Hype is just a natural and necessary ingredient in the life cycle of any technology. So says the IT Research firm Gartner Group, and it has been producing yearly Hype Cycle curves for about 20 years. In his book Leadership B.S., Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford Professor, writes that the ability to hype, a.k.a. to lie, is one of the traits that makes … Continue reading Of Pitchforks and Haystacks
Tag: Content marketing
New Work: Interactive Timeline for Automated Buildings
Click here, then click Continue to explore 15 years of thought-leadership in the Automated Buildings industry: Here's a just-completed BuildingContext.me project. It started when I read Ken Sinclair's - automatedbuildings.com's March Obix review and was pointed back to dinosaur bones: Writing in 2002, Eric Craton and Dave Robin of Automated Logic described a path that is still ahead of us. My … Continue reading New Work: Interactive Timeline for Automated Buildings
A Question of Gravity: Who Owns the Future of Smart Buildings and Cities?
“Where is the center of gravity?” The question gave everyone pause at a recent Smarter Cities roundtable discussion held by the Silicon Valley Forum. It contained the embedded metaphor that clouds of data are amassing around our existing buildings and cities forming a vortex-like swirl of innovation opportunities. When sufficient gravitational force is present, there … Continue reading A Question of Gravity: Who Owns the Future of Smart Buildings and Cities?
@ Corner of Content & Buildings
Some ask why the buildings industry is so slow to adopt new technology to cut energy waste. Technology vendors will say that their biggest challenge is identifying the target customer. There can be multiple gate-keepers, budgetary authorities and end-customers. Putting all the personas in order is a puzzle. Titles like architect, engineer, facilities manager, system … Continue reading @ Corner of Content & Buildings
What is Content Marketing?
Marketing Automation platform vendor Marketo puts it this way: "Content marketing is the practice of creating relevant and compelling content in a consistent fashion to a targeted buyer, focusing on all stages of the buying process, from brand awareness through to brand evangelism." Marketo, Hubspot, Act-On—they are all freely sharing advice on content because it's the fuel … Continue reading What is Content Marketing?
Case Studies Needed!
There's agreement that financing is the big obstacle to energy efficiency. Case studies that document and certify energy savings and occupant feedback are all-important to making the ROI argument to financial types. They should be easy. Just follow a standard “problem-solution-results” (PSR) protocol in a format which allows apples-to-apples comparisons. But, for building energy upgrades, quantitative … Continue reading Case Studies Needed!
Building Automation eBook in the Making
Another new ‘Content Hero’ among my list of buildings professionals using social media to share their industry insight is Zach Denning, currently a Sales Engineer work in the Building Automation Division of Western Allied Mechanical. Per his Linkedin profile, Zach has recognized a gap between mechanical engineering firms that design sophisticated energy-efficient systems and automation … Continue reading Building Automation eBook in the Making
Battle of Words
Marketo recently published an infographic about how Content Marketing differs from Traditional Advertising. While I appreciate all the buzz the platform vendors have created around story telling, it's been my experience that the lessons they preach need significant tweaking before they make sense in a buildings context. In another free downloadable asset, Marketo talks about the complex buying process as … Continue reading Battle of Words
Applying Whole-Building Thinking to Content Strategy
My introduction to the buildings industry began in 2007 when I led the awareness campaign for the IDeAs Z-squared facility, one of the USA's first net zero energy buildings. I was schooled in whole building design principles and the integrated design process from American Institute of Architecture Fellows from EHDD Architecture and Integral Group. Basically, this process involves thinking about … Continue reading Applying Whole-Building Thinking to Content Strategy
Controls Freak
In the category of building industry personalities and brands that are leading their peers in how to do Content Marketing, Abel Ramirez II, creator and author of The Controls Freak blog is a stand-out. He typifies the kind of 'jack-of-all-automation-systems' personality that populate the world of buildings controls. He writes: "Many times when I am thinking of … Continue reading Controls Freak
Building Context 