Young Designers Professional Development Institute (YDPDI) / back to Programs page »

Winner, AIA Emerging Professionals Program of the Year Award

Reducing costs, improving sales skills, increasing bottom-line performance: the BSA’s Young Designers Professional Development Institute (YDPDI) delivers the training young designers need most to help their firms run at the highest levels of productivity, focus, quality and efficiency. The yearlong program of monthly half-day seminars features topics that increase firms’ success: managing finances, improving negotiation skills, presentation skills, marketing and business development, writing skills, improving communications and improving construction-administration performance.

Enrollment information

The fee for one person for the 12-session program is $4,200 ($3,000 for BSA members/member firms); additional participants pay $3,500 each ($2,500 for BSA members). Discounts are available for multiple registrants per firm and for participants from related professions. Enrollment is limited to 20. Use this registration form to enroll.

Focus on performance

Now in its 14th year, YDPDI has justifiably earned a reputation for providing participants with the insights, strategies and skills that matter most for their firms and their own careers. The program's success results from several key factors:

Direct link to firms. Participants will be asked to interview their senior managers and principals and will be encouraged to work closely with a mentor within their firm to maximize opportunities to apply program insights.
Highly relevant, useful program content. Program content is continually updated to reflect the most current industry issues and opportunities. Even firms that offer internal training cannot provide the same quality of instructors and up-to-date perspective this program consistently delivers.
Effective year-long format. The program's format of one monthly half-day seminar for a year makes it easy to schedule, focuses on applying concepts between sessions and helps participants network and bond with one another at a greater level of depth than is possible in one-time seminars.
Outstanding instructors. Our instructors are often nationally recognized professionals: CEOs and principals, Harvard GSD faculty and representatives of key client groups. They consistently deliver excellent programs and provided "live cases" of alternative career paths in the profession.
Office tours. Hosting the program at several local offices during the year provides participants with a useful behind-the-scenes look at other organizations.
Focused interaction with contractors and clients. Two program sessions are held in collaboration with participants in the AGC Young Contractors Professional Institute and the CORENET Global New England chapter (corporate real-estate executives) Real Advantage program.

Getting the most from YDPDI

The YDPDI program in itself offers participants and their sponsoring firm’s extensive, important outcomes and benefits, as seen above, but there are ways to maximize the experience.

Select participants on criteria important to the firm as well as the individual. The best participants in any program are the ones who really want to be there. Some firms actually hold contests to select their participants. However, some of our most enthusiastic participants have been selected by their firms and placed in the program as a way of communicating that an investment has been made in that particular employee.
Make it clear that program participants are expected to bring what they learn back to the firm. Firms have done this effectively in several ways: inviting program participants to present at an informal firm lunch meeting; asking program participants to discuss what they are learning as an agenda item during established firm meetings; or having program participants conduct quarterly seminars.
Establish a clear link between program participants and a senior manager or principal in the firm. We call these people “program mentors,” and copy them on all the program emails and updates we regularly send to program participants. Program mentors help participants connect program content to their everyday work and performance development. Ideally, program participants meet with mentors before each session to discuss what they should focus on, and then again after the session to discuss what the learned and how best to bring it to the rest of the firm.
Have participants associate program attendance with four to six measurable learning goals. Participants and the firm get more from the program when participants have clear learning and development goals that they are using the program to address.
Enroll at least two participants in the program, if possible. (Discounts are available.) It is much easier for participants to apply what they learn if they get support from a peer.
Designate a backup person for each participant. Even with the best planning, participants will occasionally miss a session because of project demands. Firms make the most of their investment by having an alternate attendee identified.
Encourage past participants to attend current sessions. Encourage all past participants to attend Young Contractors sessions. We also welcome past program participants to attend any current program session they may have missed when their own program was offered, or even to repeat a program they enjoyed. We also make all the Young Designers and Young Contractors sessions mutually open to both groups.
Please stay in touch with us. Your comments and suggestions make the program strong.

2012—2013 schedule

Workshops are scheduled from 2:00 to 6:00 pm and include an office tour and snack.

March 28, 2012
Designing and building your architecture career
William Ronco, PhD, YDPDI program founder and director
This session addresses:

Special challenges, opportunities and keys to design career success.
Jump-starting your career progress.
Clarifying goals, identifying your “career anchors” for long-term development.
Taking action now.

