Films to watch out for

Over the last few weeks, I have unofficially researched and curiously paid interest to what our industry has to offer on video platforms such as Vimeo and YouTube.

I am referring to of course online structural engineering videos which have been 'set free' over the web during the last 5 years or so. The assumptions are that these videos have been attentively shot, edited and uploaded in order to inform prospective graduates, graduates, the public at large, and our very own structural engineers upon what it is that our industry is currently up to. Added benefits could also include answering questions like, why we are best positioned to carry out construction project management and design, and to ultimately celebrate in our successes.

WHY VIDEO? 
The current thinking is that the search engine optimising benefits which have been pervasively touted by SEO marketers and advisers the world over, are not the only benefits to be gained from a well executed video campaign. Of the many advantages which have been highlighted are increased brand awareness, credibility, and extra opportunities to advertise on searchable ranking websites - like YouTube. Also, we must recognise as a general rule of thumb, that we prefer to watch videos rather than read long essays.

With this in mind, I set about hunting out some easily searchable examples to review. I used the following keywords on Vimeo and YouTube; IStructE, structural engineering, and structural design. I deliberately restricted the keywords to these. My wish was to emulate the searches of a person who is interested in what our industry might be doing.

THE AUDIENCE
We have already touched upon who we might be communicating to through our video submissions. The types of questions which could very well be on the mind of someone searching for more information are as follows;

1. What exactly does a Structural Engineer do? On a day to day basis.
2. Do I have what it takes to be an Engineer?
3. How interesting or fun might a career in Engineering be?
4. Are Engineers widely respected?.. and are they paid well?
5. Where can I find an Engineer near to me?

The questions above are only a taster of possible lines of enquiry. I feel that without understanding the 'why' part of why someone may search out knowledge of our industry, then reviewing these videos may lose most of its meaning. Box ticked.

SO... WHAT DID WE FIND?

This is it. I typed in the keywords and let the video platforms do their thing, then chose my guinea pigs from the first page of results only. I reviewed and marked them on Presentation, Information, Interest and Call-to-action. Presentation - this includes editing quality, music & audio quality. Information - how well do they answer the questions which may have brought you to the video in the first place? Interest - does the video hold your interest and convey the engineering 'spirit'? Call-to-Action - Is there an under lying message and how inspirational was it?


1. Structural Engineering - produced by the Yorkshire Branch [254views]

Presentation:2/5 Information: 4/5 Interest: 2/5 CTA:1/5 TOTAL = 9/20

[click here]

It is a shame that the first minute of this film had to be plagued with an annoying sound track. Further investigation has led me to believe that the music may be some kind of unofficial IStructE theme tune. My advice would be this. Lose the music. Do it now. I did love the 'stupid street' style interviews and the presenter was quite... well... well presented. I did not feel inspired, but would have felt educated [if I didn't know most of what was coming anyway]. Good start, but lots to improve upon if we are really serious about inspiring students and Engineers to surpass their wildest dreams. Hit the snooze button on this one.

2. Structural Engineer - produced by CBIA Videos [16,858 views]

Presentation:1/5 Information: 3/5 Interest: 2/5 CTA:1/5 TOTAL = 7/20

[click here]

Again quite a low score. A self titled 'day in the life of an Engineer'. What has always been a bug bear of mine, is people not being able to describe what it is we do without using the word Architect in the sentence. There is nothing interesting about this video, yet it has landed 16,858 views. Go figure. Perhaps it was more to do with the attractive looking Engineer and her rather impractical site boots? Please let me know if you see the more to this video than I. Less said about the music the better. Grrrrrr......

3. Civil and Structural Engineering, the ICE - produced by the University of Bradford SoEDT [7,024views]

Presentation:3/5 Information: 4/5 Interest: 3/5 CTA:3/5 TOTAL = 13/20

[click here]

This is the first video to make double figures and has a quite healthy viewer count too. All in all I enjoyed it and felt that they have managed to build into the film a feeling of pride and awe at what the featured Engineers have accomplished thus far in their careers. A great touch was the interview and pithy one liners from Dan Cruikshank "it is the Engineer, at the end of the day who is the heart of every building project". 

