Dear SDL,
After almost 12 years at Sasaki, I have finally decided to leave for a path slightly-less-traveled. My own development project in Boston (passive house, ZNE condos) is in construction and I will be focusing my attention on that over the course of this year, and then hoping to continue doing similar integrated development/design/build work into the future. It's been a long time coming (since back in 2010 when Jim suggested I go work for a developer to move this process along much more quickly than it ultimately did!), and I'm extremely excited to be able to finally take the leap- financially, mentally, physically (it's a steep site!).
Unfortunately, this means that I will not be able to represent a larger architecture firm at the SDL summits. Though I will be able to continue on this forum, I will sorely miss the quality face time with all of you inspiring, intelligent, passionate folks!
And I may not disappear completely, depending on how this goes: I will also be offering consultation services to design firms related to structuring research programs or projects, and maximizing the financial, operational, and cultural integration- something that I am continuing to do for Sasaki over the coming year (as the return on that investment has become very clear). Through my work with the federal R&D Tax Credit and as Chair of the Hideo Sasaki Foundation over the last 5 years, as well as unofficially offering support to a number of you in the SDL, I've come to realize that with relatively little time/effort on my part I could potentially have a lasting, positive impact on the profession by continuing to share this knowledge and help others navigate. This Winter Summit survey shows yet again that Research is what we all want to be doing most of all, and I think I can help many of you in moving that dial. I don't intend this to be a long-term career path, but I am very excited by the prospect of being able to share valuable and easily-transferrable lessons that I've learned through some unique experiences.
For those of you who will be at the June AIA convention in NYC, I will be leading a session on Thursday morning at 10:30, "RESEARCH: Strategies for Funding with Projects, Tax Credits, & Non-Profits", where you can get a solid introduction as well as some take-away materials for navigating on your own. I'll also be working with folks at the AIA to help evangelize for the cause and continue to share the material. If you won't be attending, or are interested beforehand, please feel free to reach out and I can share some material on what I'm offering and what next steps might look like. I'll avoid using this forum for too hard of a sell, except to say that any fees of mine would be a fraction of the long-term value (qualitative and quantitative) that might be gained by firms are committed to elevating their research efforts.
(I'm also moderating a panel on Saturday 4:00pm titled "Virtual Reality: How Three Firms Are Integrating It into Their Studios", for something a bit flashier!)
Wish me luck, and don't be a stranger! See you at AIA.
Best,
Colin
colin.booth@mac.com
