Why I Built
A+D CE Studio
My experience in architectural sales changed the way I approach continuing education.
The Question That Changed My Approach
There is a familiar path into architectural sales.
Learn the product. Study the technical information. Get comfortable with the presentation. Start booking lunch-and-learns.
That was my path too.
A few months in, my boss asked a simple question:
Where are the projects?
Getting into the room was never the hard part. The challenge was using that hour to build the trust and credibility that could carry into future specifications.
the turning point
The opportunity was to make the product one architects were eager to use on their projects. I began building presentations around current topics that drew the whole room into the conversation, while providing an understanding of building challenges and what a strong solution should do.
The goal was to design the education so well that, by the time the product was introduced, its value felt obvious.
The product was no longer being introduced cold. The course had already built the case for why my product was the obvious choice.
BRINGING THE WHOLE ROOM INTO THE STORY
I began thinking about lunch-and-learns the way a great host approaches a gathering. A strong host understands the room, keeps people involved, and creates opportunities for conversation.
I brought that thinking into continuing education, designing the experience so architects could participate in the larger discussion while the course steadily built toward the product and its applications.
When the whole room is engaged, the product conversation becomes part of the experience rather than the reason everyone else tunes out.
and architects responded
Architects participated, stayed afterward to discuss projects, and requested my courses for their own teams.
4,000+
Architects reached annually
Through courses I developed.
from education to specification
By designing education that gave everyone in the room something worth learning, the course created a stronger foundation for the product conversation that followed.
That approach contributed to specifications for Los Angeles Football Club/BOM stadium, which later led to specifications for Apple’s Culver City headquarters.
One strong learning experience created momentum far beyond the presentation itself.
That idea became the foundation for A+D CE Studio
Over more than 20 years in building products, architectural sales, specifications, sustainability, continuing education, instructional design, and sales enablement, I've seen the presentation from nearly every side.
A+D CE Studio brings those perspectives together to create education with a purpose: give architects something genuinely worth learning while building the strongest possible foundation for the product behind it.
Let's make your next hour count
Have a product, an existing course, or simply an idea? Let's talk about what you want your continuing education program to accomplish.