I have been selected to give a talk at the 2010 AIA Convention in Miami. This talk will be a revised version of a 2009 presentation: BIM 1.0, BIM 2.0, BIM 3.0. The 2009 presentation was generic in nature: 1. BIM programs that are available and 2. Industry process changes that will happen. For 2010 I would like to talk about what is actually happening with using BIM for Visualization, Drawings, Analysis and Simulation, however, I need your help in determining the most pertinent information for the AIA audience.

The 190,000 jobs lost in the U.S. in October was the second lowest number of declines since August 2008. After the latest revision, August 2009 was lower at -154,000. The unemployment rate has shifted above the dreaded 10% level to settle at 10.2% for the moment, with the prospect of moving still higher over the next couple of months. Broadly speaking, firms undertake three waves of job reductions from the beginning to the end of a recession due to: 1) initial panic; 2) trying to “hang on for dear life”; and 3) re-positioning for the future. While there is still an element of 2) in the latest numbers, 3) is also starting to become more important and is likely to predominate over the next several months.<?p>

Office vacancy rates in Canada continued to ratchet higher in the third quarter, reaching 8.2%, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2005.

There is no function more critical to success in construction than effective management of financial and other records.