I read Chicago Life Magazine (an advertising supplement in the Sunday issue of my NY Times newspaper) cover-to-cover.   The article “Before Green Was Green” highlights several impressive projects completed by Farr Associates: 1)  Bethel Commercial Center, a transit center located on the west side of Chicago, 2) Whistler Crossing and 3) Charles Shaw Technology and Learning Center, the former Sears Roebuck and Co. power supply house turned into a charter school.  After reading about these amazing developments, I purchased  Douglas Farr’s book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature to learn more.  Douglas Farr speaks on sustainable urbanism at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SBxLIKcDN4.  Fascinating stuff!  What do you think?

In the February 2010 issue of Today’s Chicago Woman, there is a brief article on Roth IRA’s.  In 2010 everyone is eligible to convert a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.  This wasn’t the case before.  The primary advantage with a Roth IRA is that income tax is paid up front on the amount deposited and therefore when the money is withdrawn, it is tax free – even on appreciation, dividends and interest earned.  THAT’S BIG!  Also in 2010 (and only in 2010) one can pay the taxes either in 2010 or in two equal installments in 2011 and 2012.  THAT’S HUGE!  Read more about Roth IRAs and the questions one should ask when considering the conversion at http://www.tcwmag.com/issues/february-2010.  The article “Roth’s for Everyone” by Kay Kamin is on page 35.

Going “Green” is smart business today, but it can be expensive.  According to the Travel Spring 2010 issue of The New York Times Style Magazine, the perfect Eco-Hotel would have 1) a green roof, 2) solar and wind power, 3) a water purification system, and 4) a charging station for hybrid cars, to name a few items.  Although one hotel is not likely to have it all, click on the following link

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/eco-tripping-the-dream-team/

to get NY Times’ representative list of hotel properties that have made significant strides to reduce their carbon foot print.  If you have stayed at an eco-hotel, I’d like to hear why you chose the property and how the  room rates compared to alternate hotel properties offering the same level of service.

In the March 2010 issue of Hospitality Design magazine,  how to define sustainability within the hotel industry is briefly mentioned, referencing www.chr.cornell.edu for the complete proceedings of the first sustainability roundtable organized by the Cornell School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.  This is a very challenging and daunting issue – one that I will be tackling as I start studying for the LEED Green Associate Exam.  Standards will differ for cities, counties, states and countries creating confusion for hotel owners and operators who are trying to create a green hotel.  If you are interested in the hotel industry you should sign up to receive the bi-monthly newsletter from the Center for Hospitality Research.  It’s Free!  Just click on the link noted above.  You can read the entire report The Hotel Industry Seeks the Elusive ‘Green Bullet’ as well as other articles of significance.

I didn’t bring anything with me to read today so I searched the health club for something interesting but there wasn’t much to choose from.  Issues of Golf Digest and Fit Pregnancy magazines were everywhere but neither topic was of interest to me.  I like to golf but don’t follow the sport and although I strive to be fit, I am not striving to be pregnant.  After combing the facility again, I found an old issue of Sierra Club Magazine (Jan/Feb 2010) and I’m glad I did.  There are many fascinating articles about the great outdoors but the photography of Clark Little is AMAZING!  Check out the “View from the Vortex” at http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201001/wave.aspx.  I’m sure you’ll agree.

It has been documented that two plus hours in every work day are unproductive because of interruptions and distractions caused by email, instant messaging, texting, etc. 

Read “Email is Making You Stupid” by Joe Robinson in the March 2010 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine for an indepth study of today’s communication challenges. 

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/march/204980.html

I certainly believe this to be true.  There are days when I am constantly bombarded with emails that I don’t seem to get anything accomplished.  Time is money and unproductive time is money lost.  When there is work to be done, I focus my email activity to 3-4 times a day so that I can complete the task at hand.  I also try to pick up the phone when a simple answer is needed.  A lot of time can be wasted with emails back and forth when a phone call can get quicker results.  And using email only when information needs to be documented can significantly reduce the number of disruptions.  Is there a certain practice you’ve initiated to effectively manage electronic communication?  I’d love to hear about it.

For those of you who appreciate interesting architecture, you should be aware of the Aqua Building; owner the Magellan Development Group LLC.  It is one of the first high-rise buildings in the nation to combine a hotel, condos and rental units under one roof.  It’s also the tallest building designed by a female architect ~ Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects.  And it’s winning awards: Emporis Skyscraper Gold Award for 2009.  Congratulations to all involved.  It’s a magnificent building and a great addition to an already magnificent architectural skyline.

At the beginning of the year I started a journal to record what I was reading while walking on the treadmill.  It was the best time for me to catch up with the industry-related publications I got in the mail.  When I was finished with those, I would pick from the magazines available at the healthclub.  People and Us Weekly were always lying around but so were Forbes, Newsweek, Entrepreneur and Inc.  After nearly three months, the journal was overflowing with articles on business and references to websites of amazing artwork and award winning architecture.  I decided the information needed to shared with others ~~ so goes the introduction of another blog on the world wide web.  I’m not much of a writer so you’ll mostly find links to other articles I found interesting.  Maybe you’ll be intrigued; maybe not but here goes ~~ Day One.

Inc. Magazine, Feb 2010  “A Little Less Conversation” by Joel Spolsky

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/a-little-less-conversation.html

Having worked on projects both large and small, I could relate to this article.  Communication on a project is very important but too much communication can become counter-productive.  Inviting everyone to a meeting results in long meetings with unnecessary (sometimes unrelated) discussions; copying everyone on an email is distracting to most.  Having everyone weigh in on a decision before implementing it is a waste of time and money.  Scheduling a meeting every time a decision needs to be made can cause delays leading to cost over-runs.  Putting one person in charge of communication can reduce the flow of communication and possibly keep the correct information on track.  What has your experience been?