Survey Results, More Cicadas, Names

Of Surveys, Cicadas and Self June 13, 2007 Greetings! It's been months since I asked you to help with a survey about the industry and its education needs, and I've been promising to share results. Today is the day. Keep reading! In the last e-newsletter I was all excited about the coming of the periodical cicada. Well, they are here and making their presence known! They are loud and they are proud! The question is, how is our industry dealing with them? I got some interesting feedback from subscribers as well as other friends in the industry. Keep reading! Lastly, I've been giving a lot of thought lately to how we define ourselves as designers of the landscape, and have come to the conclusion that many of us are not helping ourselves, nor are we helping the industry, merely by virtue of the vocabulary we use. Keep reading! Survey says.... At long last, here are a few results from the survey. BTW, surveymonkey.com does a nice job. I'm sure others do too, but thought I'd share this. Also, they give the option of tracking results to specific individuals, but I chose to make it anonymous. Some of you sent me messages in the text, but if you didn't provide your name, I don't know who you are! Demographics Out of approximately 200 responses, 74% are self-employed and 60% do some form of design/ build. The vast majority specialize in residential work. 80% of respondents described themselves as landscape designers and 20% as landscape architects. Curiously none checked both boxes! Slightly more than half say that landscape design is not their first career. Just as interesting is that 57% claim 11 or more years in this business! Sure, there's more, but those are the highlights. Interests As for the education interests, many of my suspicions were confirmed, though there were some very enlightening comments. As a result, our course offerings this fall will include some highly focused, shorter (2 day) programs in addition to the longer (but fewer) design studios. Topics suggested were many and varied, but in general, there is a hunger for hardscape, grading and drainage topics as well as topics that address sustainability. To me, this is all good news and will make planning much easier. Thank you to all of you who took the time to fill out the survey. If you have any other thoughts, let me know! Cicadas I'll keep this brief because it's covered on the blog. Click here for more info and an awesome video. You might have to scroll down a post or two. These guys are cool! Incidentally, the blog has a number of newer posts that you might enjoy. Industry and Image Lastly, a comment on our industry. I'll keep it brief here, as I blogged about this on 5/25. There will most certainly be a "part 2" to that entry. Put quite simply, how you view yourself, how you portray yourself dictates how you will be perceived and received. Are you a professional? Are you considered the client's advocate? Or are you just the "landscaper"? The vocabulary we use, the clothes we wear, the designs we produce are all responsible for our image. Landscape improvements are not something people buy every day. Many are intimidated by the very idea. If they trust that you are the person from whom to buy, then you will have better success in getting them to buy. Are you selling "stuff," or solving problems? Read more here. Scroll down to "What's In A Name." Thanks for reading. Sincerely, Tim Thoelecke American Academy of Landscape Design email: info@aaldweb.com phone: 847-657-7900 web: http://www.aaldweb.com