Transcript

Wendy Cohen

All right welcome good morning everybody here we are at our new podcast that I love so much um the PowerHouse pool cool collabs as collabs are collaborations collaborators and I get to select um leaders in the design build real estate industry who I know um really exemplify you know the attitude of uh collaboration and sharing and giving and so today without further Ado I have a fabulous speaker a dear old friend not old we're not old by any stretch dear a dear friend of mine Mr Mark Eric banner and I'm going to let him introduce himself because he does that so beautifully and then we're going to have um a short discussion on some of the really cool no pun intended but yes pun intended uh Cutting Edge things that Mark is working on as well as tying that single thread of uh attitude of gratitude and helping Humanity. So, without further Ado my audience here the PowerHouse Cool Collabs please meet Mark Eric Benner Mark take the microphone 

Mark Benner

Hey everybody good to be here! I I just love this this cool collabs podcast idea it's

right up my alley uh I've I've always been I'm always tempted I you know you get such such exposure as an architect to uh you know you're tempted to do everything all by yourself and and that's really something that comes out of the studio environment but um you know I I find that I'm I'm better off um you know directing uh you bringing a team together to to highlight their everyone's strengths uh and just making sure that everyone's working well together so this this is really right up my alley uh I'm I'm I've been uh producing I've been an architect, uh how long have I been an architect uh started my started for a long time I started my company in 2007 and 13 years prior to that I was working for a uh luxury design build firm um, producing 3D architecture from a very early time, um before we even really had the the the the right to we were we were producing animations um in the in the early uh well the 1990s we were doing uh animations for every project which was kind of kind of a Cutting Edge at the time um, so i' I've been doing that and it and that technology has really enabled me to to punch way above my weight uh just as a single soul practitioner um, but then then that that's where the collaboration comes in is I like to bring in a curated team that knows how to service the project and the client and give the best quality and the best the best experience possible.

Wendy Cohen

Mark you were always a Pioneer like Cutting Edge um what you're talking about flybys of projects that you were designing and building at the custom home building firm that I happen to know very well and here we are now fast forward gosh 18 19 years later 17 18 years later um, AI is on the Forefront and um, you have always had the mindset of teaching and helping others and not keeping all this secret information these great little uh you know new ways to do things that are you know make a huge impact so tell me what are you doing with Ai and how are you sharing that with your colleagues?

Mark Benner

um well I so I've developed a presentation we've uh we've done at the luxury conferences now and we're going to keep it keeps evolving it's it's it's such a a new and fast-paced Technology it changes daily uh, so every presentation's been different and it's uh it's going to continue to be that way um, but really as a as a sole practitioner uh before AI I was really struggling to do things you know just everyday things that are necessary to promote the business and make sure that you've got a good pipeline uh, and so AI has really enabled me to embrace that without even getting in very technical um you know the image generation and and the video generation uh just coming up with a plan to to Market and and and work on the messaging um it's a broad spectrum of of opportunities that we have with AI uh and so that's what I like to share with people is it even if you're Tech phobic and you might not think that you could create these really amazing images from using AI um, just just using Zoom effectively you can you can get a great experience and Analysis of your uh of of your Zoom sessions and have an action plan and and analyze the performance of the participants uh, is really just as simple as turning on a plugin and and and making that work and now you've got a recorded uh version of your of every meeting you you you take on Zoom uh, then uh with chat GPT we're able to do long uh long-term uh planning for marketing and for messaging um and I I really like to analyze my process and and the the communications that go into that and you know if you if you wait till the the moment where you have to respond and create the message it's often doesn't get the benefit of of good thought um and so by thinking about the what your the the experience that you want your clients to have as they go through your process uh, you're able to to map that out and and then so you at least have an outline of what what every The Arc of every project and the experience of every client and you'll customize that that message as you go through it but um you can really put some very some really thoughtful uh, insight into what really you want to share and and how you want to prepare your clients.

Wendy Cohen

I imagine that you know because you are um, well known in the industry as you know as an architect but as a lead collaborator with so many um, Builders interior designers and even other architects I know you've done some coaching and some Consulting um but I got to imagine that many of them are just so thrilled to jump on a project with you because you'll be showing them the latest of what you're doing and it's like you know light years ahead of everyone else that's got to be incredible um, but I I wonder if I'm a client and I want to do a new home or I want to do a major renovation actually like one that we both know that I just recently um, referred to you um tell me what are they going to experience today with your firm that you weren't able to give them maybe in 2007 when you first launched what's the experience like working with you Mark?

