Member Spotlight: Herman Thun, AIA

Herman Thun, AIA

President, Principal
LZT Architects, Inc. 

What was SMPS like in the good old days? Today our membership numbers 6,075 and the most recent member number is 60,433.  What was it like in the early 70’s to attend an AIA seminar where a small band of anti-establishment folks, licensed and non-licensed, gathered to discuss a new concept: selling – oops—marketing professional services? Let me (member #165) give you a few hints of those days.

Many architects and engineers sought reinforcement of their belief that methods used by industry to market products could be used by professionals to market their services.

In 1973, Weld Coxe put on a “dog-and-pony show” for AIA Architects in Kansas City that led some participants, motivated by the ambrosia of liquid spirits, to give birth to The Society of Bird Doggers (SOB’s). Later this embryonic beginning became what we now know as SMPS.

After a lot of personal investment of time, talent and treasure by an energy-charged group of young pups and an agenda slot at the 1974 AIA Convention in Philadelphia, SMPS took off.

In 1979, during a National Marketing Conference in Las Vegas, an attempt to open the membership to “outsiders” was defeated. The Society stayed “pure” until it wisely opened its doors to professionals from other businesses, enriching the membership benefits to all. Also, education was a focus in the early years because the membership needed credentials to compete as a profession.

After graduation from the University of Illinois in 1958 and working as an architect in Peoria, Illinois, I got hooked on SMPS at a 1976 national conference in Indianapolis and soon became a member. That led to serving in National offices and as National President in 1980-81. I relocated LZT Architects to Austin in ’82 and I am still marketing and designing after 52 years.

Boy, have things changed!  Membership’s marketing skills have increased, and now with appropriate knowledge, testing and recognition, we can use “FSMPS” or “”CPSM” after our name.

The technical aspects of marketing are very important and the knowledge helps give us credibility, but even more important is our ability to support the people we serve and meet, and assist them in excelling in what they do.

I am sure this brief history will have a slippery connection with your hectic schedule. To me, it charts the course for today’s successful marketing professionals. Thank you for your diligence and perseverance.