Division Highlights from Convention

The Building Division held 11 general sessions and committee meetings at the AGC Annual Convention last month in Hawaii. Highlights include sessions sponsored by the Project Delivery Forum, Construction Marketing Forum, and the Building Division. Highlights include: Chicken or the Egg? Does BIM Drive Delivery Method Selections or Does Delivery Method Drive Use of BIM Tools?—Sponsored by the Project Delivery Forum Both the options for delivery method and applications of Building Information Modeling (BIM) are expanding rapidly. This presentation focused on how to expand your delivery method toolbox by linking BIM applications with the levels of collaboration that define delivery methods. With the delivery method and BIM toolbox explained, real-world sports, industrial and entertainment project examples were presented that showed how delivery method and BIM tools were efficiently selected and paired to drive innovation.  Brian Larson from Barton Malow Company presented. Lean Big Room at Your Jobsite: Satisfying Clients and Eliminating Waste—Sponsored by the Lean Construction Forum The Lean Construction Forum is a community where anyone with an interest in lean construction can share information and best practices, ask questions, receive education and training, and participate in an industry effort to define and promote lean construction concepts and processes. In addition to providing general information about the Forum, this session highlighted concepts that helped attendees and their firms advance lean transformation at the project level. Attendees learned how to create the lean “Big Room” at their project sites, which enables “management by sight” –necessary to make waste visible so it can be eliminated.  David Stueckler and Stewart Trapino from the Linbeck Group LLC presented. Business Development in the Construction Industry—Sponsored by the Construction Marketing Forum Understanding the competitive landscape is the key to effectively positioning yourself with a prospective customer. This session focused on the soon-to-be released AGC-FMI Business Development Survey Report that captures industry best practices and identifies the approach contractors are taking in Business Development. The survey quantifies the cost of chasing work, hit rates, delivery methods successfully used to win work and strategic issues facing contractors. Cynthia Paul from FMI and Dana Birkes from The Flintco Companies presented. David Slays Goliath: How to Win That Big Job Against All Odds—Sponsored by the Building Division Many look at sales as simply a numbers game. The more you go after, the more you're likely to get. These days, construction companies are pursuing many more opportunities, but their hit rate has suffered in the process. Marketers are often intrigued by – or pressured into – pursuing projects that they have little likelihood of winning. Losing these jobs can be a big waste of time and money...and a big drain on morale. While most consultants would advise you to focus your efforts and not to pursue long shots, winning one of these babies can give firms a major morale boost and catapult a company into new markets. During this session, led by Howard J. Wolff, founder of Full-Height Advice, attendees learned about case studies and success stories from those who have won a big job against all odds. They learned when and why it makes sense to pursue a long shot and what strategies and tactics can increase their chances of going from underdog to top dog. In addition, Building Division leaders provided an update on the “State of the Building Division,” previewed the 2012 AGC Building Contractors Conference, and the 2012-13 Building Division chair and vice chair were elected.