Monthly Archives: October 2010
Posted in Client Service | Codes & Regulations | Communication | Current Events | Information Technology by Martin Brule, Jr. (Technology) on October 27, 2010
Imagine that you are an elderly man or woman stopping at the local pharmacy for your medications, and the pharmacist hands you the printed prescription and your meds. You are good to go for the next month. Now imagine that you are a police officer at the station’s narcotics unit, printing the latest dirt on your targets. You have the information you need to continue with a sting operation. For one more make-believe story, imagine that you just started a new health insurance plan at work and have just received the printed documents of your policy. Your doctor visits are now covered at 80/20 for the year.
There is something important that you should be aware of. > Read the rest of this article
Posted in Bridge Design | Client Service | Codes & Regulations | Communication | Communities | Economic Development | Structural Engineering by Quentin D. Rissler, PE (Structural-Bridge) on October 20, 2010
Photo: Cocalico No. 3 bridge in Lancaster County © Larson Design Group
Transportation funding has been in the news with discussions on the need to repair, maintain, and improve our extensive network of roads and bridges, not to mention mass transit facilities. As in most discussions of finances, we tend to boil it down to whether we need more money or if we can cut costs to be more cost effective in what we are already doing. > Read the rest of this article
Posted in Blogging | Communication | Current Events | Initiatives | Social Media by Keith Kuzio (CEO) on October 8, 2010
Photo: Keith “keeps it real” by taking a few pies to the face for the United Way
When I was approached by our marketing team to become an LDG blogger, I agreed, but not without a momentary cringe of nervous trepidation. You see, I consider myself an old school engineer, not a modern age social networker. My introduction to computer technology occurred in the last millennium, nearly thirty years ago, long before the PC or wireless 4G networks. Back then, I fondly remember pounding out “brute force” FORTRAN programming on punch cards in the basement of Packard Lab at Lehigh University. The concept of social networking at E-school back in the 80s could easily have been defined as idle conversation among engineers while waiting for the data center technician to run key-punched batch files through the mainframe computer’s card reader.
So what topics could I, a CEO who’s yet to send his first text message, come up with that would be inviting and interesting to readers who are fully engaging technology in all aspects of their lives? After pondering this question for a few days, it struck me that I will be most successful with blog topics if I apply the same advice that I share with my kids on an almost daily basis.
What is that advice? Keep it real. Every time one of my kids heads out of the house or car to socialize with friends or peers, I tell them to “keep it real.” Over time and through parental discourse with them, the kids have learned the deeper meaning in this simple phrase, and that is – be comfortable in your own skin, be true to your values, and don’t let anyone pressure you into doing something you’re not comfortable doing – no matter what. When our kids’ friends come to the house to hang out, I also share the same message with them. Somehow this message has resonated with them. How do I know? I now frequently get the chance for a good chuckle when a young person sees me in public and shouts out, “Are you keeping it real, Papa Kuz?” even before I have a chance to ask them the same question.
> Read the rest of this article
Posted in Blogging | Communication | Information Technology | Networking | Social Media | Sustainable Design by Steve Muller (Manager of Client Development) on October 6, 2010
Image: © Dr. Granovetter & The American Journal of Sociology 1973, Volume 78, Issue 6
Have you ever wondered why social media has taken off the way it has? Why websites like Facebook and LinkedIn have gained tremendous popularity and now have tens of millions and even hundreds of millions of users? And if you’re engaged in social media, how could you make the most of it? Part of the answer can be found in a social network theory first proposed by Dr. Mark Granovetter in the 1970s. Understanding Granovetter’s work can be quite helpful in growing a network of contacts with some intentionality.
Dr. Granovetter researched economic sociology and developed a theory on the spread of information in social networks. That is the backbone of his paper “The Strength of Weak Ties” (1973), and helps shed light on why current social networks grow and spread so naturally.
> Read the rest of this article
Posted in Accounting | Communication by Brenda Nichols (Accounting) on October 1, 2010
Photo: © P Widling
Larson Design Group is fortunate to have a strong banking relationship with First National Bank. This relationship has existed for over ten years which has made it rather easy to traverse this latest economic downturn. By providing prompt financial reporting monthly to our bank and looking at them as a part of our business ventures, we have developed a “partnering” with First National Bank. We look to them for input, not just for loan terms. Similarly, they use us as a source of information about the local economy and what we see developing. We have requested and received an increase in our line of credit each of the last three years even though the immediate need did not exist. Trust and value are at the core of this relationship.
We want our clients to look at us as partners, just as we do with our banking relationship, thus matching business.
I recently talked with ZweigWhite about this topic and was featured in an article from their September 20, 2010 issue of The Zweig Letter. To read this article, click here.
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