Location: BSA Space, Boston

April 24, 2012
Mastering BIM/IPD
Chris Leary AIA, LEED, KlingStubbins
Mike Cannistraro, Cannistraro Mechanical
Luciana Burdi, Division of Capital Asset Management—Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Held jointly with the AGC Young Contractors Professional Institute. This session addresses:

New technology, new roles
Understanding, applying the most current tech tools
Designing building information modeling (BIM) expectations, optimal use, change management; performing optimally in Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)
Using “IPD-Lite”

Location: Museum of Plumbing, Watertown, Massachusetts

May 22, 2012
Improving financial management: Insights, strategies and skills Mark Paronich, New Focus Consulting
James Bryson, TRO|JungBrannen
This session addresses:

Pitfalls, key indicators and best practices for managing your project finances.
Going beyond projects to understand and contribute to your firm’s financial performance

Location: TRO Jung|Brannen, Boston

June 12, 2012
Improving presentation skills
William Ronco, PhD, YDPDI director
Anastasia Vassos, WSP Flack + Kurtz
This session addresses:

Why clients and principals want young designers to present.
Increasing confidence and building skills with a hands-on workshop
• Improving your materials, telling compelling stories and facilitating lively, productive discussion

Location: EYP, Boston

July 12, 2012
Human resources: Requirements, pitfalls and opportunities
Jessica Smith, Cannon Design
Shelley Kolesar, Payette
Cheryl Egan, Tsoi/Kobus & Associates
Maura Greene, Esq., Keegan Werlin LLP
This session addresses:

Knowing your HR legal rights, opportunities and Achilles heels.
Understanding architects salary policies.
Why you should and when and how to work with your firm’s HR manager

Location: Bergmeyer Associates, Boston

August, 7, 2012
Improving writing skills
William Ronco, PhD, YDPDI director
David Foxe, Kyu Sung Woo Architects
This session addresses:

Skills-building, with a workshop to help improve your writing comfort, coherence and speed with emails, reports and proposals
How to write more persuasive emails
Why you should and how to get published

Location: TBA

September 18, 2012
Increasing negotiation skills
Mary Feeney, Esq., Bowditch & Dewey
David Hancock AIA, CBT Architects
Robert Douglas, Town of Andover
CJ Fraser, Fraser Engineering
Held jointly with the AGC Young Contractors Professional Institute.
This session addresses:

Recognizing your negotiations style, strengths, blind spots and weaknesses
Approaching negotiations objectively pragmaticall.
Getting to — and beyond — "yes"
Increasing your effectiveness achieving 1+1=3 results

Location: CBT Architects, Boston

October 24, 2012
Understanding, addressing legal and ethical issues
Carl Sapers, Esq., Professor Emeritus, Harvard Graduate School of Design
This session addresses:

How legal and ethical issues emerge in new everyday professional practice.
How key law are changing.
What you must know about contracts, roles and fiduciary responsibilities.

Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

November 6, 2012
What clients really want
Douglas Noonan, Adidas-Reebok
Buzz Stapczynski, Town of Andover
Kimberly Plummer, Partners HealthCare
Janet Chrisos, Massachusetts State College Building Authority
Held jointly with the AGC Young Contractors Professional Institute
This session addresses:

How contractors and architects do/ don’t understand real priorities from the perspective of Building Authority clients from four markets
Issues, opportunities, best practices
How much is enough?
Increasing client satisfaction and repeat business

Location: Reebok global headquarters, Canton

November 14-16, 2012
ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX) workshop "buffet"

YDPDI participants attend three ABX workshops at no additional cost.

December 12, 2012
From manager to leader
Roger Goldstein FAIA, Goody Clancy
Steve Eustis, Skanska
This session addresses:

Building life after APM and PM
Increasing awareness and focus, clarifying personal vision, thinking more strategically
Increasing professional productivity
Building leadership vision and leadership communications skills.

Location: Goody Clancy, Boston

February 15, 2013
Effective architect/contractor teamwork
Marc Truant AIA, Marc Truant & Associates
George Takoudes AIA, isgenuity
Kimberly Plummer, Partners HealthCare
Held jointly with the AGC Young Contractors Professional Institute.
This session addresses:

Understanding architect/contractor differences; using differences as a resource
Improving meetings, discussion and follow-through
Building real teams.

Location: Payette Associates, Boston

About the YDPDI director
Dr. William C. Ronco, president of Gathering Pace Consulting, founded and directs the YDPDI program. He leads several of the skills sessions that draw on his extensive training, partnering and consulting work in AE firms and corporate real-estate organizations. In addition to his work with YDPDI, Ronco consults to design, engineering, construction and real-estate organizations on strategy, partnering and leadership. He wrote the “Reports on Strategic Planning, Leadership and Partnering” chapter for the AIA Practice Manual Update. A global partnering expert with more than 200 successful partnering projects, Ronco is the co-author of Partnering Manual for Design and Construction (McGraw Hill, 1995) and The Partnering Solution (Career Press, 2005). He has run continuing-education programs for the Boston Architectural College and MIT, and taught at Harvard GSD.

Acknowledgement: The Institute was conceived in 1998 by George Takoudes AIA, then a young designer at Payette in Boston and chair of the BSA Membership Committee. Takoudes is a principal at isgenuity.