TheContinuingArchitect.com Launches Four New PPG Courses for Architects

Posted on Jun 25 2010

PPG Industries is now offering four new continuing education courses on The Continuing Architect, the new best-in-class online distance education platform presented by Construction Business Media – publishers of Architectural Products, SSL and illuminate magazines, and created by LarsonO’Brien Marketing Group.

Each of the four courses covers an important aspect of PPG’s architectural glass products, focusing on their sustainable aspects, economic and design benefits.  Architects taking the courses will also learn how best to specify glass and glass coatings for their projects.

“Intro to Glass” focuses on the different methods for producing different types of glass, reviews the characteristics of various types of glass and offers criteria for its proper selection and use.

“Energy Efficient Glazings” explains how low-e coatings work, the differences between “passive” and “solar-control” low-e glass, and quantifies the benefits of low-e glass.

“Spectrally Selective Glazings for Architectural Glass” explains how one identifies different types of architectural glass, how glass specification can impact building performance, occupant comfort and the environment, and discusses safety and performance issues related to glass specification.

“Quantifying Energy, Economic and Environmental Benefits of Transparent Low-E Glasses” identifies the advancements made in architectural glasses during the 20th and 21st centuries, discusses a study of heating and energy consumption in buildings, and quantifies the performance benefits of new triple-silver low-e glass.

TheContinuingArchitect.com is an AIA registered Platform Provider and is the only provider of free AIA/CES-approved continuing education courses to offer courses as streaming online video, downloads, iTunes podcasts and direct to mobile device.

LarsonO’Brien and Construction Business Media Launch The Continuing Architect

Posted on May 5 2010

Construction Business Media (CBM), publisher of Architectural Products magazine, and LarsonO’Brien Marketing Group (LO) have launched a new distance education platform to serve the building industry. LarsonOBrien previously launched ArchitectCES.com in 2006, which grew to become one of the largest providers of free continuing education for architects.

The new site URL, www.TheContinuingArchitect.com, is designed as a hub for the architectural community. It delivers dynamic, media-rich content - including full motion video - and it offers aggregated up-to-the-minute news from a multitude of websites and blogs that are of interest to architects.  Promotion of the site through Architectural Products, Illuminate and Architectural SSL magazines, as well as through associated websites and e-newsletters, will generate more than a million annual impressions - leading to high visibility and higher usage rates.

“Most continuing education is product focused, making the relationship with Architectural Products magazine a perfect fit,” commented Ron Larson, a principal of LO. “When we combine Architectural Products media promotion, our content development expertise and our new online platform you’ve got the most influential continuing education system in the business,” continued Larson.

“Sponsors will really like some of the features that benefit them directly,” explained Jack O’Brien, a principal of the firm. “For example, sponsors can link directly to their course from their own site without having to navigate through a provider’s campus or trying to find the course from among those offered by their competitors. That means on our site there’s a strong potential for better search engine response because there are multiple direct paths to content when architects search Google for specific topics. That adds value to being on The Continuing Architect,” he concluded.

“We’re excited to be partnering with LarsonO’Brien,” said Tim Shea, Managing Partner and Director of Business Development of CBM.  “Our customers have been asking for a continuing education solution and we now have a ‘best-of-class’ offering, with an experienced content developer, that utilizes design and technology to enhance the user experience while offering providers a unique level of analytic and measurement tools…all at a great price point,” continued Shea.

The education platform, created and programmed from scratch by LarsonO’Brien’s web development team over the course of the past year, will deliver courses online as streaming video with little or no perceptible load times. Courses will also be available as downloadable, click-thru slide shows, on mobile devices, and as podcasts available for free through iTunes. Courses taken online “remember” where student users left the course if they get called away, or even if they log out of the site. Users will be able to comment on courses, rate courses and send an automated email course recommendation to colleagues.

Lacey Thomas and Julianne Muszynski Join LarsonO’Brien

Posted on Apr 9 2010

LarsonO’Brien Marketing Group, a leader in integrated marketing for the building industry, has hired Lacey Thomas as an account executive and Julianne Muszynski as a public relations account executive.

In her new role, Thomas’ duties include client and project management and strategic planning. Prior to joining LarsonO’Brien, Thomas worked for BrandMuscle, Inc., a Cleveland, OH-based marketing services company, as client service account executive II, and as an assistant manager of graphic operations. Thomas received a B.A. in graphic design with a minor in advertising and public relations, and a certificate of study in leadership from Marietta College in Marietta, OH.

As a PR account executive, Muszynski’s responsibilities include public relations writing, media relations and strategic planning for various agency PR accounts. She previously worked for Weber Shandwick, a global public relations agency, as a senior account executive in Boston. Prior to that, she worked as an assistant account executive for Blanc & Otus and as an assistant account executive for Manning, Selvage & Lee. Muszynski earned a B.S. in professional and technical communication from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. Muszynski is also a member of the Junior League of Pittsburgh.

LarsonO’Brien serves a range of clients in the building industry, including Birdair, Inc. (Buffalo, NY), Cambridge Architectural (Cambridge, MD), CENTRIA Services Group (Pittsburgh, PA), Chief Manufacturing (Savage, MN), Fabric Structures Association (Roseville, MN), Follansbee Steel (Follansbee, WV), greenscreen (Los Angeles, CA), H.H. Roberston Floor Systems (Ambridge, PA), Kobold (Pittsburgh, PA), Litecontrol (Hanson, MA), PPG IdeaScapes (Pittsburgh, PA), and Ronstan Tensile Architecture (Melbourne, Australia)