New Member Spotlight: Bernie Siben

Bernie Siben
The Siben Consult, LLC

Where do you work and what’s your position? Brief Description of company.
I am the Principal Consultant at The Siben Consult, LLC, a strategic and marketing consulting firm that helps A/E/C/Environmental firms imagine, articulate and achieve their own goals regarding their staff, their clients, their brand and image, and their overall business. A large part of my work is the development of general and targeted SOQs, proposals and short-list presentations, as well as writing for a number of SMPS and other industry publications, and making presentations on marketing-related topics throughout the United States.

Where is your hometown? Where did you go to school?
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I started college in Akron, Ohio and then came back home, where I attended Brooklyn College. I came to UT Austin in 1973 and ultimately completed my BA at Thomas Edison State College (NJ) two weeks before my 50th birthday.

What do you like to do in your free time? Hobbies?
I have had a successful performance career (cabaret singer and actor) for more than 30 years, so I spend time working on new songs, and new arrangements of material I’ve been doing for a long time. I also spend time looking for oddball songs that nobody else is singing. In addition to that, I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy to take my mind off the technical writing I do in the daytime. I’m also an avid walker. I love to walk through neighborhoods with interesting and/or great architecture and unusual shops.

How long have you been a member of SMPS?
If my aging memory is working this morning, I first joined SMPS in 1991 and was a member for one year. I rejoined in 1995 and have been a member since then.

What do you see as the benefits of your experience with the SMPS?
SMPS has given me great opportunities for learning, for business networking and making friends. Many friends across the country are people I met at National Conferences (I’ve attended at least eight of them). I’ve also had the opportunity to write for SMPS publications and speak to SMPS audiences across the country.