| BREAKOUT SESSIONS | MONDAY, MARCH 22 | 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | ||||
The Tide Has Turned: Strategy for the New AEC Sarah Kinard | The Flamingo Project The AEC buyer has changed, and most firms are still selling to the one they knew a decade ago. Today's buyer uses new lenses, is more skeptical, and makes most of the decision before your firm is ever contacted. Sarah Kinard reveals how the new buyer researches and decides, and what it takes to be found, trusted, and shortlisted before the pursuit begins. |
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Authentic in an Artificial World Kyla Stewart | Graceworks As marketers, business developers, and technical writers, do you become overwhelmed with the daily deluge of content you’re asked to create? Pressed for time, we can dive into AI without much reflection or training. Yep! AI can help! But, will that reach our goal of genuine connection with the reader that will win more work? In a world where AI is becoming the standard, our authenticity hangs in the balance. So, let’s get REAL! What compels people to actually read that proposal, email, website, or social media post? What creates a spark of connection with that client even before the meeting? It’s your authenticity. In this high-energy, interactive workshop, we’ll explore—is the writing real or fake? What is fake formal? What are four keys to authentic writing? You’ll walk away with a creative process that works and a template for crafting compelling digital communication. This fun, hands-on session provides opportunities to engage with real-world material for real-world results, with individual and group games. Come elevate your communication skills with the “write” stuff! |
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Leading from the Messy Middle Briana Carter, CPSM | Stantec What if making waves isn’t always about disrupting the status quo or introducing the next big idea? What if making waves refers to choosing how you’ll show up when the current around you keeps changing? Acquisitions, reorganizations, new leadership, team turnover, shifting priorities, and evolving roles can leave us questioning where we belong, what we can control, and what comes next. For leaders, there’s an added challenge: How do you help steady a team when you’re navigating the same uncertainty yourself? Drawing from her current experience navigating a major AEC acquisition while stepping into a new leadership role, redefining teams, building new relationships, and adapting to priorities that continue to evolve, Briana Carter invites attendees into an honest conversation about leading from the messy middle—when the answers aren’t finished and neither is the change. Together, attendees will explore the fears and instincts that surface during organizational change and work through four practical questions: What can I control? What can I influence? What do I need to release? And what does my team need from me right now? Through candid conversation, reflection, and real-world scenarios, participants will discover how intentional leadership choices can create ripples of clarity, trust, and momentum, even in uncertain waters. |
| BREAKOUT SESSIONS | TUESDAY, MARCH 23 | 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM | ||||
The Pursuit Intelligence Flywheel: Make Every Pursuit Improve the Next Daniel Beecham | Propagent Archiving a proposal preserves the final document. It does not preserve why the firm pursued the work, which evidence strengthened the case, where reviewers pushed back, what changed during the response, what the client later revealed, or what the outcome showed. When that context disappears, the next team must reconstruct it from memory or reuse old language without knowing why it was chosen. In this hands-on workshop, attendees will build a Pursuit Intelligence Flywheel: a practical loop for capturing decisions, evidence, feedback, debrief findings, and outcomes; validating what is reusable; and returning it to the next Go/No-Go, capture plan, proof strategy, and review. Working from a fictional sample or their own nonconfidential pursuit, participants will map where learning is lost, design one capture-and-reuse loop, and receive live feedback. Attendees will leave with a one-page flywheel and a 30-day pilot plan. The workshop treats pursuit intelligence as an organizational learning discipline, with methods that work independently of any CRM or software platform. |
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Marketing Against the Grain: The Human Edge Ida Cheinman | Substance151 Have you ever noticed how the most successful marketing strategies are often the ones that go against the grain? For decades, AEC firms built business and client relationships through highly personal, in-person interactions. Then the generational handoff, digital transformation, and the long-lasting effects of the pandemic forever changed the “how” of building relationships in the new, digital-first environment. Now AI has disrupted every industry with the promise of faster, cheaper, and more. But as the lines between “human” and “artificial,” “real” and “fake” become increasingly blurred, trust, people, and relationships have become the most valuable business currency. So how do you balance the need for AI’s speed, power, and automation to meet today’s AEC clients’ demand for immediate, always-on, digital experiences and the value of “human touch”? The next phase of AEC marketing and business development is about differentiating your firm by doubling down on what AI cannot replicate: empathy, authenticity, and creativity to build trust, preference, and client confidence. The brands that win won’t be the most efficient. They’ll be the most emotionally resonant. Designed as a structured discussion, this program facilitates a dynamic dialogue that engages attendees and encourages participation. Through Q&A and opportunities to share experiences, challenges, and best practices, attendees will learn from each other as well as the presenter. Attendees will leave with a playbook for creating a marketing advantage, packed with actionable strategies, fresh ideas, and practical insights to strengthen your firm’s influence, drive better business outcomes, and create new opportunities. |
