to change/review the policy. A draft motion was set out by the City of Vancouver in 2009 and the discussions are still ongoing, with the latest discussion set to go on January 20, 2011. View Full Article. Share &/or Comment ►
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 11:51

AutoCAD.. Returns to Mac

  After an 18-year absence, AutoCAD is finally coming back to Mac OS X. Autodesk, the company that makes the CAD program that has become the defacto industry standard, last released a native Mac version of its flagship product in 1992. Not only is AutoCAD coming back to Mac OS X, Autodesk is also bringing an AutoCAD app to the iPad and iPhone. This app will let professionals import, modify and export CAD files on the go. View Full Article. Share &/or Comment ►
Building Information Modeling (BIM) and sustainability are both hot topics in the AEC industry. These powerful trends are now converging as designers and contractors learn how to leverage modeling, analytical and simulation technologies to improve sustainable outcomes. View Full Article. Share &/or Comment Γû║
Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:59

Vancouver's.. Brave New Architecture

The acting director of UBC's school of architecture, Chris Macdonald, measures his words carefully. Ask him about the quality of contemporary building design in Vancouver, and the tall, blondish academic pauses for nearly half a minute before responding. And even then, his answer is somewhat oblique.

One of the things that's difficult for many contemporary architects is Vancouver had a moment of inventive brilliance after the[Second World] war, and in particular through the persona of Arthur Erickson, Macdonald responds during an interview at the Georgia Straight office. So there was this frisson, of a sort, of unprecedented brilliance in architectural design that happened.

Macdonald explains that Erickson's most celebrated projects, including the MacMillan Bloedel Building (1075 West Georgia Street)and the Simon Fraser University campus on Burnaby Mountain, were built in a different era. In the 1960s, strong-willed clients ofErickson's, such as timber baron H.R. MacMillan and former SFU chancellor Gordon Shrum, could focus on a design effort without facing interference from government panels demanding changes to the design to suit their tastes.

This city's history…had these emphatic moments of real accomplishment that could be measured against anything that was happening anywhere in the world, and certainly in North America, Macdonald says. Read The Full Story. Share &/or Comment ►

Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:27

BIM.. Here To Stay

If you've been fence sitting on the BIM Standard, perhaps it's time to play some catch up. The existence of the standard is a strong indication of the rapidly maturing nature of BIM processes and policies (refer to NBIM). Their vision is for an improved planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance process by using a standardized machine-readable information model for each facility, new or old, which contains all appropriate information created or gathered about that facility in a format useable throughout its life-cycle by all. To learn more see BIM ThinkSpace. Share &/or Comment Γû║
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 12:38

Vancouver.. Urban Agriculture

What do you expect Vancouver to look like in coming years with regard to urban agriculture space? Peter Ladner: I think we're going to see everything from more people with tomatoes on their balconies right through to commercial enterprises in unused or under-used lots around the city. Before too long you will not want to put in a new development without some kind of community garden attached to it because there's such a demand for that space. I think you're going to see people supplementing their income selling at the farmers market or selling over the back fence. There's going to be a commercial element that's going to get into this more! Share &/or Comment Γû║