4. What is Structural Engineering? - produced by the University of Strathclyde, Architecture [82 views]

Presentation:3/5 Information: 5/5 Interest: 2/5 CTA:2/5 TOTAL = 12/20

[click here]

What I most liked about this video is that it did exactly what the title promised, and guess what - it managed to describe what we do with razor like precision, WITHOUT having to evoke the relationship between Engineer and Architect. I felt that my time hadn't been wasted by watching it [unlike most of the earlier films] - and would recommend that it is reviewed by those who are looking to understand what it is that we do. Just goes to show that if you keep to a plan, you may well achieve a desirable result.

5. Wildcard films [210,000 approx views between them]

I decided to research a few other films which were recommended to me, or found through accident. All of them are related to Engineering and therefore should be considered. You need to watch each and every one of these films, they are incredible.

i] Chartered Engineers - by Engineers Ireland. Presentation:5/5 Information: 3/5 Interest: 5/5 CTA:5/5 TOTAL = 18/20. Simply gorgeous film.

ii] 'Engineers are Cool' - by Arup. Presentation:5/5 Information: 3/5 Interest: 5/5 CTA:5/5 TOTAL = 18/20. Very clever and energising. Inspirational.

iii] 'The Knack' - by Dilbert. Presentation:4/5 Information: 2/5 Interest: 5/5 CTA:3/5 TOTAL = 14/20. Random but has a great message. Pokes fun at Engineers. Very very funny.

iv] 'Hi I'm an Engineer' - by Create Film Festival. Worth a look! 

The wild card films featured above for all intents and purposes fulfilled  the need to be creative and deliver an awe inspiring message. They advertised our potential and celebrated our successes as Engineers. Albeit from a more holistic point of view.  The first four films do not seem to be able to exact the same response. Never has the theory behind selling the sizzle, rather than the sausage itself ever been more pertinent. 

It goes without saying that the viewing figures for the final three films are astronomical when compared to the initial four examples.

Conclusions? Yes - we have a long way to go before the use of film can be accepted as one of the strings to our marketing bow. All the first four films sent my non-engineering test subjects to sleep before the message had been delivered. The remaining three films both delighted and intrigued the audience. 

The question remaining is. Do we want to engage potential engineering students and the public or not? 

Engine[er]

2 Months in - Starting up an Enginee[er]

UPDATE: Almost 100 views for this month for this post alone! Thanks so much for your interest and please remember to comment!

This is a quick stock take of what's been happening to me over the last 2 months, and what is currently on my mind. It finishes off with a bit of a rant. Many apologies.

1. On doing Stuff
I love doing stuff. Who doesn't love waking up and doing lots of stuff all day long? Since I started working for myself, in amongst the productive hours of a new working week, doing stuff has become my life [I call them productive - my accountant may call them fee earning hours]. Truth is that all my week is productive of a kind, and working for yourself causes a major shift to your perception of what work actually is. The basic principle though is that every moment you spend thinking, considering what to do next, acting upon it, listing, dreaming, prioritising or learning, then you are working. So there.

2. 30/70 split seems fair
You need to earn a wage, and doing this in the shortest possible time gives you more time to brain storm a better delivery system, network, improve your service or re-adjust your attitude towards your chosen market.. I currently run at about 30% practical fee earning work to 70% dreaming and learning. I've been told by an accountant that this is a poor level of output, and I intend on doing something about it once I have crossed a few goals off my 'magic' to do list first.

3. There are 2 halves to every story
Before I started out on my own, I was told that if I can earn a wage on 40% of my time during the week then I would be doing very well! [TOP TIP: price your hourly rate to deal with this eventuality]...but that's not what my ex-bosses have told me over the years. Sweating it for a large company saw me 100% utilised on fee earning projects - which perhaps goes a long way towards why it is that large consultancies have trouble, especially in holding onto key technical personnel, and possibly this is why they are my ex-bosses? The lesson here is that you cannot sustain a 100% productivity without a cost. This could be to your general health and well-being, or it could be your creativity. Both add up to major burn out issues though. It is lucky then, that the majority of us were born with two halves to our brain - and our left-hand side would be screaming "GET US OUTTA HERE YOU MORON!" especially since this portion of the brain is very good at predicting our future. If my future = depressing [then] I re-adjust my environment to suit. In other words, make some changes. All my decisions are not as life changing as this though.