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How to Manage Difficult People—While Still Being Nice Adam Holbrook | Adam Holbrook We all navigate complex interpersonal dynamics—at work, across multi-generational teams, or (deep breath)...reporting to us. As Gen Z transforms workplace expectations and generational differences grow, managing tough interactions can feel like an uphill battle for AEC firms. The real question: how do you collaborate effectively across these divides without losing your mind or your kindness? You can’t control others’ behavior—but you can control your response. By managing your energy, communicating with clarity, and setting strong, respectful boundaries, these everyday friction points can actually shift into opportunities for alignment. This session is practical, honest, and filled with real-world AEC insights, giving participants strategies they can use immediately to lead across generational dynamics: - The secret to de-escalation (the most underrated leadership tool no one talks about) - Why delaying your emotions is a superpower—not a weakness - How to stop waiting for an apology that’s never coming (and what to do instead) - What frustration reveals about generational gaps—and how to use it as fuel for growth - The quiet magic of asking better questions and framing the right words across teams - How to set clear boundaries without guilt, anger, or a three-paragraph email Through short breakout moments, participants don’t just learn—they practice in real time. This isn’t about being a pushover or tolerating friction. It’s about showing up with confidence, emotional intelligence, and adaptable leadership—even when others don’t. Stop absorbing dysfunction and start making waves by leading from calm, strength, and kindness. |
| BREAKOUT SESSIONS | TUESDAY, MARCH 23 | 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM | ||||
Diving Deeper: A Hands-On Process for Building Client-Centered Value Propositions Alli Goode, CFEA and Eliza Wibbenmeyer | Clancy & Theys Construction Company We often describe our firms with the same familiar claims: experienced teams, quality service, strong communication, and on-time delivery. While these qualities are important, they do not always explain why we are the right choice for a specific client, opportunity, or challenge. To create messaging that resonates, we need to move beyond the surface and dive deeper into what clients truly value. In this interactive workshop, Alli Goode and Eliza Wibbenmeyer will guide participants through a practical five-step process for building client-centered value propositions for proposals, shortlist interviews, and business development conversations. Rather than starting with what we want to say about ourselves, we will begin with the client: what they care about, how they define success, and what risks, pressures, or goals may influence their decision. Using a realistic AEC scenario, Alli and Eliza will work through the process of identifying client needs, selecting relevant firm strengths, connecting those strengths to meaningful client outcomes, and drafting a concise value proposition. They will also explore how to support that message with proof points, such as project examples, metrics, relationships, testimonials, visuals, and team talking points. Attendees will leave with a repeatable facilitation framework and worksheet they can immediately use with pursuit teams. By diving deeper into the client’s perspective, we can replace generic marketing language with clearer, more credible messaging that helps our teams make a stronger case and create a more meaningful impact. |
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Your AI Pilot is Not a Strategy: Why Most AEC Marketing Teams are Stuck at Random Acts of AI Joy Youell | Winsome Marketing Every AEC marketing team has someone quietly using AI to draft award submissions, someone else experimenting with it for social captions—scattered, individual, and impossible to measure. That's not adoption. It's noise. And it's why so many firms can say "we use AI" without being able to point to a single hour of real capacity gained. This session makes the case that the firms pulling ahead aren't the ones with the best tools—they're the ones who've done the unglamorous work of turning individual AI experiments into firm-wide processes: clear ownership, standardized workflows, and a way to actually know if it's working. Participants will look at where AEC marketing teams get stuck (e.g., proposals, qualifications, business development support), what "operationalized" actually looks like in practice, and how to move your team from random acts of AI to something you can build on. Leave with a practical framework for auditing where AI is already happening in your firm (whether you sanctioned it or not) and a starting plan for turning that into a real capability. |
