CoreNet Global Arizona Chapter and IFMA Phoenix Chapter co-host “Thought Leadership in Real Estate and Facility Management Technology” Symposium

“Facility Managers ought to start now and embrace IoT Technology. Five years from now, no one will be able to say they did not see it coming”, said Vik Bangia, Founder and CEO of Verum Consulting, in a powerful opening salvo at the Inaugural “Thought Leadership in Real Estate and FM Technology” Symposium on November 16th, at Wells Fargo Financial in Chandler.

Vik Bangia, Verum Consulting

In a week in which Bill Gates announced his intention to build a Smart City in Belmont, AZ, there could not be a better time to discuss the convergence of Corporate Real Estate, Facility Management and Technology.

Opening the half daylong event, Simon Davis, President of CoreNet Global Arizona Chapter and Lisa DeRosa, President of the IFMA Phoenix Chapter welcomed the 100 plus attendees and outlined the comprehensive agenda that was planned - three panel discussions - “Occupier Perspectives on Technology”, “IoT Trends” and “Implementing Solutions”, and three fast paced “Innovation Sessions” on Virtual Reality, IoT Enabled Workplaces and Innovations in Construction.

Lisa De Rosa, Sundt Construction

Said Davis “We are truly honored to be able to put on such an outstanding event, showcasing the talents of 16 Thought Leaders in the CRE/FM IT industry, imparting their experience on an engaged audience. This event was conceived out of an event put on by CoreNet/IFMA North Texas (which is going into its 4th year in 2018) and we are pleased that the founder, Ed Buckley from Ericsson, was able to join us. We are looking to partner with other chapters around the globe to bring thought leadership, technical innovation and practical experience to bear. There is a wealth of talent in this industry and we are just happy to share”.

Simon Davis, Saltmine

The wealth of talent Davis referenced was on show in the first panel, with prominent Real Estate experts from Wells Fargo, GoDaddy, Avnet and Apollo discussing everything from drones to virtual reality. In spite of the hype surrounding available technology in the CRE/FM space, it was refreshing to note that the panelists considered how technology enables the employee’s experience as the primary driver for their adoption of new tools. The need to attract and retain talent, whilst improving productivity and limiting expense are driving the global economy and Real Estate and Facility Management are front and center in delivering the product the occupiers of space need.

Leo Bauman (Wells Fargo), Brent Fuller (Apollo Group), Philip Grossberg (Avnet), Calvin Crowder (GoDaddy)

The cost components were rung true in a dynamic presentation by Ian Morley, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Australian innovators Serraview. Serraview’s real time data on how companies are actually using space provides a great business case for adopting agile and activity based working styles to lower real estate costs. Morley referenced a client in Australia that was able to increase their headcount by 8,000 without increasing their square footage by simply managing to their use of space which averaged 49% prior to adoption of new working styles. Post adoption, their utilization was at a staggering 92% and they also saw the benefits of a fourfold increase in employment applications and a 10% reduction in voluntary turnover.

A real buzz for the day was the Virtual Reality demonstration by Guy Messick of Interior Architects. VR was a theme close to many of the audience, who were looking to see what technologies could provide a practical application and benefit in the short to medium term.

The IoT panel provided some great insights into everything from the impact of IBM Watson to the practicalities of implementing an IoT solution with a stop off in privacy concerns along the way. Perhaps the most succinct recommended approach to IoT within FM and RE came from Buckley, “Think Big. Start Small. Move Fast”.

 Sherri Savage (IBM), Ian Morley (Serraview),
Vik Bangia (Verum Consulting), Ed Buckley (Ericsson)

The final panel of the day was a great example of the melting pot of the end users that occupy this space from Sundt Construction, the University of Arizona, Fiserv, the City of Scottsdale and IWMS technology giants Accruent. They tackled the pressing subject of “Operationalizing What you Learned” tying back the importance of making technology a workable reality.

The final presentation of the day was from co-organizer Ted Ritter, of Draw Alert. DrawAlert is a disruptive technology in the Construction industry designed to meet the needs of project funding sources. It streamlines the process while mitigating risks and reduces both hard and soft spaces.

The first RE and FM Technology event of its kind drew to a close with a very appreciative crowd. We all look forward to the 2018 event.

The Leadership Society, partnering with the International Facility Management Association Greater Phoenix Chapter, presented  the first of eight workshops on Friday, September 8 at Arizona State University.  Workshop #1, “ The Language of Metrics” was taught by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi. A group of 74 enthusiastic participants attended and learned how to “keep things simple”  while concurrently improving group and individual performance through measurement and tracking techniques. 

Dr. Kashiwagi, a recently retired professor at Arizona State, spoke for nearly 45 minutes and presented several examples of how his students are able to learn up to ten times faster than before they enrolled in his class.  Following the presentation, participants were given an Activity Sheet, where they were asked to write down a Goal and a Problem.  Next, the participants selected Criteria that they wished to measure with respect to the goal and the problem.  Finally, the participants listed how they planned to measure the goal and the problem.  This interactive exercise helped participants to use metrics to keep things simple.

The examples used in the content taught were simple, natural law scenarios.  These natural laws help participants to quickly identify and analyze complex issues in their life and world and concurrently understand the problem and take immediate steps to fix the issue at hand. 