Mark Benner 

yeah so again that's where AI really starts to help uh fill-in the blanks um it's pretty common for for Architects to do some research uh you know meet the client get an idea for what their program is and then you start doing some some online research or or uh Architects are famous for libraries of of architectural books and that's I think that's becoming less and less a reality but um you know that that's been the history and so we we have this Rich kind of uh history of research and so we'll go out to house.com or uh Pinterest uh any of these image aggregation websites and we'll do this research and it's very laborious and it's it's really kind of a a needle and a Hast stack kind of experience because you're you're trying to come up with the right question the right search to to come up with the the perfect and then it's just a it's just a SLO of going through all the different responses that come back and AI has to me has really focused that uh because now we can create the images that are the source um very very rapidly very realistically and it it just takes a it takes a big chunk out of that whole research phase so even we can we can do this live in a design meeting uh from an iPad uh so you know we can we can have this live interaction with the client and and say okay now I'm we're looking for a traditional home or a contemporary home with these kinds of finishes and you know immediately we're presented with these with these visual Inspirations that we're not going to use literally uh but they do give us some context and they give us some ideas for mixing materials and it really starts to generate the inspiration that clients are able to respond to.

Wendy Cohen

 wow you know so as I had said earlier the the

00:08:26 collaborators that are your you know designbuilt partners are thrilled to work with you because they know oh my God I'm working with somebody who's like really knowledgeable about all the the cool stuff that's happening now but now clients are also getting to really see how AI is being used from an architect's perspective wow that's a really cool added um golden nugget nugget that I'm sure you're sharing in your marketing letting people know hey you know designing with an architect has always been great it's always been this

00:08:55 opportunity for creativity and Imagination um and working with a professional but a professional who understands how to grasp all the you know opportunities that are out there with AI that's so cool one of the things I love about you Mark and you've always been this way from way back when is that you collaborate with people all over the world tell us how how what you're about that please.

Mark Benner 

 sure so I I've U I've been fortunate to to be I don't discover or be part you know just one relationship leads to the next uh so I'm I'm a a

00:09:31 member of a group that's really Global and so I get great insights and experiences from other Architects and interior designers from all across North America and even even across the globe um and it's just it's really so uh enriching and and inspiring uh because you you know we often especially following covid and our our new digital communication lifestyle we really get siloed and we kind of I think we we we lose that um that engagement uh as as much as technology can connect us it it really does unless you're very

00:10:05 purposeful about it it really does have a a tendency to to isolate us and so um having having this exposure the these these interactive groups and it's really how I get started with AI is this group uh that that I work with just posed the question to the group um you know what what's everybody doing with AI and and uh so became a bit of a group research project and it it was not everyone that embraced it but um you there were there were a core group maybe uh out of out of 25 people maybe eight or 10 really

00:10:37 started to embrace it and then and then it became uh kind of a show and tell uh here's what I was able to do and and everyone you know you just get this discovery of of all the new and great uh features out there um and and so that that's really been very powerful 

Wendy Cohen

yeah no I know you went to Barcelona and even that you know being connected with these um worldwide talents but actually making some of the face to-face trips in really cool new locations but um yeah I'm always fascinated when you come back

00:11:10 from that it's like I just want to hear what what happened what did you experience that's amazing so uh so I know you take that attitude of collaboration to your local community in Chicago I understand you've expanded and and you're well beyond Chicago now where are you doing work Beyond.

Mark Benner

yeah so I'm licensed in Illinois obviously also Wisconsin and recently in Colorado so I'm those are my my focused markets um and I'm actively uh developing those and and seeking opportunities there which has uh been

00:11:40 great and there's been little glimmers of uh of inspiration that has come through there and I think there's some uh some really great things on the horizon

Wendy Cohen

cool love that absolutely love that well you know that my whole um thought about this podcast was um tying together you know the fact that we're so great you know we have this amazing industry that we get to work in that is you know just typically always in a you know positive mode we're working with people that are building their dreams and you know this is like entertainment

00:12:11 but results in something that's tangible that can change your life and and improve your health and wellness and your family but we're from the soul we're soul people you and I so tell me how um you know my my word my my buzz word is always gratitude um you know I'm just I feel so grateful to to be working and knowing you and having you in my life tell me how do you um you know how do you even days that go up and down how do you consider having an attitude of gratitude on a a more consistent basis

Mark Benner

00:12:45 well it's easy to get uh distracted and and I guess in a comfortable rut with uh with our experiences uh and it's it's really been a priority for me to to break out of that and and find out you know there's lots of there's lots of need out there um people that don't aren't as fortunate and I and it really helps to to focus and and and appreciate uh the opportunities and the the you know the the blessings that I've received over the decades really uh with great great people so um I I work with a group that

