To have good, you must have bad; up must have down, and to be thankful, you need to have the unthankful.  As we come into the season of giving thanks, there is so much I am thankful for, a sustainable business, a healthy family, my soft bed.  That said, there are a few things this I am not thankful for, I suggest you state the following, as Jimmy Fallon does in his bit, thank you….

  1. Thank you AEC Marketing professionals for all the emails telling us how thankful you are for having clients that make you great. Are you great or thankful? It gets a bit blurry. I’d be thankful for having you remove me from your email list.
  2. Thank you to the company that our client didn’t select to serve on the team.  I understand that it’s frustrating to lose a project that you thought you were the best match, but, please know that hanging up on me really wasn’t productive. In fact, the owner’s response was “I guess we made the right decision in the end.”
  3. Thank you to the gentleman that told me to shove it up my attorney’s ass. I understand our profession is full of frustrations, but, I have no intention to go near my client’s attorney to fulfill this request.
  4. Thank you to the firm that missed the allowance item in the bid documents leaving us $200,000 short. We saved your butt by playing diplomat and working some magic. I do hope you will be gracious if I ever need assistance.
  5. Thank you guardian angel for being a badass mofo. Next time, please don’t let me get on the motorcycle.
  6. Thank you former-client who released us from our contract after six years of dedicated service, through good times and bad. While it is common to clean house once in awhile, removing consultants seemed a bit overreaching. Nothing like recreating the wheel.
  7. Thank you to the potential client who selected the competition on a recent proposal for cheerfully informing me that you look forward to sharing our “better ideas” on project management with the selected consultant. Sorry, your bond failed.
  8. Thank you to my competitor who insists on sending unwanted jabs, “I can’t believe you beat our fee by that much.” Guess what? That contract led to an additional four projects.
  9. Thank you to the advisor who accused me of working in my bunny slippers…..they are warm and fuzzy.

~ Paul Wember, Owner’s Representative