Playing by the Rules to Win

The beauty pageant controversy that I wrote about in our last blog entry was ultimately resolved by Donald Trump when he reviewed and reinterpreted the rules of the pageant.

Rules affect everything that we do and design. In fact, we have rules to follow at work and play. While playing the game of monopoly, for example, we have a set of rules to follow.

Like monopoly, we have rules to follow while designing storefronts. They are in the form of building codes, zoning laws, and regulations set forth by landmark commissions. Since they are enforced by people, the interpretations of these rules can vary from one person that in charge from another.

Check out this short video clip to find out how a good design is much like playing a game of monopoly…



Our clients keep referring others to us because we have become experts who create the experiences that they desire while working successfully within the rules and with those who make the ultimate decisions within these municipalities. We play the game of life so you can win.

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Miss California Controversy Reveal Secrets to...

...Successful Storefront Designs

With all of the controversy about whether Miss Carrie Prejean should keep her Miss California crown, we are seeing first hand real life examples as to
• History can determine how we view today’s events.
• How rules are interpreted.
• Photos affect people’s acceptance of other people and places.
• How people’s perceptions affect their personal experiences.


Whether you are in a beauty pageant, playing monopoly, or designing storefronts, there are lessons that can make you more successful than you could imagine. In fact, these are the exact same lessons that I spoke about during my presentation to store owners, city planners, chamber of commerce leaders, mayors, city council members and others at the annual Main Street Forum. My talk was titled “Secrets of Successful Historical Storefronts.”

This is the first of a four part presentation where I will share some of the tricks of the trade. There is nothing more powerful for anyone’s business than to create a lasting experience for their clients, customers, and co-workers.

So, click on the orange square button at the right before you forget to subscribe to this blog. You will not want to miss any of the four parts of this series on successful storefront design tips.

Donald Trump announced recently that Miss Carrie Prejean will “not be fired” as the Miss California. Trump said, "I reviewed the pictures. We're living in the 21st century," he said. "The pictures were fine. It was not a big deal."

Hmm. So, with the history of beauty pageants filled with scandals that include Vanessa Williams and Miss Rhode Island’s Alysha Castonguay, Mr. Trump finds that times have changed.

History has affected the way that we design storefront too. You may not know it, but using history to design a storefront is much like playing a game of monopoly. Check out this short video clip to find out how…


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Larry Lane with Jerry Reese, General Manager of the NY Giants

During church today, I was fortunate to meet Mr. Jerry Reese, the general manager of the NY Giants professional football team.

He was a gueat speaker during the Sunday service. During his talk, he shared how he was raised in a small town in TN (population 2400), lived in a home with indoor plumbing until he was 12, learned his leadership skills as the quarterback in his small town foot team, worked quietly/humbly/hard up through the ranks as an asst. coach of his college team, and then helped the Giants win the Superbowl during his first year as GM with them.

You would never know that he was in deep mourning due to the loss of a close relative while in the throws of the NFL draft this year. The death was sudden and unexpected. He had to put a business and sometimes happy game face on during his ESPN interviews and while focusing only on the draft that will affect the success of the team for the entire season to come.

In fact, when we visited, I asked him if he has heard any inside scoop about my favorite professional football team, the Dallas Cowboys. As you may have read on the previous blog, their indoor training facility blew apart yesterday.

Jerry had only heard about it on the news and has been a bit out of touch of any inside scoop sources since he was just returning from the funeral of his close relative.

Here is the link to the previous blog
http://lanearchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/05/dallas-cowboys-indoor-practice-field.html

Keep Jerry and his family (wife, son, and daughter) in your prayers.

(Maybe keep the Cowboys in your prayers too).

In case you haven't been able to find the secret that Jerry shared with me, here it is.....

His secret was that he could not tell about the death of his wife's brother while in the thick of the NFL draft season. He kept that as a secret to everyone even while being interviewed by the press such as ESPN.

The lesson that he taught by keeping this secret was that he was able to have peace by the grace of God.

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Dallas Cowboy's indoor practice field collapses

This can happen to your home! Here is how to avoid a catastrophe.

Today, around 3:30 pm CST, my favorite professional football team's indoor practice field came apart at the seams. Although there were several people injured, some badly, there fortunately were no casualties.

How could this structural failure have happened?

I am not a professional structural engineer. And at the present time, no one probably knows specifically what caused the collapse. But, there are some things that I know might be the cause of today's calamity. The same things could happen to your home.

Go to this web site, scroll down to the video and what it at:
http://news.aol.com/article/roof-collapses-at-cowboys-practice/459897?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Froof-collapses-at-cowboys-practice%2F459897

Notice that there are a bunch of metal supports that look like metal match sticks that are placed into a series of rectangle frames along the outer sides of the structure. They are all leaning to one direction. This is called "racking." It can be prevented by putting more metal supports from one corner of the rectangle diagonally to the opposite corner. If your home is built with 2 x 4 studs, then there should be horizontal members between the studs to keep them from deforming.

Even though the winds were not at tornado force speed (75 to over 100 mph), there were gusts up to 60 mph around this structure today. There was nothing to block this wind from smashing up against this indoor facility. This inflatable fabric balloon building is in the middle of a flat field with no buildings or trees nearby. It was less protected from the strong winds than a whirling trailer home in a sand storm. At least plan to have planting around your home to shield it from the wind.

Perhaps the structure was structurally designed to withstand an uplifting force, but if a strong wind entered into a tear in the fabric skin or through an open access portal, it is possible that the wind pressure was much higher inside the fabric bubble than what was planned. It was probably like opening up an umbrella on a windy day and it just flops inside out. You probably already know not to open up your patio awnings on windy days though.

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http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4128173

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