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By Paul Wilkinson

What are the trends for 2010? Fellow FUMSI editor Martin Belam thinks that social media tools have been hot news in 2009 and will continue to be in 2010. But is the hype justified? In this second of three 'Use' articles, contributors share case studies of specific industry sectors and their experiences of using social media. Part 1 focused on the pharmaceutical industry. -- contributing Use editor Joanna Ptolomey

Since the 1980s, communication in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry has changed out of all recognition, mainly due to new technologies.

When I joined the marketing department of a firm of consulting engineers in 1987, the company had just started using word-processors and fax machines. Down the corridor, engineers worked at drawing boards hand-drawing designs with their precious Rotring pens, and a few senior partners had huge and weighty mobile telephones. Marketing and PR efforts were mainly paper-driven: we produced a company magazine and lots of brochures, and distributed hard copies of news releases by post or courier. Conferences, seminars and exhibitions were the other main area of marketing output.

A decade later, in the professional services division of a major contractor, most designers worked at computer-aided design workstations. Lots of work now arrived in a virtual inbox via email, and a mobile telephone was pocket-sized and no longer just for directors. Most customers and journalist still wanted paper-based information and face-to-face contact, so we were still churning out printed materials, and attending or organising frequent internal and external events. Our Web 1.0 era marketing included a website - but it was little more than an electronic brochure.

From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0

During the late 1990s and into the 21^st century, we gradually got more sophisticated about our communications. AEC businesses started to create private websites (intranets) to share internal information, or developed private sites (extranets) for managing project-related data with other supply chain companies. This transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 also saw a shift from simple document-sharing to collaboration, and this process is still continuing - albeit slowly.

Web 2.0 - the use of web technologies and web design to enhance creativity, information sharing and collaboration among users (or, succinctly: 'people having conversations online') - is still largely untried by many AEC organisations. The reasons, I think, mainly reflect industry attitudes to collaboration. It is a litigious and risk-averse sector, and many businesses retain a 'command and control' culture that limits scope for individuals to freely engage in dialogue with their peers outside the firms they work for.

However, the adoption of Web 2.0 tools and techniques for use in the AEC world has begun. For example:

• Discussion forums - Magazines like Building and the late Contract Journal have created online discussion spaces that allow people to ask questions, share ideas and discuss industry news and trends.
  

• Wikis - Wikipedia has a wealth of public AEC-related information, but some organisations have used Wikis to manage internal knowledge (architect Fielden Clegg Bradley, for example, has deployed a wiki to capture and share best practice from past projects for future use) or to create a resource for professionals (the Royal Institute of British Architects has its own RIBApedia - http://wiki-riba01.seoss.co.uk/wiki/Main_Page)
  

• Blogs - Again, industry publications (eg: Building, Construction News ) have been using blogs to augment their conventional print and website output. Their example has been replicated by individuals and even some companies (multi-national design firm HOK has a thriving network, Life at HOK (http://hoklife.com/), of over 30 bloggers talking about their work - part of a wide-ranging, integrated Web 2.0 strategy by HOK's communications and human resources teams)
  

• Twitter - Many bloggers are also enthusiastic users of Twitter (sometimes described as a 'micro-blogging' platform), and media, corporate and personal use of Twitter has begun to grow in the past year or so within the AEC sector
  

• RSS (Really Simple Syndication) - information feeds from media outlets from blogs and other online sources provide a powerful way for industry professionals to get news and views direct to their desktop without resorting to search engines.
  

• Social networking - Facebook might be the world's fastest growing social network, but many industry professionals feel more comfortable with LinkedIn or with communities specifically created for shared interests. For example, using the Ning (http://www.ning.com/) platform, I co-founded a network, Be2camp (http://www.be2camp.com/), focused on use of Web 2.0 in the built environment; Ning is also used by both Building and Property Week (http://network.propertyweek.com/ ); the RIBA created its Knowledge Communities using a similar system, Elgg (http://elgg.org/). And a new industry-focused social network, The Construction Network (tCn - http://www.tcn.uk.com/splash.php), backed by the Chartered Institute of Building, the Institution of Civil Engineers and others, is to be launched in January 2010.
  

• Project collaboration - As many projects involve working with fragmented supply chains at geographically dispersed sites, the AEC industry has been a leader in adopting web-based tools for sharing documents, drawings and processes. Project management applications such as Huddle (http://www.huddle.net/) and Basecamp are often used alongside sophisticated document collaboration platforms such as 4Projects (http://www.4projects.com/), Asite (http://www.asite.com/) or BIW (http://www.biwtech.com/), but some simpler - and cheaper - file-sharing platforms (eg: Woobius - http://www.woobius.com/) are also emerging. Given the wide use of Microsoft, it is no surprise that intranets and collaboration portals are also being created using Microsoft's SharePoint.
  

