In 2007 a friend of mine suggested that i should join the social network Club of Pioneers to engage with like-minded people to engage in the discussion on sustainability.

When filling out my profile, I wrote about the idea of ECONIC design, a term I had just developed around that time. The first message I received was from the editor of the site, asking me question of about this idea of ECONIC. This turned into an extremely engaged and interesting email conversation that eventually led to a meeting in New York.

It turned out that the person I talked to was also the mastermind behind the website and his clients included BWM and MINI. During our meeting, ideas for green roofs (a topic I feel very strongly about) sponsored by MINI came up - which in turn led to a concept proposal, a planning commission and a realized project for MINI in New York in 2008.

Inspired by the success of social media (and its ability to create opportunities for commissions), we teamed up again to create www.architizer.com, a social networking site for the display and consumption of architectural projects. Since launching five months ago, we have 20,000 fans and members and have heard many success stories of architects finding jobs and getting commissions - so yes, social medial works!