00:13:18 does affordable housing supports affordable housing and engages people who are not necessarily trades people or Carpenters but have really good hearts and want to help people out so we um this group called Solid Rock carpenters and we've developed a system that enables really unskilled people totally unskilled people uh, to to build quality homes rapidly and um and the the dirty little secret is that it's um we we get more out of it than than I think the people who receive the homes because we just get we get to see the authenticity

00:13:52 and the the struggle and the Really the just the beautiful hearts that people have uh no matter where they are and that that's been one of the greatest rewards 

Wendy Cohen

so Solid Rock carpentry is the name and the link is going to be down below so as well as your link to your website but tell me a little bit more about that because I think I remember last year you were telling me you guys set yourself up on a really unique challenge so so please delve in a little further on your group 

Mark Benner

sure again this is you know as you as you get into these um

00:14:23 opportunities you you meet more people and it it it's just it's amazing to me that um my doing one project it leads to the next inspiration uh and so our our group Solid Rock Carpenters has been um has worked since Katrina really uh with Habitat for Humanity uh and they've been a really great partner um and then recently well not not even so recently for several years we've been working with another group called Appalachia service project ASP uh and I first worked with them when I was in high school so I was a a fledgling Carpenter

00:14:58 and I was the most experienced experienced person on the crew so they they assigned me a team leader role um and and so at the time they were do their their their mission is warmer safer drier homes um, but at some point they they've run out of homes to fix up at least you know they've done what they can and really there the housing shortage has become uh a real challenge for them and so this was a great partnership between my group Solid Rock carpenters and ASP we're now building new homes um for people in need and um

00:15:33 they part they uh kind of a three-way partnership between Solid Rock Carpenters Appalachia service project and the Home Depot foundation and we um we worked for about a month when was this in so we we work the month of May here locally uh and I developed this system that we we use that prints the stud layout on tyvek and now anybody can staple that down to cut Lumber um and so we we uh brought that together and had a had an event in June June 5th in White Sulfur Springs West Virginia uh where we brought

00:16:09 together 320 or so semiskilled volunteers Home Depot they were they were Hardware vendors and in less than three hours we built the walls for 16 homes 

Wendy Cohen

wow 

Mark Benner

swept the field for nails and loaded the trucks and they were then delivered to eight of them were sent to Kentucky and then eight went to to um Tennessee and the ones that went to Tennessee are going to be used really soon because they were the ones that were devastated by Hurricane Helen so the the uh the group ASP is is in the is in Johnson City Tennessee and

00:16:43 they were hit very hard they've never been hit by a hurricane before and they were under five or eight feet of water so those those homes we produced are going to be put to to use right away. 

Wendy Cohen

That's Sensational I mean that's got to like fill your soul up I mean thank thank you so much for all that you do and you've been doing that for a long time and I know we you and I have connected you with matter and designs for dignity and you're always willing to you know you get to work on this luxury

00:17:13 end with homeowners and Builders and uh that that want an architect on their team and and interior designers but then you never you never look past that you say you know I got to get back Humanity I'm I'm so lucky to be in this you know opportunity situation wow 

Mark Benner

very rewarding very rewarding 

Wendy Cohen

thank you so you epitomize my whole Ty the thread together with cool collabs that are doing cutting edge work and sharing and anybody who's watching this if you're in the design build industry Mark is always open to talking to new um even

00:17:50 other Architects because we all believe we raised the tide for All Ships and uh also Mark's got this great um you know organization that does uh helps Humanity in so many ways and he's involved in many other um nonprofits so together we're going we're hopefully one step at a time Mark we make a difference every single day and I am truly blessed to have you in my life and thank you my dear soul brother 

Mark Benner

my pleasure 

Wendy Cohen

okay it's wonderful to have you on our podcast I can't wait to see you next time at in Naples you'll

00:18:24 be speaking at our luxury conference in Naples Florida on February 5th 4th and 5th for to it yeah all right my very best to you n Namaste right 

Mark Benner

Namaste I feel like I'm in good company with Rebecca and Jonathan Cremer uh great collaborators I'm looking forward to Rebecca and I are already doing some work together and I'm looking forward to connecting with Jonathan as well 

Wendy Cohen

that's awesome yes Rebecca was our second um episode podcast 2 and Jonathan creamer from Minnesota from aere was our first and we have a nice list of other people

00:19:00 coming hard to hard to fill the shoes of Mr Mark Benner but but we've got lots of friends and you know what we keep we keep company with people that um are likeminded and it's just a perfect time to be celebrating Thanksgiving as I sit at the table and I go around and everyone in our family has to say what they're grateful for you mark Banner will be one of the people I'm grateful for 

Mark Benner

well the same is true for you 

Wendy Cohen

okay love you 

Mark Benner

love you too 

Wendy Cohen

bye everyone