I am a big hockey fan. That helps me “fit in” a little bit here in Brainerd. My oldest son has now been playing in the local amateur hockey association for the last 3 years. It has been really great for our family. We have made a lot of good friends and have been able to rub shoulders with some very neat people. Not to mention that our son has been able to have the camaraderie of the team which has helped him make the transition of our move to Brainerd.

It has also given me on opportunity to volunteer in the community. I serve on the facilities committee. Our task lately is to develop a facilities plan for the association so that we can provide a quality hockey opportunity for the long term.

While these relationships have not translated into more local work for the firm, they have been personally rewarding.

But an interesting thing was said at our last committee meeting that made me consider our public image as a firm. The committee consists of professionals and local business owners. In the group, there are 2 accountants, 1 attorney, a management consultant and at least 3 business owners; all successful and good people.

At our last meeting, one of them showed up in business attire. In the world I came from, that kind of thing isn’t worth noting, but it drew some sarcastic remarks from this crowd. His good humored retort was “hey I work for a living” which led to a discussion about “Brainerd casual.”

Apparently, the idea of dressing up in central and northern Minnesota is jeans and a button down shirt and you aren’t out of place anywhere in town in a hoodie or flannel. I know it sounds funny, but I once had another professional tell me that if you showed up in a shirt and tie to an interview, you probably won’t get the job. People around here are comfortable casual.

As a result I rarely wear slacks to work and I don’t know if I have ever worn a tie. As an architect from a dense urban core, this is a dramatic public image shift that I’m not always comfortable with. Everyone has an image of an architect and how they dress and jeans and flannel are not it. We wear silk shirts, slacks, black rimmed glasses and black shoes. If you live in a city you are familiar with ties and the trendy ways of tying them.

It’s about image. What does the client think of you the first time you meet? Do they think of you as a professional because of the way you dress? If they are going to be willing to pay 5%-10% of the building cost to you, they need to feel good about it and dressing nicely helps the image.

The same concept applies to your office. We work in an office that is attached to my partner’s house. It has great light and views and is very convenient, but it is small and is not conducive to meetings or presentations. We don’t have a conference room, a reception area, cool modern furniture or even great pictures on the wall. It is a good working office, but that’s it.

So all of this leads to the question: what is the image we want to present? What image will most likely help us grow locally? And finally, what image best fits us?

I’m not sure we have come up with a solution to this issue, but right now we are leaning toward the contemporary vision of the architect as a collaborator between art and practicality (that’s another interesting conflicting image that seems to have already been breached). We both have an affinity for modern architecture and technology and our discussions to date seem to be heading in that direction.

Due to our needs to grow, we have been looking for spaces to lease. It has not been easy since the majority of the leasable spaces in town are in buildings that are not distinctive, interesting, beautiful and none of them seem to ‘fit’. After some consideration, we have made the decision to try to get space in the Franklin Arts Center, home to the Crossing Art Alliance. We believe that being in this facility with other artists is a nice fit and is consistent with an image that we are comfortable with. The question is, will our clients feel the same?

Perhaps Brainerd is quietly waiting and longing for the type of sophistication and architecture we want to build and represent. It will be interesting to see if we are able to be successful.