The second of the eight workshops “The Purpose of Relationships” will be conducted on Saturday, September 30 from 10 AM – 12 noon at FM Solutions, 4001 N 3^rd Street in Phoenix.  To register:  http://leadaz.org/2017-workshops-registration/ 

IFMA Student Chapter of the year – the main reasons why Arizona State University won the Award:

• Created and taught in 10 College and High School Programs
• Hosted 3 IFMA Leadership Conference with 190 participants
• Supported 6 PhD and 4 MS students to receive their degree
• Won ASU Changemaker competition
• Taught 40 YSEALI Fellows from South East Asia about FM in a 2-hour session

A push to get high school and college students access to the Greater Phoenix Chapter of IFMA members and the profession. This will be done  in two ways:

1. The student chapter is putting on 8 workshops this fall. It has already coordinated with 8 FMs in the valley and booked locations for the workshops at their sites. This is valuable because it gives the students and other professionals, access to the FM member’s site to view as well as learn more about the profession and any opportunities they have. The student chapter has partnered with the Leadership Society of Arizona to provide the professional leadership education and training.
2. The IFMA student chapter is going to use its student body to run projects with the FM members in the valley. This will give the students easier access to FMs and work experience in the FM area.

The Greater Phoenix Chapter of IFMA's Community Outreach Committee recently supported UMOM Day Centers with a $300 donation in the form of 12 gift cards in the amount of $25.00.  UMOM serves nearly 600 people each month and concurrently helps participants in teaching people and families the benefits of taking ownership of life circumstances and the overall responsibilities of self-sufficiency.  The gift cards will assist UMOM participants in the purchase of school supplies, and clothing.

On July 22, the Student Chapter IFMA Phoenix at Arizona State University conducted their Leadership Society of Arizona graduation ceremony for 30 local high school students from Ahwatukee. Five students had the opportunity to give a 5-7 minute presentation in front of the group of 60, consisting of fellow classmates, family members and friends.

In particular, Cole Gibson, a freshman at Mountain Pointe High School shared the presentation that he wrote: “Traits of a Great Martial Artist”. Throughout his delivery, Cole expounded on how learning and training in Martial Arts helped him change his life. Prior to taking the class, Cole was confident in his ability and progress in Martial Arts but not necessarily so in school and in living in our challenging world and environment.

In short, the foundation of the coursework that Cole and his classmates learned consists of the Logic of Leadership in 7 Key Lessons:

1. Minimize thinking and do what you know
2. Utilize expertise
3. Life is not random
4. You are in control
5. Everyone is vague
6. Once we know ourselves, we can get to know others
7. Use systems to understand your environment

The week long course is an abbreviated version of content from “The 2016 Information Measurement Theory” text book written by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi of Arizona State University.

Each graduating member of the class also received a copy of the 2016 Information Measurement Theory textbook. The content of the book as well as the successful implementation of these concepts by companies around the world has resulted in $14.6M in research funding as well as delivering more than $6B in services.

Jake Gunnoe, a member of the IFMA Student Chapter and candidate for a PhD in Engineering at Arizona State University crafted the content for the week long course. In speaking with Jake, he explained to me that prior to taking the class from Dr. Dean, he really had no idea what would come next in his life. After taking the course, Jake was very clear in what he wanted to accomplish as well as how he was going to set out to meet and exceed his goals.

The class made such an impact on Jake that he wanted to share the content with others and as a result, he and the IFMA Student Chapter designed the course content and delivered it to the Mountain Pointe High School students over the course of one week in July.

In a year that saw the membership of the IFMA Greater Phoenix Student Chapter nearly double, student research may have helped a local company with over $4 Million in cost avoidance.

In less than ten weeks, the students were able to collect and analyze data from twenty sites worldwide. The research conducted by the students was so complete and comprehensive that the client was surprised at the large number of different gas and chemical connections presented, when the client had anticipated a sample of 20 to 40 gases and chemicals per location. While providing a potential cost avoidance of up to $4 Million, a direct savings of $100,000 was realized by having the students conduct the research instead of using an outside consulting firm.

Concurrently, another group of students conducted a cost feasibility study for Sundt Construction with respect to changing the current lighting to LED. Working within a very tight timeframe, the students completed sketches and drawings that met city specifications and submitted the plans and suggestions to Sundt. The students saved Sundt $7,500 and received valuable experience concerning working on a quick deadline while also meeting city codes.

Earlier this year, the Student Chapter established a Mentoring and Outreach Training Program for local high school students. During the spring semester, Student Chapter members interacted with over 1,800 students and 83 teachers at 6 high schools. As a result of these efforts, a curriculum has been developed that teaches students how to plan their future career with the Facility Management profession in mind. Seventy students from the Phoenix Union and Tempe Unified School District will participate in the program this summer.

Members from the Student Chapter presented a summary of their efforts at the June IFMA meeting. Especially notable was the fact that 92% of the 1,800 students reported a greater sense of overall confidence about their future as a result of their interaction with the Student Chapter.

Later this year in October, the Student Chapter will host a Family Leadership Conference. This pilot program is designed to help children prepare for careers, learn how to solve problems at home and learn how to better communicate at home.

We anticipate if the need arose in the future to have connections standardized, that we could realize avoiding costs of approximately $4 Million.

The Greater Phoenix Chapter of IFMA and the Greater Phoenix Student Chapter of IFMA are proud to be a part of the Logic and Leadership Academy 2016 High School Summer Program.

Click below for details