At the end of January, the Cleary Zimmermann marketing team attended the Society of Professional Service Marketers’ Southern Regional Conference, designed to bring together AEC marketing professionals from the six southern regional chapters to provide learning and networking opportunities. With just over 300 people in attendance, our team attended workshops, keynote presentations, and interactive sessions designed to enhance our personal and professional growth.

The conference, which occurred January 29-31, 2025 in Houston, TX, featured programs ranging from Artificial Intelligence and how to effectively utilize it in the workplace to website design and brand guidelines. Our team decided to divide and conquer and attend different sessions throughout the two-and-a-half-day conference. Below are some key takeaways from our very own marketing department.

Win the Projects, Win the People: Marketers’ Vital Role in Talent Attraction with Crista Reed, CPSM & Jim Riney

Joyce Watson, CPSM (Principal | Marketing, Cleary Zimmermann Engineers)  

• Create a regular touchpoint between Marketing and Talent Acquisition teams to share goals and create a unified strategy 
• Host a focus group with interns and new hires to learn why they chose your firm and what other options they were considering. 
• Create Talent Audience personas to understand candidates’ goals and challenges, what information they’re seeking, where they are looking for opportunities, and when they are there. 
• Start solving candidates’ problems in marketing pieces and help them visualize themselves at your firm. 
• Identify all candidate touchpoints and what digital channels they are using to determine how marketing can support with content, graphics, and best practices. 

AEC Websites That Win Work with David Lecours

Angela Navarro (Marketing Manager, Cleary Zimmermann Engineers)

• Showcase your staff not listed on the leadership page by featuring them on your website (changing this every 3-4 months). This highlights their contributions and fosters a sense of recognition and appreciation within the team. 
• Curate hero projects that represent the work that you seek. 
• Set up criteria for projects that go on the website. 
• Case Stories Formula 
• Your client must be the protagonist 
• Background 
• Challenge (just pick one) 
• Turning point 
• Outcome 
• Results 

Atomic Business Development Habits with Janki Depalma, FSMPS, CPSM, & Rachel Brehm

Maddy Stokes, CPSM (Proposal Specialist, Cleary Zimmermann Engineers)

• The difference between goals and systems
  • A goal is something that you want to achieve
  • A system is the process to help you obtain that goal
• Redefine your wins, small wins are good and can help you on the road to a larger goal
• Remember, small steps are easy. Easy steps are sustainable. Sustainable steps keep moving. Movement, not a fine line, is the new goal.  – Kendra Adachi
• When developing a new habit, name a time and place so that you don’t forget; it is easier to continue a habit when you make intentional time for it.
• When developing a habit, it is important to identify as a person who does that habit (I am a person who writes thank you cards after meeting with clients) so that you start associating yourself with that habit.

Mastering the Blueprint: Crafting Brand and Style with Laurel Dicus & Courtney Bain

Meagan Mendoza (Social and Digital Media Coordinator, Cleary Zimmermann Engineers)

• Begin the brand standardization process by discovering your team’s pain points and needs. What templates, guidelines, and processes do your team utilize?   
• Conduct a thorough analysis to identify your firm’s specific branding needs, which are the foundation for practical brand standards. 
• Find strategies to successfully roll out brand standards, including team training and monitoring processes to facilitate implementation. 
• Continually adapt and update brand guidelines to ensure they maintain relevance and effectiveness over time. 
• Gain valuable insights and growth from the rebranding experience by reflecting on lessons learned during the implementation of brand standards, as well as feedback from those who use the created assets and engage with your brand. 

Constructing Connections: How to Build Bridges with Teaming Partners in the RFQ Process with Joyce Watson, CPSM & Corryn Williams

In addition to our team attending the conference, CZ’s very own Joyce Watson, CPSM, presented a session alongside Method Architecture’s Corryn Williams. Their session, “Construction Connections: How to Build Bridges with Teaming Partners in the RFQ Process”, gave insight into approaching pursuits from prime and sub-consultants perspectives. It covered the do’s and don’ts when working with teaming partners, and how to build stronger connections. Some key takeaways from the session include:

• How to build empathy in the proposal process for teaming partners and from technical staff
• How to clearly communicate with teaming partners and technical staff for more efficient collaboration
• Tips for being a great partner and winning as a team

Our marketing team had a wonderful time networking with industry professionals and learning new skills from our peers to apply to our personal and professional brands. As we wrap up the 2025 conference with our key takeaways and move into the new year, we are looking forward to seeing what SMPS SRC has in store in 2026 in our own hometown of San Antonio, TX.