4. Be Proud of who you are
If you are an Engineer like me, but not me, then you are a very very lucky person! You keep good company [Steve Jobs, Sir James Dyson, Bill Gates, Henry Ford etc.] . Some of the last centuries most prolific inventors, designers, and entrepreneurs were Engineers of some sort. We get introduced into jobs where our insane ability to focus completely on a single process gives us a steady role in most organisations. We also make others lives better, because we are such useful people and are deeply influenced to serve the communities around us. Naturally we are creative creatures, but the majority of the time we take it upon ourselves to capitalise upon our technical skills. Why? Because to put it simply - we can. We can do both.

5. Do it to be on the A-Team
Being solely technical is not the kind of existence that we would wish upon ourselves for the entire length of our careers, it just happens that we are very good at solving problems. Importantly, the longer we stick at carrying out this unselfish, non-egotistical existence, the more successful our projects are as a result. It's a symbiotic partnership. We get to build stuff, design stuff and breath life into more stuff... the rest of team get to practise their creative, managerial and other useful organisational skills etc. Skills we have also.

6. Engineers serve society best by continuing to innovate
Most non-engineering types will not have the same dedication to continually plugging away at some new skill until they are the expert in a field, because they don't understand the pain and the eventual pleasure of being able to speak 'engineerish' on any given technical subject. Non-engineering types will be quite happy handing over this responsibility. We must not lose interest in the world around us, because this may incarcerate our freedom to innovate freely. The minute that we give up learning and stop applying all these cool talents to any given real world problem, is the exact same 60 seconds that commits us to a life long of slaving away nine to five, slowly losing the will to learn or worse... revoking our responsibility to pass on our great enthusiasm to a new wave of prospective engineering students.

I realise that the above points could  fill several blog posts of varying subjects, but I apologised for my  crassness already. There is no doubt that I will eventually pick one or two of these and expand upon them further... have you any preferences?

Have a great day.


Engine[er]

Calling all good men and women

Hello. Lots to talk about in this post, so please get comfortable.
Starting a business is challenge and is kinda universal, no matter what you decide to go into business as. It is true that some business start-ups require a heavy amount of upfront investment to perhaps develop bespoke websites or buy premises to store goods, or simply purchase your stock to get the ball rolling. Heavy financing just means more risk from the outset, more to consider.

As a Structural Engineer, you have to remember that you are the expert consultant that clients will be paying for. Experience and confidence is key - hopefully your training and past engineering mentors will have prepared you for almost everything. Note: I have always believed that as an Engineer you are not employed to know 'everything' there is to know about your field of expertise. You are employed to resolve problems - by utilising your resourcefulness and experience. This means that if you know where to look for information and the client gives you enough time, then you can deliver anything. Remember that when you are sat in a meeting with everyone staring at you expecting an answer... you need to grow a very thick skin and learn to buy enough time to think through your design proposals adequately.

What consultancy life doesn't prepare you for is the web design creatives and branding gurus who will take your business seed and and help form an image for you to personify day in day out. [They] don't prepare you for setting up a limited company OR making the decision to become VAT registered from day one or not. You are hidden away from chasing prospective clients and begging for work, or just for the opportunity to give them an estimate of your time! Many of these skills you will have to pick up as you go along, taking you away from fee earning time - and thus reducing your possible earnings to less than when you were a trainee... you are the creator, the decision maker, the completer finisher, the business host, the admin staff all in one.

And what do I think about that? I love it. I want that responsibility and to drive home my ideas or to see them fail and then rise like a phoenix as new directions of travel. If you feel the same way as me - then keep reading.

Engine[er]

This is my journey - I give it to you

If you have been scouring the internet looking for a reason, "pleeease, just a solitary reason"  to start up a business to call your own, then I hope that you may find this an interesting blog page to read.

If you have aspirations to become your own boss; and are sick of listening to your friends, family and colleagues tell you that now is not the right time to risk everything... then I'm here to tell you that there has never been a better time.

Finally, should you have happened across this blog page by accident - perhaps you were carving up the web, looking for inspiration or a reason to change your life... then welcome to a new way of thinking.

This is my journey from inception to late nights and my eventual creative and professional freedom.

The Engine[er]