Things that came true. Things to come.

[Neshanic]

When I got out of school in 1986, the stock market crash and ensuing recesssion was not on my radar. Soon enough though, it happened, and where I live, Phoenix, plunged into a Keating/S&L/stock market crash. People were laid off, and things went bad real fast, as development is what we do here in Arizona, and when it stops, this huge city in the middle of nowhere sits and bakes, waiting the next cycle.

My generation of graduates were taught drawing by hand. There were no computers. When the 87 crash hit, designs were done with ink on mylar, and the civils in the big civil room of stupity as we called it, had some computers that were served by a machine the size of a walk in closet. The recession and ensuing lack of work continued until about July 1992, when almost overnight the rocket sled of development took off. The 2001 thing did not put a dent in the frenzy, and ramped up into mass development hysteria in 2002 and just kept going.

Californians flooded the market as they did in Las Vegas, buying everything in sight. Two, three, five houses? Who cares, real estate always goes up.

During the recovery of the early 90's something happened. Computers started showing up on desks for architects, and landscape architects. The introduction of Autocad in Windows made it take off. People of my generation were forced to either learn or manage, with the majority opting for managing. Why learn Autocad when you have "staff"? Well "staff" used to be in an average office 2 registrants and people who where going to become registrants, and had just recently graduated. In 2004, the average office maybe had two registrants, one or two people waiting to take the test, but the majority were now just Cad operators. No formal schooling, just doing Cad. As we came to the crash, some offices only would have one registrant, and the ENTIRE office was high school grad and Cad tech school grads.

This recession/depression is going to fundamentally change the way offices and business will be done in the future. Do you remember sending your first PDF to a client and them asking how to open it? Clients that only wanted faxes? Ones that refused to use FTP sites? Clients that balked at teleconferencing, instead demanding a 40 mile trip yo their office?

I bring these things up because I opted for going the computer route, instead of the managerial route when the last recession ended. Most ofthe landscape architects I know that made the managerial decision are out of a job, or on their way out. It has worked relatively well for me, as I keep up on the latest programs, and can do my work in them, but I know I am no pro, I am just am able to do what I need to do, say compared to a graphic designer or other person that uses these progams to the limit.

This stop in our economy now will be later followed by a new world. This would be the time if in a decision situation to make yourself not "managerial" but as knowledgeable as you can in the field you are. Of course every field is different with different dynamics, but in a truck stop, someone that can work the shit out of a computer will be more valable than one that cannot, or at least willnot be shoveling snow as the first choice.

In landscape architecture, and architecture, the future will be for the person that can jump in anywhere at a moments notice, without having a puzzled look when asked if they can help on a project. The future will not be "managerial". There will not be any white collar jobs, just jobs where you need to know ALOT about ALOT to keep your place, and keep yourself from being laid off. The days of the large firms in architecture and my field will be looked on with amusement like an episode of "Mad Men".

My clients have known for a long time (six years) that I do not have a fax, and they need to know how to open a PDF. In my field you would be suprised how many still cling to the old ways. But this brush clearing economic catastophe has a bright new future, one where all kinds of things are possible, and the room with just a desk a person sitting there, "managing" are gone. But part of that future you will have to make yourself indispensable by knowlege and up to the minute skill.

[madinmaryland]

1. I started using Autocad in 87. I think it was version 2.5 or 2.6,

I am in telecommunications, and we design data center, etc. So we have been using these for a while.

Was it Release 9 that first tried to integrate ACAD into a Windows based program?

[Neshanic]

2. I started in 1997 with R14....Gawd now it's 2009. I'm getting too old.

[Merlot]

3. I graduated school without computer trainging, but my first job was

on a computer. I was self-taught for a while, then went to a 3 month trade school to learn graphics. With that and my BA, I was ahead of the curve for a while.

Now, there are tons of people with a little computer experience and no design training. And don't forget all the people in India who charge $3 an hour. Some people here in the states will take on jobs and not tell you they are outsourcing.

So, baskically, I'm f*cked and looking for that management position that you say I should avoid. Because I can no longer remain competitive doing what I do.

[Neshanic]

5. It's odd then, because on Craigs list, there are many "Graphics"

openings, in any major city you choose. I am not denying outsourcing, but in my field, outsourcing by certain firms is followed by the inevitable clients question of price.

"So you are charging me 100 grand for a design that you pay someone in India basically nothing for to draft? Where is the price reduction?"

That's the reason a particular firm is closing offices, like others. They forget that outsourcing makes things cheaper. This little item they thought the clients would not notice. Just more money for them.

Design fields are making a resurgence back to locally. Prices are dropping everywhere because of deflation but the clients will pay for a bit more expensive if they know they do not have outsourced product and do not have to deal with excuses.

I do not know what type of managerial person thing you would be going for, but the day of the office manager/managers in general is going.

[Merlot]

6. craigslist is wonderfull for buying and selling

however if you pursue andy of those graphics positions, you'll find that most are looking for "students" or "interns" because they want to pay as little as possible. Some don't even pay.

I do work locally, and am smaller, with little overhead. There are some clients that will pay going good rates because they want and expect professional work. Those people don't advertise on craigslist.

What I'm talking about concerning outsourcing is "local" companies that front for outsourcers. They don't charge 100k for projects, more like 5k. But with outsourcing, they are still making a good profit.

No, I'm not looking for an office manager position. I've never been an employee.

[Billy Burnett]

4. The music recording biz is all done with computers now.

I started out in music production having to learn how to maintain analog tape machines and how to handle tape properly. Recording and overdubbing was done in real time. Aligning 24 track tape heads was an art as was setting up the electronics bias and noise reduction systems. Cabling up a studio required miles of wiring.

These days, tape is almost unavailable. The wonderful analog sound of real tape saturation is gone also (except for a small handful of studios).

It can all be done on a Mac/PC now with a minimum of connections to the in/out interfaces. Cut and paste, 1 2 3. The art of flying-in audio is gone.

I really miss the good old days and the sound of tape. :(

A mac or pc is portable, relatively cheap and easy to set up (provided you are competent at installing HDs, updates, drivers, plug-ins, etc etc).

But my foundation was built in a way that younger folks will never have access to. Soon, we'll all be gone.