Well time is flying and our need as a chapter to stay informed is as important as ever.  Lots of things are going on and in looking at the AIA Newsletter it tells us some of what is going on, but there are lots of things behind the scenes that we cannot appreciate until articles are written to let us know.

We had a relatively good meeting in April with the limited attendees becoming more aware of what some of the firms in our chapter are doing with the BIM software that is now available.  The point of the discussion was to show the members that there are several softwares available and that they can now not only create models but help create production documents.  I personally prefer the Archicad software (which does translate to Autocad for the consultants) though I am current with Revit because I am always trying to stay aware of anything that can make our production profitable.  Revit has been forced by competitors to provide production drafting software in the package so that a firm can produce a project with one seat of software similar to what Archicad has been doing for years.  Bentley as well as other software have modeling systems which provide production as well.  You should contact other area firms using the softwares to get some realistic understanding of what is now there to help.  Some of the software is more useful by designers, that are not technicians, than it ever has been.  The ability to easily communicate 3D understanding of your project with your client has become essential to gaining profitable projects.

June AIA Architect was full of some important things of which to be aware.

Michael A. (Mickey) Eager, AIA, NCARB
Chapter President AIA Northeast Texas