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Rethinking Repeat Work: Making Existing Clients a Growth Strategy Katie Stern | Dragonfly AEC Consulting Most AEC firms have defined processes for winning new clients, but far fewer bring that same level of discipline to growing existing relationships. Repeat work may signal satisfaction, but it does not necessarily mean the relationship is expanding, the firm is becoming more valuable, or future opportunities are being created intentionally. Winning new clients and growing existing clients require different questions. Instead of asking only what project comes next, firms must understand where the client is headed, how the relationship is positioned, where unmet needs exist, and which growth opportunities are genuinely worth pursuing. In this interactive session, attendees will learn a strategic framework for existing-client growth. They will examine the client’s business direction, their firm’s current position, the breadth and depth of the relationship, and areas of potential growth. They will also distinguish known facts from internal assumptions and identify the intelligence needed before committing resources to an opportunity. This session will demonstrate how marketing and business development professionals can facilitate stronger client-growth planning by connecting client intelligence, project teams, firm leaders, and subject matter experts around a shared strategy. Using a one-page Client Growth Strategy Map, participants will apply the framework to one of their firm’s current clients. They will leave with a priority growth hypothesis, key questions to validate, and a focused 90-day action plan for moving from passively managing repeat work to intentionally creating future value. |
| BREAKOUT SESSIONS | TUESDAY, MARCH 23 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | ||||
Let's GO, if the Data Says So Amanda Roussel | Full Sail Partners Your executive team wants you to chase. Your gut says no. What does the data say? Firms burn real budget—hours, proposal costs, team morale—chasing work with a low probability of winning, often because someone with influence pushes for it anyway. Deltek's latest Clarity Report confirms it: AEC firms want to be more intentional about what they pursue. The market is shifting too, and the strategies that used to win aren't guaranteed to work anymore. So how do you figure out what does? The data is already sitting in your firm's history. This session shows participants how to look back before you look forward—analyzing past pursuits to find the patterns that separate the wins from the losses, then turning those patterns into objective Go/No-Go criteria. Walk away with the confidence to make the call, backed by proof instead of a hunch and a trackable way to prove it's making an impact by winning your firm more of the work that matters. |
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Powerful Presentations: How to be Remembered Kim Sousa | iMAKE YOUR MARKeting In the AEC industry, presentations are everywhere—shortlist interviews, client meetings, internal strategy sessions—but most don’t enjoy doing them and many fail to influence decisions. Too often, teams overload slides with information and talk too much about themselves instead of delivering clarity, strategy, and impact. We work with clients to convince them that more slides won’t win the work, but better presentations might. This session reframes presentations as a business development and educational tool, not just a dreaded checkbox. Attendees will learn how to structure presentations around what clients/audiences actually care about, simplify complex information, shift from “informing” to educating through storytelling, and present some stage presence proven tips to communicate clearly and concisely. Using real-world AEC scenarios, this session will provide practical frameworks for building presentations that resonate with audiences, support business development goals, and ultimately help win work (or at least the crowd)! The goal: to make our message more impactful and memorable. |
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Make WAVES: Using Your Actions and Voice to Influence Key Stakeholders Daphne Valcin, MCC, ELI-MP | Valcin Strategic Solutions In this interactive workshop, AEC marketing and business development professionals will explore practical strategies to strengthen their influence and engage key stakeholders, regardless of their role. Through realistic AEC scenarios, guided exercises, and peer discussion, participants will explore next-level approaches for communicating ideas strategically, demonstrating value, and building stronger relationships with key stakeholders. Each attendee will develop a 30-day action plan with at least one concrete step they can implement by Monday to strengthen their influence and make a meaningful difference for their firm and stakeholders. |
| BREAKOUT SESSIONS | TUESDAY, MARCH 23 | 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM | ||||
From Treading Water to Making Waves in Pursuit Strategy Pamela Conine, MBA, CPSM | Shaffer Creative Proposal professionals often enter pursuits navigating deadlines, gathering content, and producing documents after the course has already been set. Yet their visibility across the people, information, and decisions that shape a pursuit gives them a unique opportunity to create greater strategic impact. This session offers coordinators, specialists, and managers a practical framework for turning that visibility into influence, asking sharper questions, improving team alignment, guiding stronger pursuit decisions, shaping a more compelling client story, and connecting proposal strategy to firmwide growth goals. Attendees will leave with practical ways to move beyond managing the pursuit process and make waves in pursuit strategy, creating new influence and better outcomes for their teams and firms. |
