Florida Cosntruction Connection

Newsletter Volume 1 No. 8 July 2007

• In This Issue


»	Book Worth Reading
»	Association Spotlight
»	The World First Dynamic Architecture
»	Computer Tips
»	The Pot at the End of the Rainbow

• About Us

Florida Construction Connection, Inc., works with employers to not just hire, but make the right hires.

We work with currently employed construction management, administrative and accounting professionals to help them make smart career decisions.

Whether you are seeking information to help you in your current situation or seeking information about the marketplace and need help, please give us a call.

Florida Construction Connection
Deerfield Beach, FL
Phone: (954) 725-9932
          (866) 725-9932
Fax:      (954) 725-9928
Email:   flcc@bellsouth.net
floridaconstructionconnection.com

United States Star US Star

Saint Peter's Basilica

Leaning Tower of Pisa

• Book Worth Reading

Better Than Good

By Zig Ziglar

Do you grasp true passion in life-passion that fuels peak performance and leads to purpose for a lifetime? The book, Better Than Good, Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live is full of tools on how to achieve passion, performance and purpose. Zig Ziglar, the 78 year old Author, gathered his research and included in this book, many stories from those that reached this reality.

One of the best tips in the book is that there’s no pleasing all the people all the time. Criticism is a reality of life. Successful people find the balance between ignoring and accepting criticism. Zig states “Consider the source. If the criticism comes from a source you respect, receive it and give it your consideration. Don’t be afraid to agree with it and make the changes suggested. But, if the criticism is negative and destruction and self-serving (to the other person) put it out of your mind and move on. Listen to encouragers, not the unfair, unreasonable criticism in the world.

How does all this apply to your career? At Florida Construction Connection we encourage people to not only focus on what they can do or are capable of doing, but to share with us what type of work, what type of people or work environment ignites the passion within them to do the best that they can do. We find that getting people to search deeper allows them to make clearer decisions on what employment opportunities are best for them, their loved ones and their careers long run. We also encourage them to focus on the opportunities before them for an indefinite future, not just for what the immediate gratifications are.

We hope you will take time to read this book and we hope you will know you are doing better than good when:

You understand that failure is an event, not a person; that yesterday ended last night; and that today is your brand new day!

Because you have made friends with your past, are focused on the present and are optimistic about your future!

Thanks for thinking of us and sharing in our passion to see you succeed. Sincerely,

• Association Spotlight
Why Join an Association? There are many advantages to joining an association. It gives members a chance to network, share issues; learn about topics relevant to their particular job, interest or area of the construction industry and to have some fun! It’s a great way to get involved!

This Month's Association is:

Have you wished you could get professional recognition for your experience and skills as a construction estimator? Perhaps you supervise estimators and you would like your staff to be more professional. Maybe you’re an independent estimator who provides estimating services for others. Or perhaps you’re a user of estimating services as an owner, architect, engineer, or government agency, and would like to be assured of receiving professional estimates. Perhaps ASPE is the organization for you! Call today for a membership application.
Gold Coast Chapter 49 of ASPE represents the South Florida region, which is comprised primarily of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. They have approximately 100 dedicated professionals in the estimating and construction industry representing many specialized areas of construction in our area. Come and join them for an interesting time networking and listening to one of their guest speakers presenting a different topic of interest each month. They meet on the third Tuesday of each month of the year, with the exception of June and July.		AUGUST GENERAL MEETING Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Holiday Inn (Just West of I-95 off the Sheridan Street Exit) 5:30 - 6:30 P.M. Networking 6:30 - 7:30 P.M. Guest Speaker/ General Meeting $15 Members and Guests Appetizer Buffet STEPHEN CARR, CARR CONSULTING SERVICES, A National Division 16 consultant will be flying in from Los Angeles to speak to the group on: TOPIC: Electrical Estimating For General Contractors, Electrical Change-Orders And Mark-Ups Visit Mr. Carr’s website at www.electrical-estimating.com to see his full profile.

Palm Beach/Martin County Chapter of ASPE is now forming. Stay Tuned!

The First World Dynamic Architecture

Residents of Dubai may one day experience a unique and constantly changing skyline thanks to Dynamic Architecture’s wind powered rotating skyscraper. The main idea behind their concept involves a central concrete core surrounded by 59 independently rotating levels. The skyscraper would generate its own electricity from the massive horizontal wind turbines that would be stacked in between each floor. This idea may seem outlandish or impossibly expensive, but the oil price boom in Dubai has already funded many other similarly massive and complex architectural projects. If oil prices continue to increase these rotating wonders may be seen on Dubai’s horizon within the next few years.

Innovative Architect

The rotating towers are the vision of Dr. David Fisher, an accomplished Italian Architect focused on designing “Dynamic Architecture” or “Designing buildings that can adjust themselves to the needs of its Inhabitants.” Fisher has been involved in building restoration projects in New York and is currently working to develop revolutionary construction technologies. Fisher’s designs are built in the factory and assembled on site, significantly reducing the construction time and number of workers.

RRevolutionary Construction
The first phase of construction will take about six months. A central concrete core is erected to house important static amenities like elevators, staircases, plumbing and other utilities. This is the only part of the project which must be built on site. The 12 individual units that make up each floor are prefabricated in a factory in order to ensure safety, cost effectiveness and quality control. Each unit is self-contained and includes all necessary electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning. Units are hooked on to the building and hoisted up to the top of the tower. It takes one week to rotate the entire floor into (watch the construction animation). The tower is effectively built from the top-down. The fact that each unit is independent and moves with the wind ensures a much higher resistance to earthquakes./font>

Wind Powered Skyscraper Self Powered Architecture
Neatly stacked in between each floor is a horizontal wind turbine (58 in total). Each turbine can produce 0.3 megawatt of electricity and is said to be able to produce enough energy for 50 families. The turbines are integrated in such a way that they are hardly visible from the outside. Their close proximity makes them easy to maintain. “Producing that much electric energy without any implication on the aesthetic aspect of the building is a revolutionary step in tapping alternative energy sources.” Dynamic Architecture’s website also claims that combined with solar panels they could generate up to $7million worth of surplus electricity every year.

Click here to see video

• Computer Tips:

Let Word Insert Your Favorite Text or Graphics

Do you copy favorite paragraphs of text or graphics out of old documents and paste them into new ones? That's better than recreating the paragraphs manually, but you're still throwing away 10 to 15 minutes per week compared with someone who lets Word do this automatically.

Here's how to free up that time.

The AutoText feature lets you specify a short name for a body of text or graphics and then lets you insert that body of material just by typing the short name.

Select a favorite paragraph (or group of paragraphs). Or hold down SHIFT+CTRL and use the arrow keys to select one or more paragraphs.
Press ALT+F3 (or on the Insert menu, point to AutoText and then click AutoText).
Type a name (of at least four characters) for the selected paragraph, click Add, and then click OK.

From now on, simply type the name of the paragraph (or the first four characters of the name) and press TAB or ENTER. Word will insert the paragraph for you.

TThe Pot at the End of the Rainbow