Options for learning about PropertyTrak facilities management software online

PropertyTrak: Demo of Facilities Management Software

Demo: 20 minute interactive demonstration
Of tenant, staff & facilities management roles.

Video: 3 minute presentation on the benefits of PropertyTrak facilities management software.

Live Personalized Walk Through: 45-60 minute conversation via WebEx. See what facilities management software can do for your facilities.

Tips for visiting IFMA’s World Workplace 2008?

The WW08 Blog has a request up for folks who have attended the show before to make recommendations to others. Any takers?

Facilities tours for IFMA’s World Workplace updated

George with IFMA has provided updated details regarding tours of facilities in Dallas.

please note these changes to the WW08 Facility Tours. We’ve added two new ones, Dallas City Hall and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas:

Thursday, Oct 16
8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas ** government issued photo id required, no cameras/cell phones

9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Dallas Convention Center ** Closed shoes required
Old Red Courthouse Museum
The Dallas Morning News
Fluor Headquarters (shuttle sponsored by Fluor)
Dallas City Hall ** government issued photo id required, no cameras/cell phones

Friday, Oct 17
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
American Airlines Center ** Closed shoes required

Usability slideshow

Ann at World of Usability made a slideshow on the elements of usability, including some unintentionally funny signs that make a great point.

Usability–What is it?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

If something is unusable that means it won’t get used. So these elements of usability should be on everybody’s list when it comes to evaluating applications. The benefits of a software package are only valuable insofar as they can be adopted and used simply, and without much reading or training.

Facilities Tour: Applebee’s Tour KC IFMA Meeting Sept 16, 2008

Some great photos preview what’s in store for attendees of the September meeting of the Kansas City chapter of the International Facility Management Association.

Applebee’s East Exterior View                          (photo by Assassi)

 

Applebee’s Reflections                          (photo by Assassi)

Applebee’s Culinary Center                         (photo by Assassi)

Applebee’s Culinary Center Atrium                         (photo by Assassi) 

 

 

Value engineering and the Federal Reserve tour

An interesting concept came up during the tour of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City: Value Engineering. In this case, it involved having a value engineering consulting firm review all materials and specifications to discover where lower cost (or better value) substitutions could be made, especially in wall coverings and furniture. The purpose or mission of the building is to be a working symbol of American financial stability. Because of this mission, the key priority of security trumped certain recommendations of the value engineering firm. Security and cost prevented attempting LEED certification also, but I must say that the site is filled with daylight as well as many other energy saving features.

What is the purpose of your organization? As we move toward greater sustainability, energy savings, and keeping costs low, we also have to remember who we are and why we’re doing what we do. A credit union needs to consider how the wall coverings support the mission of being a financial cooperative. Cost and sustainability are part of this evaluation, but not the entire focus.

Online training is becoming more popular

This brief note about technology from the IFMA Insider (opt in) is interesting:

Online training gaining popularity in the workplace: survey (Ottawa Business Journal)

“The most popular tool cited was online training, with 47 per cent of respondents saying they currently use it and 12 per cent saying they plan to use it in the next five years.”

The article is based on a survey of Chief Information Officers in Canada conducted by Robert Half Technology.

Why is online training more popular? My guess is that companies are looking to save travel costs.

IFMA’s World Workplace 2008: Facility Tours

Thanks to George in the comments, who pointed me to this press release, which  lists all the great tours lined up for WW08:

[9/3/08 Updates on Facilities Tours]

For Immediate Release
Andrea Sanchez
IFMA
1-713-623-4362

Date Posted: August 14, 2008

---

WORLD WORKPLACE FACILITY TOURS HIGHLIGHT DALLAS ARCHITECTURE

The World Workplace 2008 Conference & Expo will bring the “youniversal” workplace experience to Dallas — but it is the city’s own rich architecture that will bring the conference to life. When an estimated 5,000 facility professionals from around the world meet in Dallas Oct. 15-17 to analyze the trends and new products affecting today’s built environment, many will see the city firsthand during tours of Fluor headquarters; the Dallas Morning News corporate offices; the American Airlines Center; the 115-year-old, newly-restored Old Red Courthouse; and the Dallas Convention Center. The International Facility Management Association’s World Workplace conference annually offers attendees the opportunity to see the facilities that help define the conference’s host city. Last year’s event in New Orleans featured a tour of the largest rebuilding project in the history of U.S. stadiums — the Louisiana Superdome — and this year’s tours will again showcase facilities that highlight the culture and values of those who use them.

Fluor’s new corporate headquarters building has been recognized with coveted LEED® certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Completed in 2006, the building incorporates multiple sustainability features into its design.

