Technology
AIA Conducts Its First Hands-On Extranet Sessions
(constructionr.com
- 5/4/00)
By Judy
Schriener
It was an experiment, and it started
out well. Whew! The American Institute of Architects is conducting
its first-ever hands-on programs in the form of seven computer
technology sessions for its Continuing Education program.
The first one, on May 4, was an overwhelming success.
The risk level was high. Any time you
put 75 computers in a room, connect them to the Internet and
put people in front of them, each with a mouse, you risk software,
hardware and connection problems. But nothing serious happened,
and the 125 architects got their Continuing Education credits
and enjoyed themselves too.
"I really liked it," says Jeffrey Schmidt
of Schmidt Scanlon Gordon, San Diego, who attended the first
two sessions on the first day. "I felt like I was actually
using the program, and not just listening," as is usually
the case in computer demos, says Jeffrey Schmidt, of Schmidt
Scanlon Gordon Architects, San Diego.
The first two hands-on sessions were
both on project extranets. One took participants through a
demo of an extranet as a product, which means the firms buy
and own the software, setting it up enterprise-wide and running
it on their own servers. Speakers were James Murphy and Alana
Dunoff, program managers from Little & Associates Architects,
Philadelphia, and Vince Grove, director of business development
for Framework Technologies, Burlington, Mass.
The second session walked through an
extranet as a service, meaning that the firm "rents" the extranet
software from an extranet vendor, which hosts the application
on its servers and makes it available to participants via
their Web browsers. The speaker was Brian Haines, manager
of technical services for Bricsnet, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Computers, set-up and on-site support
were provided free of charge to the AIA by IBM. "They were
great," said Michael Tardif, director of the AIA's Center
for Technology & Practice Management. "It went very well!"
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