Wow. What a fun first day at the AIA National Convention. So many of our customers came to the booth today to see our new version of ArchiOffice and provide plenty of great new ideas. Just as exciting was the enthusiasm for the software they projected to the newbies who were visiting out booth for the first time. I felt a little embarrassed on some occasions when our customers were offering up their exaltations. Trust me - we didn’t pay anyone to hang outside our booth, like groupies.

Furthermore, it is so fulfilling to see our customers - people we regularly speak with on the phone or on the web forums, who stopped by the booth just to say thanks. Thank-you right back ArchiOffice family. As I hope you can see by what we’ve got going on at the booth - we really are family - and we’re looking out for you. Keep those ideas coming - and we’ll keep working to make sure your Architectural firm is as profitable as it can be - and your team is having as much fun practicing Architecture as you always hoped.

For those of you who missed our May Newsletter, please check it out (click the red text link). The big treat here is our Technical Tip of the month which addresses a concern so many firms have with regard to how they should handle Consultants in ArchiOffice. In fact - two separate people asked me today what I thought was the best way to do this. My own personal advice - DO NOT do option 3 of this tip.

I’ll try and get a photo of our booth tomorrow (with my camera phone), so you can see what we’ve done this year to keep our booth as “green” as possible.

During the last week, two different ArchiOffice users have requested that we provide a feature which is similar to the old Library module we created in our original ArchiOffice (pre-commercial release).

In the Library – we created a system to log every brochure, catalog and material sample in our office and categorize it by CSI index number. It was a great way for our office manager to search materials that the Architects were requesting and also to properly file away new materials. The system also had an automatic label system so that when a product arrived – she could print out the label to stick on it (CSI index number and name), as well as cover and end sheets for our own 3-ring binders.

To achieve this now, we could modify the Projects>General layout to add another component. Admin Users would be able to name this button whatever they want. I called it “Warehouse” but I could also call it “Storage” or “Library,”  or even “Junkyard” (if I had a sense of humor). Inside this component is where the users can access items. The Admin can create a “Flat File” type, and a “Drawing Archive” type and a “Samples Archive” type.. .

Similar to the way the new Notes/Submittal layout works (click thumbnail), we can allow users to decide which type they want to look at. If the user selected “Flat File” it would display the rows for any flat file drawer that project was using – and a description of the contents, (Permit Drawings, CD Redlines…). There would also be a location field so you can describe which Flat file it is – “3rd Floor – West” ( A print button could be on each line and it would print out a label (pre-set label type by the company admin), automatically with the Project name/number in bold and the contents of the drawer below it.

If a user selected Drawing Archive – it would display a list of each roll with the description of the contents. For example – Roll #SD-1 could be described as “Schematic Design Drawings”. Then there would be a Location field so users can enter the physical location. A print button would allow users to print out the labels to go on the face and ends of the roll.

Obsessed AO users could push this system to create a Type called “Specifiction” or “CDI Index” and store project information using the CSI system. At the company level - inside the company’s project - would be the area to store the company’s library of materials and catalogues.