Dorian was invited to be on a panel for the architecture group AIA last night, and found that not only is the Haworth Showroom a very nice venue, but also that architects, like many, are grappling with how to use social media, what one can do to raise one’s image, get new clients, follow the “rules” and otherwise figure out how to works.

Some of the main points raised by Dorian were that it’s important to experiment, cultivate and get better over time (”iterate” is one way of putting it). One audience member asked how to use social media like Twitter, which is quick and short bursts persistently, in the course of managing long-term architectural projects. “In the course of managing the project, don’t you find yourself considering a lot of things, checking in often as you make decisions?” Dorian replied, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you could, for example, Tweet that you were considering a certain wood for a certain type of situation, say a damp environment, and get feedback from others in the community about woods they’d used that were particularly effective for your situation? Or cement. Or doorknobs.” He made the point that you will not only gain interested followers who want to learn about your projects, and potentially pick up new clients that way, but also get “inbound marketing” intelligence that may be useful to your business.

You can see more coverage by looking on Twitter at the hashtag #aianysocialmedia.