“Fluor’s newly built corporate headquarters here in Dallas is a great addition to the World Workplace facility tours for a number of reasons,” said Mary Feterly, facilities manager for Fluor Corporation’s global headquarters. “While it was essential to have this facility retain a lot of the inherent beauty of its surroundings by using the natural terrain, local stone on the facade and preserving much of the native plants and vegetation, it was equally important to make sure the building met modern-day expectations such as LEED certification. I think conference attendees will not only enjoy the tour, but also come away with some ideas they can incorporate into their own facilities.”

World Workplace will feature two tours of the Dallas Morning News corporate offices, including reconfigured areas of the facility that formerly housed the newspaper’s production equipment. The tours will also include the facility’s boiler chiller plants, which feature different generations of equipment housed separately but configured to function as one plant. The historic newspaper traces its roots to an unpainted, one-room shack built before the Republic of Texas was admitted to the Union.

The American Airlines Center serves as the backdrop to Dallas’ most vibrant urban gathering space — the 72-acre Victory Park development, the largest Environmental Protection Agency brownfield restoration project in the U.S. The tour will focus on center features such as a one-of-a-kind retractable seating system and 150,000 square foot roof supported only at its corners.

The Old Red Courthouse opened its doors to the people of Dallas in 1892, and while the building served as the heart of Dallas legal affairs for many years, decades of decline left the building in disrepair — until a $48 million renovation breathed new life into Old Red’s walls. Building tour guests will have the opportunity to see the restored 19th century courtroom, grand iron staircase and original molding and stained glass windows that help bring to life the story of Old Red.

Playing host to this year’s conference is the Dallas Convention Center, a 2 million square foot facility featuring the largest column-free exhibit hall in the world. The tour will cover the center’s utility performance project and its efforts toward LEED Silver certification. The center addresses five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

World Workplace 2008 facility tours will be held Thursday, Oct. 16, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and will depart from the Dallas Convention Center. Members of each facility’s engineering, operations or facility management team will conduct the tours and be available to answer questions.

To learn more about the World Workplace 2008 facility tours, or to register, visit http://www.worldworkplace.org/2008/conference/facility_tours.cfm. For a complete list of conference details, visit www.worldworkplace.org.

Members of the media interested in attending World Workplace may register at no cost by visiting https://www.ifma.org/secure/worldworkplace/2008/attendees/otherreg/register.aspx.

IFMA’s World Workplace Conference & Expo is an annual three-day educational and networking event focused on the future of the built environment. Building on the professional development opportunities available through the association year-round, the World Workplace experience includes a conference focused entirely on education and an exposition incorporating product demonstration and instruction. This year’s conference will be held Oct. 15-17, 2008, at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.worldworkplace.org.

Kansas City IFMA tour of Federal Reserve Bank

Photos from the tour of the Federal Reserve Bank. It’s an impressively secure building with fantastic daylight and window views and a classic look. I brought my stepson along for the tour and he opted for the mechanical tour, so we got to see the massive HVAC and electrical systems, along with some amazing roof views. The first photo below is the official publicity photo from the bank’s website, and the next two are ones he took with his iPhone.

Kansas City Office

1 Memorial Drive Kansas City MO, 64198 (816) 881-2000 (800) 333-1010 Located in the heart of Kansas City near Liberty Memorial and Union Station, the Bank’s new headquarters will offer guided tours beginning July 1.
What to Expect Tour Features Tour Program Directions	Kansas City Visitors Bureau National World War I Museum – Liberty Memorial

Federal Reserve Bank looking West and a bit South

Federal Reserve Bank KCMO looking North

The tour concluded with a visit to the Money Museum, which is open to the public. Harry S. Truman’s coin collection is on loan from the Truman Museum, a set of interactive displays to educate the public about currency, and bags of shredded bills are also available.

FMpedia: expert glossary for facilities management

Like other fields, facilities management has its own language. Some terms are widely known, while others are not. And even terms used widely in the profession may be unclear to those in other professions.

FMpedia is a socially based database created by facility managers and other experts to develop a resource for facility managers? Like Wikipedia, it’s an online community for users to collaborate in building the resource: FMpedia. Registration is open, but contributions need to be productive and in line with the goals of the database. FMpedia is sponsored by the IFMA Foundation.

What’s even more interesting is the IFMA Foundation’s library of PM Routines:

“You can find hundreds of operating procedures and PM routines in the PM Routines Library to the left.  Default sort is by unicode format. You can also filter the list specific to a group you are interested in.”

The IFMA Foundation’s Best Practices Library of PM Routines is a great example of the contribution that the IFMA Foundation is making to the profession of facilities management.