• Content sharing - Particularly in the marketing sphere, there are signs that some companies are also beginning to share non-document content - YouTube (videos), Flickr (photographs) and Slideshare (presentations) all have corporate users in the AEC sector - and some corporate websites now include bookmarking tools so that individuals can share links via services such as Delicious, Reddit, StumbleUpon or even the construction-specific Memoori (http://www.memoori.com/).
  
  

Working together

Many of these tools can be combined for use in marketing. For example, today's 'digital news release' is far superior to the paper-based item I posted out 20 years ago.  Now I issue news releases by email, with a link to an online version, with downloadable images, podcasts, YouTube video, LinkedIn profiles of key people, bookmarks, etc. The URL can also be disseminated by Twitter, text or instant message, and Google Analytics will provide data on which method generated most traffic. 

Interpersonal communication remains important, however, but meetings and events do not always need a physical presence or expensive online meeting services. Online meetings can be held via Skype, or even in virtual worlds such as SecondLife. 

But there is often no substitute for face-to-face encounters, and even here Web 2.0 can enhance interactions. For example, at Be2camp 'unconferences', the events are marketed by 'word of mouse' through Twitter, blogs, etc; participants are encouraged to volunteer presentations; speakers' content can be shared using SlideShare or by live video feeds (UStream; and delegates can react to what they see and hear using Twitter or live-blogging services such as CoverItLive.

However, as well as adopting mainstream Web 2.0 tools, the AEC sector has seen development of some industry-specific services. For example:

• FixMyStreet.com (http://www.fixmystreet.com/) - allows citizens to report problems to local authorities
  
  
• ResidentsHQ (http://www.residentshq.com/) - hyperlocal community-builder for new residential developments
  
  
• EarthExchange.com (http://earthexchange.com/), and Builderscrap.com (http://builderscrap.com/) - recycling and reusing surplus materials from sites
  
  
• Pachube (http://www.pachube.com/) - using environmental sensors to report live built environment data
  
  
• Memoori (http://www.memoori.com/)- a construction-specific search and bookmarking service
  
  
• YouCanPlan (http://www.youcanplan.co.uk/) - a 'democratic design' platform for community consultation
  
  
• Woobius Eye - a prototype iPhone application for real-time mobile collaboration 
  
  

A case study

Such services will often mean little to firms that have yet to embrace Web 2.0, but the first steps can be simple. I recommend a four-stage process: audit, engage, influence, measure.

In early 2009, a social media audit for Essex-based manufacturing company Crittall Windows (http://www.crittall-windows.co.uk/) identified that, almost unknown to the company, it had a significant but untapped presence on various Web 2.0 sites. The overall perception of the company was positive, but it was missing out on sales leads and opportunities to influence decision makers by not getting into online conversation. After a workshop to look at the opportunities, I worked with Crittall's IT manager to develop a social media policy, create a company blog, add RSS feeds to the company website, update the company's Wikipedia entry, create a company LinkedIn profile, revamp Crittall's Facebook page, and start using Twitter. In less than six months, the campaign has boosted traffic to Crittall's website and led to media coverage in an industry journal.

From this and other experiences, I have distilled ten learning points:

• start small
  
  
• listen a lot, then talk a little (two ears, one mouth - use them in that proportion)
  
  
• invest wisely - while many proven tools are low/no cost to start, learning and using them takes time, as does finding the right people to use them
  
  
• integrate social media with your conventional communications
  
  
• manage expectations - don't expect sudden impact (you're changing behaviour and attitudes, not technologies)
  
  
• identify issue(s), then respond - ie: blog for a reason, not just because you can
  
  
• encourage  responsibility - have policies in place governing employees' online activities and responsibilities
  
  
• don't ban it completely - would you ban people from having pub conversations about their work?
  
  
• don't ignore it completely - ignorance is not bliss; at least monitor what people are saying about you and be ready to respond appropriately
  
  
• moderate, monitor and measure - look at tone and sentiment as well as volume of content, and adapt your strategy accordingly 
  
  

By Paul Wilkinson

Paul Wilkinson (founder, pwcom.co.uk Ltd) is a construction PR and marketing specialist with in-house and consultancy experience dating back to 1987. He helps businesses learn and apply social media (Web 2.0), primarily in the architectural, engineering and construction sector, and is the UK's leading authority on construction collaboration technologies. A regular conference speaker and lecturer, Paul is also co-founder of the Be2camp social media/built environment community.

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