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The Hidden Business Development Engine: Using Strategic Communications to Win More Work Julie Smith, CPSM | Terracon In many AEC firms, communications and business development operate in parallel rather than in partnership. Marketing teams produce content, social media posts, award submissions, internal communications, and thought leadership pieces, while seller-doers focus on relationships and pursuits. But what happens when these efforts are intentionally aligned? This session explores how strategic communications can become a powerful business development engine by strengthening client relationships, elevating technical expertise, increasing market visibility, and creating meaningful opportunities for engagement long before an RFQ is released. Through real-world examples, attendees will learn how communications initiatives such as client listening programs, thought leadership campaigns, employee advocacy, social media strategy, internal communications, industry awards, and media relations can directly support growth objectives. Participants will leave with a practical framework for connecting communication activities to measurable business development outcomes and demonstrating greater value to firm leadership. |
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Before a Crisis Strikes: How Marketers Build Organizational Readiness David Marino, CPC and Dan Purschwitz, CPSM | Freese and Nichols Every AEC firm will eventually face a crisis, emergency, or reputational issue. The firms that respond best don't improvise, they prepare. Long before the first media inquiry or social media post, marketers can become trusted advisors by helping leaders build the plans, partnerships, and communication tools that strengthen organizational readiness. Preparation extends far beyond drafting a press release. It includes securing executive buy-in, developing communication frameworks, creating adaptable response templates, preparing spokespersons, conducting media training, and facilitating tabletop exercises. Drawing from Freese and Nichols' multi-year experience building an incident response communications program, David Marino and Dan Purschwitz will share practical lessons, proven strategies, and a scalable framework attendees can implement in firms of any size. |
| BREAKOUT WORKSHOPS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 | 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM | ||||
Small Tools, Big Impact: Practical AI Strategies for AEC Marketers Kayla McCause, FSMPS, CPSM | Dragonfly AEC Consulting The conversation around AI often centers on advanced agents, custom assistants, and enterprise-wide transformation. But many AEC marketers and business developers face a different reality: limited budgets, restricted access, cautious leadership, or uncertainty about where to begin. This interactive workshop focuses on practical ways marketers can evaluate, test, and apply AI within their existing workflows. Through real-world examples and guided exercises, participants will identify opportunities to reduce repetitive work, improve efficiency, and create more capacity for strategic and creative contributions. We'll also explore how to build credibility and gain buy-in by demonstrating measurable value rather than simply promoting the technology itself. Attendees will leave with a framework for identifying high-impact use cases, evaluating potential return on investment, and making the case for broader adoption within their organizations. You do not need permission to start learning. You only need evidence to start leading. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: identify high-impact marketing and business development activities where AI can improve efficiency, consistency, or quality; evaluate AI opportunities based on effort, value, and potential return on investment within their organization's unique constraints; and develop a practical approach for demonstrating AI's value and building a business case for broader adoption within their firm. |
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Real, Relevant, Required: Accessible Proposals and Marketing That Include Everyone Becky Rehorn, DM, CPACC, CPSM | Accessible Organizations Group Public sector clients now expect digital accessibility, and the ADA Title II rule made it a legal requirement for the state and local agencies AEC firms serve. Yet most proposals, interactive PDFs, websites, and marketing collateral still fail basic accessibility checks. Behind every failed check is a person left out: an evaluator using a screen reader who cannot navigate your proposal, a community member with low vision who cannot read your project flyer. Accessibility is not a compliance box. It is a commitment to making sure everyone can participate in the work we do, and firms that embrace it build materials that work better for every reader. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn practical accessibility skills they can apply the same week: writing effective alt text, structuring documents with real headings, choosing compliant color contrast, creating accessible tables and charts, and running quick self-checks before anything goes out the door. Participants will practice on real proposal and marketing samples, present their fixes to the group, and receive live feedback. Attendees will leave with a one-page accessibility checklist they can put into their firm's proposal and marketing workflow immediately. |
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Leading Change: Applying Kotter's 8 Steps to AEC Marketing Initiatives Kelsey Parpart, MBA, PMP, CPSM | ZestAEC John Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change has guided organizational growth for over three decades. In this candid case study and interactive session, Kelsey Parpart will share how she leveraged Kotter’s framework to transform one firm’s proposal process from a chaotic sprint into a streamlined engine that boosted win rates by 35% and submitted proposals days ahead of deadlines. Attendees will work together to brainstorm how to overcome the inevitable missteps, internal resistance, and mid-stream roadblocks that come with any meaningful change effort, as well as outline their own potential change initiative to bring back to their team. |
