The Shortlist – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Shortlist

Middle of Six

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/20d. Total Eps: 64

Welcome to The Shortlist! We are exploring all things AEC marketing and answering listener questions to provide best practices and fresh ideas for marketing strategies to help your firm win the shortlist. New episodes drop each Wednesday. Listen as the team from Middle of Six shares their thoughts on proposals, interviews, websites, social media, marketing planning, business development, and countless other tactics that architecture, engineering, and construction firms rely on to grow their businesses and build strong brands.

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🇨🇦 Canada - Marketing
23/02/2025
#62

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https://www.middleofsix.com/post/marketing-department-check-up-checklist
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Score global : 58%

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Circles Conference Takeaways

Season 4 · Episode 63

Wednesday, February 12, 2025 • Duration 32:52

As challenging as it may be to break away from your day-to-day responsibilities to attend a conference, there is tremendous value in being immersed in new ideas, best practices, and inspiring work.

But we don't have to limit ourselves and our learning to the AEC industry alone. In this episode, Middle of Six Marketing Strategist Grace Takehara shares her experience attending Circles, a national creative design conference. Listen in as Grace shares her key takeaways including how to foster your creative spark, unlocking your creative potential, and what truly matters in design efforts.

Grace underscores that the value can extend to your internal team or even your entire company by inspiring others to consider new approaches and attend conferences that push their knowledge further.

CPSM CEU Credits: 0.5 | Domain: 1

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Psychological Safety in AEC Marketing

Season 4 · Episode 62

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 • Duration 47:03

The importance of psychological safety, particularly in high-pressure industries like architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), is having a moment—and for good reason! This episode of The Shortlist delves into how stress, especially secondary stress from pressure and insecurity, can negatively affect communication and team dynamics.

Middle of Sixers Wendy, Allison, and Becky share their own experiences and emphasize that psychological safety—defined as a workplace environment based on respect, trust, and open communication—is essential for fostering creativity, collaboration, and overall well-being. In short, when people feel safe, they perform better, which in turn leads to better outcomes for businesses, whether it's the bottom line or the quality of work produced.

CPSM CEU Credits: 0.5 | Domain: 6

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Strategic Planning Deep Dive

Season 4 · Episode 61

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 • Duration 37:11

Middle of Six Principals Wendy Simmons, Melissa Richey, and Allison Tivnon kick off Season 4 of The Shortlist by diving into strategic planning methods for AEC firms. We explore how these plans can range from formal retreats to informal, and why it’s critical to have a clear, actionable strategy in place—especially in the face of economic challenges like inflation, government budget deficits, and increased competition. Whether your firm’s plan is a detailed, regularly updated roadmap or more of an ad-hoc approach, it’s crucial to align the team around a shared vision and purpose. Tune in for a conversation on how to craft a plan that will help your firm stay resilient and focused, and why strategic planning is so critical.

CPSM CEU Credits: .5 | Domain: 2

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Leading Design-Build Pursuits

Season 3 · Episode 60

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 • Duration 49:53

The Progressive Design-Build (PDB) delivery method has been growing in popularity since it was introduced in the 90s. With more public agencies opting for "best value" over "low bid" for certain types of projects, PDB has become a go-to tool for state agencies, hospitals, K-12, and higher education procurement. The selection process, which often includes qualifications, proprietary or informational meeting(s), technical proposal, interview, and fee proposal (but notably, often no design) can extend several months and cost tens of thousands of dollars of staff time to complete.

With so much time, money, and other resources on the line, how do you bring top-level strategy and renewed enthusiasm to each procurement stage and score the most points going into the fee proposal? In Episode 60, Middle of Six Principals Melissa Richey and Wendy Simmons discuss the origins of PDB, how to secure teaming partners, cultivating team dynamics, and developing compelling content for a series of written and in-person presentations that demonstrate why your team is the best choice.

CPSM CEU Credits: .5 | Domain: 4

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Design Strategies for A3 Proposals

Season 3 · Episode 59

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 • Duration 45:30

We can thank Toyota for many innovations including honing LEAN process and establishing the "A3" approach to problem-solving. A3's structured way of presenting information concisely now shows up across all industries -- including AEC. Over the last two decades, the A3 proposal format has grown in popularity and quickly became a hot design challenge for marketing and pursuit teams. How do you fit a 20-, 50-, or 80-page proposal on just one or two sides of an 11x17 sheet of paper? The answer: you don't. Instead, you have to be ultra-strategic, selective, and creative to communicate your differentiators effectively.

