Last week, I went on a four day tour with Marvin Windows. Ten of us met at the Rochester airport and headed to Minneapolis. We then drove over the border to Wisconsin, where we went on a tour of the Cardinal Glass Factory
took a walking tour of Minneapolis architecture,
and then headed up to Warroad Minnesota to spend a few days touring the Marvin Factory,
learning more about their company and products.
I really enjoyed meeting others from my profession, who live and work in the same region. This was very different from my usual AIA-type activities, where I do meet plenty of people, but they're largely already acquaintances, and they're almost entirely associates or very young professionals. On this trip, I had access to firm leaders and principals with 20+ years of experience, and the difference in perspective, conversational focus and project knowledge was exhilerating.
We had a local AIA volunteer take us on the Architectural Tour of Minneapolis, and that was just a really great time. I enjoyed the variety of architectural styles, scales, materials... we saw humble buildings and ones I'd studied in school or for the AREs. My friends and family definitely humor me when I'm turning our trip into an architectural adventure, but it was a whole different experience to be surrounded by others who took at least as much interest in the details, shadows and material terminations as I did.
Overall, the trip was surprisingly exhausting, but very fulfilling. I was able to reflect on the people I have access to and on personal goals about where to go in my career, all while being very generously hosted.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment