Has anyone been to a day-long seminar held by Jonathan Segal before? Is it effective and worth the money? The next 6-8 hour seminar will cost $600 for the early birds. Exorbitant I thought.
There are probably cheaper ways to get that info. Take his itemized list of topics and go to the public library. Maybe then if you are still interested, and the cash is handy, make the investment.
arrogant prick, i can't stand this guy... he loves money and notoriety, not architecture. i wouldn't pay $6 for this seminar. anyone who puts themselves/their cars in photos of their work is pretty awesome by my standards. and by pretty awesome, i mean he's got issues.
poczatek - exactly my thought, particularly as the housing market is poised to tank. but then i'm not sure what the market for development seminars would be like....
"We are giving students $100 off of the rate at the time they are signing up. We will need verification of student status form your architecture department."
...bringing the total costs to a much more student-affordable $495.
i'm actaully interested in this. i hope to someday take pictures of my car collection in front of my buildings. yay. maybe we can get an archinect discount if we all register together... or we can still just sneak in. I doubt security will be tight.
my partner is a developer here in tokyo. this is a hard game and i am a bit doubtful you can learn too much in a day other than the possibility of attempting to be a developer (which is a bog step for many architects)...
we have been doing the development thing for 2 years now and are just starting to figure things out, and we have partners who graduated from law and business schools in american ivy's who do this thing on a daily basis...and it is still hard.
by far the hardest part is to put together and solidify capital. you would be amazed at how much banks ask for and how easy it is to spend a lot of time on a project (just like in school) only to see it fizzle cuz of legal issues in the contract, timing of payments and all kinds of other very minute and incomprehensible (to me anyway) things over which you will never have control (sub-prime implosion in USA is affecting us in tokyo, por ejemplo)...that sort of thing only can really be understood through experience...if mr. segal can impart much of that in a day of seminar-ing then he is worth the money.
unrelated, but i also thought of the bird book first off.
I wanted to thank everyone for the responses, but to clarify a few things this seminar will be much different than the lectures put on at Universities, it will be much more business oriented and provide much more detailed information with regards to proper procedures, performas and other proper forms and legal contracts to use. In addition, it will also provide information on protecting yourself from lawsuits, and proper legal course from before contacting banks to the completion of construction.
Mr 4388NW and ryanj with regards to the automobiles seen in pictures, Mr Segal loves automobiles, and the car is one of his most beloved hobbies. Maybe hard for you to believe but his daily driver is a Toyota Prius with his two dogs. I also believe if you go to the seminar and meet Mr Segal you will realize he isn't a money hungry arrogant prick. Speaking from experience Mr Segal puts a lot of time and money into making neighborhoods better not specifically to profit from his buildings, if you read magazines, visit the projects or read the comments from awards this is clearly evident. In addition Mr Segal is now providing at no cost to his tenants solar power on the rooftops.
Thank you if you have any questions or comments feel free to call or email me. cell: 619-993-6269 and email [email protected]
I am painfully aware of the social cannibalism that this discussion forum can sometimes foster between anonymous posters, but it seems to me that an architect that has made a successful niche for himself without selling his soul to the god of banal, EIFS-based design should be commended, not scourged. You don't have to agree with his approach but I think it should be respected. It is just one of a myriad of ways that architects can be diversely successful instead of joining the lemmings in the pursuit of work that most complain to be artistically limiting and financially challenging.
There are probably plenty of other people that are interested in this business model and if they are willing to pay the fee for his insight, experience and instruction, then let them. It is of value to them. Not everyone cares to figure things out on their own. Like it or not, everyone has a different value system. If this guy found something that makes him happy, gives him purpose and is financial rewarding then good for him. Sure seems like there are plenty of people on here that might hope for something so ideal.
I'm with trace. Cost is reasonable and the fact that they are giving discounts for students is ever better!
I have been following Segal for a few years now; my business partner and I are setting up a business using his approach and are quite interested in this seminar. For people new or inexperienced to the development side of the coin I think it could be helpful. I know this may not be everybody's thing (as DrNo has succinctly noted) but I will say that some people see the benefit of learning from someone else and some from learning on their own.
My additional 2 cents >>>> I have had lengthy correspondence with Matthew in regard to this seminar. He has been courteous, professional and helpful; what's more, i could really care less about what kind of car his dad-as-boss drives or collects in his free time. Good business is good business.
i saw his seminar out at the l.a. aia convention a couple of years ago - it was a great introductory seminar (only 1 hour) and he tried to run through a couple of proformas, but only substantively made it through one.
two thoughts from what i saw there: his approach seems to be gung-ho about having the architect do everything. i mean everything - design, gc, installing windows, landlord, etc. there's a whole lot of money that is to be made (or saved) by going into this full time. i had a harder time seeing how one would do it whilst still being involved in the daily grind of a practice. second, he is all about investing in your local neighborhood. which is a good thing - but it may make your task harder if you don't know the territory or you're hanging in an overvalued area.
that said, i absolutely think an all day version would be worth the money. there are a ton of other things you can waste that money on that won't have the potential to return some of it back. if nothing else, think of it as a crash course in understanding your clients (if you do commercial).
total aside - this guy is going to make a killing. think about it: if he gets 500 people (he's renting the dorothy chandler, so maybe?) at 600, that's going to be 300,000 for the day. take back 100,000 for all the expenses incurred (facility, lunch, etc.) and that's still a hell of a take for one day. true proof he's got the system down...
what is with you architects??? The guy has made $$$, who gives a fuck???? He is succsessful...
there are many architects out there who are arrogant pricks, so what
ARCHITECTURE CANT SAVE THE WORLD. WE MIGHT AS WELL MAKE $$$ AND LIVE THE GOOD LIFE INSTEAD OF THINKING THAT WE ARE SOMEHOW BETTER THAT ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE WE ARE ARCHITECTS, CAUSE WE AINT
when you cut out the middle man, you are almost guaranteed to make more money, that theory is the same in any profession, he has tailored it to architecture. i think he is very smart, and has a great business sense, which makes him successful. if i had 600, i would definetly fly to CA for the presentation.
i bought a $50 drafting table from a guy who needed to get the drafting table out of his garage so that he could have more space to work on his ferrari
he was a (retired) MEP engineer
i too saw j segal in LA. keep in mind, he's a DEVELOPER as well as an architect, so everything is easy, the project's selling / leasing like hotcakes, he did it all himself, and he's completely self-made
but all that aside, the man is living the dream so many of us only dream of
his client lets him design whatever he wants. his contractor builds whatever he draws and doesn't complain about how nobody actually designs like this in the normal multi-family industry. after the project is finished, the owner doesn't f--k it up with crappy signage and keeps it well-maintained. and he gets a share of the profits
oh, and he doesn't get sued
i'd pay for the seminar, but my wife says if i become a developer, she'll divorce me
seminar by jonathan segal
Has anyone been to a day-long seminar held by Jonathan Segal before? Is it effective and worth the money? The next 6-8 hour seminar will cost $600 for the early birds. Exorbitant I thought.
I am sure anything he has to say is worth the price. The guy has made quite a deal of money doing good work...and he has a killer car collection
im considering going, but its a lot of $ flying out there from DC and paying the fee as well. It will probably be very well worth it
good work, but whats the point of a seminar?
yeah, what is the seminar about? i'd like to know more... or is there a website?
it is for those of us who bitch about architects not being able to make $$$. He is a self made man...has a killer car collection as well
There are probably cheaper ways to get that info. Take his itemized list of topics and go to the public library. Maybe then if you are still interested, and the cash is handy, make the investment.
arrogant prick, i can't stand this guy... he loves money and notoriety, not architecture. i wouldn't pay $6 for this seminar. anyone who puts themselves/their cars in photos of their work is pretty awesome by my standards. and by pretty awesome, i mean he's got issues.
I liked him in the first Under Seige, but the one on the train was crap.
I e-mailed about a student rate, but never heard anything.
He ought to be giving a seminars about giving seminars, as the seminars will be as lucrative as the developing...
I'm so jealous of this dude....
yea, his work pretty much fulfills all my enviro-capitalist, soft-modernist, mixed-use/small-scale urbanism, architect-as-developer fantasies
...but I also have heard he's an arrogant prick
poczatek - exactly my thought, particularly as the housing market is poised to tank. but then i'm not sure what the market for development seminars would be like....
Oh. When I read that I just kept thinking of
i'll sneak in
per [email protected]
"We are giving students $100 off of the rate at the time they are signing up. We will need verification of student status form your architecture department."
...bringing the total costs to a much more student-affordable $495.
i'm actaully interested in this. i hope to someday take pictures of my car collection in front of my buildings. yay. maybe we can get an archinect discount if we all register together... or we can still just sneak in. I doubt security will be tight.
i'd love to go, but $495 is an insane pricetag...
I second wurdan freo's resourceful suggestion.
Also, check out the free version.
i got some pics of his Porsche collection last week...pretty nice
damn, I'd pay in a heart beat. That's pretty reasonable for a full day seminar, I think.
riyanj - nice link!!
my partner is a developer here in tokyo. this is a hard game and i am a bit doubtful you can learn too much in a day other than the possibility of attempting to be a developer (which is a bog step for many architects)...
we have been doing the development thing for 2 years now and are just starting to figure things out, and we have partners who graduated from law and business schools in american ivy's who do this thing on a daily basis...and it is still hard.
by far the hardest part is to put together and solidify capital. you would be amazed at how much banks ask for and how easy it is to spend a lot of time on a project (just like in school) only to see it fizzle cuz of legal issues in the contract, timing of payments and all kinds of other very minute and incomprehensible (to me anyway) things over which you will never have control (sub-prime implosion in USA is affecting us in tokyo, por ejemplo)...that sort of thing only can really be understood through experience...if mr. segal can impart much of that in a day of seminar-ing then he is worth the money.
unrelated, but i also thought of the bird book first off.
ryanj - thanks for the link.
no problemo.
I wanted to thank everyone for the responses, but to clarify a few things this seminar will be much different than the lectures put on at Universities, it will be much more business oriented and provide much more detailed information with regards to proper procedures, performas and other proper forms and legal contracts to use. In addition, it will also provide information on protecting yourself from lawsuits, and proper legal course from before contacting banks to the completion of construction.
Mr 4388NW and ryanj with regards to the automobiles seen in pictures, Mr Segal loves automobiles, and the car is one of his most beloved hobbies. Maybe hard for you to believe but his daily driver is a Toyota Prius with his two dogs. I also believe if you go to the seminar and meet Mr Segal you will realize he isn't a money hungry arrogant prick. Speaking from experience Mr Segal puts a lot of time and money into making neighborhoods better not specifically to profit from his buildings, if you read magazines, visit the projects or read the comments from awards this is clearly evident. In addition Mr Segal is now providing at no cost to his tenants solar power on the rooftops.
Thank you if you have any questions or comments feel free to call or email me. cell: 619-993-6269 and email [email protected]
Sincerely,
Matthew Segal
are you mr. segal's personal gofer?
who is matthew segal??? Are you his kid??
Hey jump that's pretty amazing and kudos to you for trying that out over there in Japan.
btw, I shoulda hit u up when I was over there about a month ago.....my first visit and it was amazing.
by the way, if you're going to be a developer, you should know that they are called PRO FORMAs and not PERFORMAs...
I am painfully aware of the social cannibalism that this discussion forum can sometimes foster between anonymous posters, but it seems to me that an architect that has made a successful niche for himself without selling his soul to the god of banal, EIFS-based design should be commended, not scourged. You don't have to agree with his approach but I think it should be respected. It is just one of a myriad of ways that architects can be diversely successful instead of joining the lemmings in the pursuit of work that most complain to be artistically limiting and financially challenging.
There are probably plenty of other people that are interested in this business model and if they are willing to pay the fee for his insight, experience and instruction, then let them. It is of value to them. Not everyone cares to figure things out on their own. Like it or not, everyone has a different value system. If this guy found something that makes him happy, gives him purpose and is financial rewarding then good for him. Sure seems like there are plenty of people on here that might hope for something so ideal.
I'm with trace. Cost is reasonable and the fact that they are giving discounts for students is ever better!
I have been following Segal for a few years now; my business partner and I are setting up a business using his approach and are quite interested in this seminar. For people new or inexperienced to the development side of the coin I think it could be helpful. I know this may not be everybody's thing (as DrNo has succinctly noted) but I will say that some people see the benefit of learning from someone else and some from learning on their own.
My additional 2 cents >>>> I have had lengthy correspondence with Matthew in regard to this seminar. He has been courteous, professional and helpful; what's more, i could really care less about what kind of car his dad-as-boss drives or collects in his free time. Good business is good business.
i saw his seminar out at the l.a. aia convention a couple of years ago - it was a great introductory seminar (only 1 hour) and he tried to run through a couple of proformas, but only substantively made it through one.
two thoughts from what i saw there: his approach seems to be gung-ho about having the architect do everything. i mean everything - design, gc, installing windows, landlord, etc. there's a whole lot of money that is to be made (or saved) by going into this full time. i had a harder time seeing how one would do it whilst still being involved in the daily grind of a practice. second, he is all about investing in your local neighborhood. which is a good thing - but it may make your task harder if you don't know the territory or you're hanging in an overvalued area.
that said, i absolutely think an all day version would be worth the money. there are a ton of other things you can waste that money on that won't have the potential to return some of it back. if nothing else, think of it as a crash course in understanding your clients (if you do commercial).
total aside - this guy is going to make a killing. think about it: if he gets 500 people (he's renting the dorothy chandler, so maybe?) at 600, that's going to be 300,000 for the day. take back 100,000 for all the expenses incurred (facility, lunch, etc.) and that's still a hell of a take for one day. true proof he's got the system down...
"providing at no cost to his tenants solar power on the rooftops..." i guess you gotta put on seminars to pay for them somehow.
so has anyone from archinect signed up for this yet? i'm fairly sure i will go
what is with you architects??? The guy has made $$$, who gives a fuck???? He is succsessful...
there are many architects out there who are arrogant pricks, so what
ARCHITECTURE CANT SAVE THE WORLD. WE MIGHT AS WELL MAKE $$$ AND LIVE THE GOOD LIFE INSTEAD OF THINKING THAT WE ARE SOMEHOW BETTER THAT ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE WE ARE ARCHITECTS, CAUSE WE AINT
when you cut out the middle man, you are almost guaranteed to make more money, that theory is the same in any profession, he has tailored it to architecture. i think he is very smart, and has a great business sense, which makes him successful. if i had 600, i would definetly fly to CA for the presentation.
grid:
i'll go if i can afford it (starting thesis, so it's not exactly the best timing)
he has one of these...
not too shabby for a kid from udapimp.
mdler -
i've got one of those, too. it's about 7 cm long and weighs 250 grams..
I checked out the free version and it is a great primer.
thazz nuttin mdler, i worked on a remodel for the guy who owned the ferrari dealership.
if i had the money, i would fly out there. saw the seminar he gave at UT, seems like a real down to earth guy.
i bought a $50 drafting table from a guy who needed to get the drafting table out of his garage so that he could have more space to work on his ferrari
he was a (retired) MEP engineer
i too saw j segal in LA. keep in mind, he's a DEVELOPER as well as an architect, so everything is easy, the project's selling / leasing like hotcakes, he did it all himself, and he's completely self-made
but all that aside, the man is living the dream so many of us only dream of
his client lets him design whatever he wants. his contractor builds whatever he draws and doesn't complain about how nobody actually designs like this in the normal multi-family industry. after the project is finished, the owner doesn't f--k it up with crappy signage and keeps it well-maintained. and he gets a share of the profits
oh, and he doesn't get sued
i'd pay for the seminar, but my wife says if i become a developer, she'll divorce me
ochana
what does your wife have against developers??? She is married to an architect, right????
Basically, architects do all the shit work for the developers who walk away with all the $$$
it's a question of ethics...as in, i got some
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