In Episode 59 of The Shortlist, Middle of Six Senior Creative Strategists join Wendy Simmons as they share their tips and tricks for getting the most out of the A3 format. From tackling the eternal question of, "Which comes first, graphics or narrative?" to maximizing every square inch while preserving white space, Becky Ellison and Lauren Jane Peterson discuss their approach to working within the parameters of the A3 proposal format.

CPSM CEU Credits: .5 | Domain: 4

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Marketing Trends that Establish Authenticity

Season 3 · Episode 58

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 • Duration 56:31

Building a brand that authentically reflects the values, expertise, and people in your firm is job #1 for a professional services marketer. Episode 58 of The Shortlist welcomes back Marketing Strategist, Grace Takehara, and Digital Marketing Strategist, Kyle Davis, to discuss some of the trends they're seeing and how (or how not) they provide opportunities to provide insights into your firm and better connect with your audience.

From blogs and long-format videos, to employee ambassadors and values-centric content, Grace and Kyle share their recommendations for leveraging current marketing trends to bring your firm's brand to life.

CPSM CEU Credits: 1.0 | Domain: 6

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Making of "The Wildcards"

Season 3 · Episode 57

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 • Duration 01:03:20

Most AEC marketers' plates are filled with essential initiatives; developing responses to RFPs and RFQs or creating promotional content for websites, social media, and databases. While those projects are critical to keeping business humming, every once in a while we get the chance to work on a big, collaborative, creative project. It's those rare moments when we get to flex our marketing muscles in new and different ways, and hopefully, produce something with the energy to fuel us through the next year of project pursuits.

In 2023, the team at Middle of Six unveiled The Wildcards; a creative campaign aimed at shedding a little light (and some humor) on some of the behaviors that add complexity to pursuit teams. More than a year in the making, and involving everyone on the Middle of Six team, The Wildcards have been enjoyed from coast to coast and hopefully helped a few marketers along the way. Listen in on Episode 57 as Allison Tivnon, Becky Ellison, Grace Takehara, and Wendy Simmons walk through each step of the process, starting with the smallest seed of an idea and ending with a nationally recognized campaign.

CPSM CEU Credits: 1.0 | Domain: 6

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Brand and Client Perception Surveys

Season 3 · Episode 56

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 • Duration 01:00:22

"How did we do?" It's a question that often remains unasked but holds vital importance. Without periodic touchpoints to gather candid performance feedback, strong relationships and potential repeat work can slip through our fingers. But how do we solicit honest feedback without things getting awkward? How do we select the right questions and deliver them appropriately? And once we have the feedback, how do we distill it into solid findings and actionable recommendations?

Launching a client perception survey might seem intimidating and daunting, but the payoff can profoundly impact our firm's financial and cultural health. Join Middle of Six Principals, Wendy, Melissa, and Allison, as they explore why perception surveys matter and how to extract the most value from this indispensable activity.

CPSM CEU Credits: 1.0 | Domain: 1

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Focusing on Team Strengths

Season 3 · Episode 55

Wednesday, May 1, 2024 • Duration 50:11

From astrology to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), personality theories offer introspection and insights to deepen our understanding of others. We all recognize that marketing is a collaborative effort, encompassing strategic planning to interview coaching. The beauty of being part of a team lies in having a diverse array of perspectives, experiences, and talents to draw from, yet it isn't always smooth sailing. Differences in personalities can present challenges in understanding priorities, intentions, and approaches.

At Middle of Six, we leverage the CliftonStrengths (or StrengthsFinder) theory. This 20-year-old assessment highlights personal strengths rather than weaknesses, while also facilitating understanding of how to best support our teammates when stressful situations prompt "overdone strengths."

In Episode 55 of The Shortlist, we take a deep dive into the Middle of Six team with Principal Wendy Simmons, Operations Manager Susan O'Leary, and Senior Creative Strategist Lauren Jane Peterson to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such assessments and how they've effectively utilized CliftonStrengths to establish a common language in the workplace.

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What Marketers Want Leadership to Know

Season 3 · Episode 54

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 • Duration 46:50

Marketing departments have the best chance of success when they receive clear communication from company leadership. Whether that's insights (or input!) into the firm's strategic plan, having a voice throughout the pursuit process, or being respected as subject matter experts in marketing, AEC organizations can accomplish more by making simple adjustments to how they work with their marketing teams.

A great listen for both company leadership and marketing, Episode 54 of The Shortlist sheds light on often overlooked and sometimes unspoken things that marketers want you to know. Join Middle of Six principals Melissa Richey and Wendy Simmons as they provide tips and a few crowd-sourced suggestions to bridge the communication gap.

CPSM CEU Credits: 0.5 | Domain: 6

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The Shortlist – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

The Shortlist – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

X1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

X1