Featured Guest
Jess Purcell, Design Technology Manager
Summary
We’re excited to share this intranet Tour of Finch, Shepley Bulfinch’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Our tour guide will be Jess Purcell, Design Technology Manager.
Read moreYour Custom Text Here
Jess Purcell, Design Technology Manager
We’re excited to share this intranet Tour of Finch, Shepley Bulfinch’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Our tour guide will be Jess Purcell, Design Technology Manager.
Read moreWe’ve designed KA Connect 2024, our annual knowledge management conference for the AEC industry, to be “half conference, half camp,” with general sessions in the mornings, and a choose your own adventure program composed of roundtables, intranet tours, unconference hangouts, outdoor activities, and plenty of unstructured time to connect, reflect, and recharge in the afternoons.
Our program will focus on sharing strategies and best practices for using knowledge management, internal communications, learning + development, and intranet programs to help your AEC firm evolve and grow.
We're excited to announce our general session speakers today:
The Revolution of Knowledge Management at Turner Fleischer
Ellen Bensky, Partner, CEO and CFO, Turner Fleischer Architects
Behind the Scenes of ELEVATE: KTGY’s Professional Development Program
John Robison, COO, KTGY
Designing a Successful Hybrid Practice
Jim Chambers, VP, Practice Management, Shepley Bulfinch
Jim Martin, VP, CIO, Shepley Bulfinch
Knowledge Management: The Secret to Unlocking Sustainable Design
Corey Squire, Sustainability Director, Bora Architecture & Interiors
Lessons in Growth: Maintaining Authenticity in Design & Culture at Olson Kundig
Marlene Chen, Principal / Owner, COO, Olson Kundig
The Impact of Knowledge Management on a Growing and Evolving Page
John Clegg, Chief Design Innovation Officer, Senior Principal, Page
John Gloetzner, Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Principal, Page
Take advantage of early registration pricing through May 3rd!
For years our clients have been using Synthesis intranets to support Learning + Development programs by building “LMS light” solutions using intranet pages, posts, video libraries, and guides.
We are now advancing beyond “LMS light” solutions by adding new capabilities to Synthesis such as courses, learning paths, assignments, and transcripts, as well as the proper reporting and analytics functionality to help your firm track the progress of your learners and monitor the health of your Learning + Development programs.
This concept video is the next step in our journey toward co-creating a unique and compelling LMS offering with our community that is both AEC-specific and deeply integrated into Synthesis.
Watch this video to learn about our vision for Synthesis LMS, the scope for Synthesis LMS Version 1, release timing, and advice on what you can do now to prepare for Synthesis LMS.
Read moreThis SMPS Learning Lab webinar explores internal marketing initiatives that have moved the dial for three Knowledge Architecture clients: MBH Architects, GMB Architecture + Engineering, and Page.
Read moreWe’re pleased to announce the upcoming release of new enhancements to Search, Directories, and Libraries.
At a high-level, here’s what’s in the update:
Improved Employee + Contact Name Search. We created a Global Name Synonym Catalog and enabled Fuzzy Search to help improve findability of employees and contacts. For example, if you search “jeff” we’ll now find “geoff” and “jeffrey,” and if you search on “diana” we’ll also find “diane” and “dina.”
Configurable Search Scopes for Directories + Libraries. You can now choose between Basic Search and Full Search scopes to create the search experience which is better for your firm. For example, the Basic Search option will streamline your Employee Directory search scope to Employee Names. Basic Search will also streamline your Project Directory search scope to Project Names, Project Numbers, and Client Names. The Full Search option will search all fields. Once the update is pushed out, your Directories will automatically be switched to Basic Search (you can easily switch them back to Full Search) and your Libraries will continue using Full Search.
Additional Sorting Options for Filters + Groups in Directories + Libraries. You will now be able to configure filters to sort alphabetically in Directories and Libraries. For custom dropdown fields, you’ll be able to configure filters to use the sort order of the dropdown values. In addition, you’ll be able to use the sort order of custom dropdown fields to order your groups.
We will deploy this update after the close of business on Friday, March 15th.
Enjoy!
Best,
Chris
Learn more about new Synthesis features in development, in design, and planned for the future, as well as submit product ideas on our interactive product roadmap.
Knowledge Architecture has been working on two major AI projects for the last six months — Next Generation Search and Video Captioning.
At the same time, we have been developing an opt-in program called Community AI to create AEC-specific AI Infrastructure by training AI models on client content for the mutual benefit of participating firms.
We’re super excited about what we’re building and we hope you are too.
Next Generation Search will bring AI-powered Enterprise Search to Synthesis.
In this video, we share our approach to both AI and Enterprise Search, including:
AI-Generated Search Summaries
Three Challenges with End-User Facing Large Language Models (LLMs)
Benefits of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Vector Search Basics
Benefits of Combining Keyword Search with Vector Search
Community AI Program Overview
Why We’re Building an AEC-Specific Embeddings Model
Enterprise Search Roadmap
Next Steps + Timeline for Public Beta
We’ll be releasing an update this spring that will add AI-generated captions, transcripts, and chapters, along with several other enhancements to Synthesis Native Video.
In this video, we go behind the scenes into:
Our AI-Powered Video Captioning Infrastructure
Community AI Program Overview
Benefits of our AEC-Specific Video Transcription Model
Next Steps + Release Timing
Community AI is an opt-in program that will empower Knowledge Architecture to create AEC-specific AI Infrastructure by training AI models on client content for the mutual benefit of participating firms, while also protecting confidentiality and intellectual property.
In the pursuit of researching two use cases for AI — Next Generation Search and Video Captions — we discovered a unique opportunity to work with our AEC client community to achieve more relevant search results and better captioning.
Thus, Community AI was born.
Looking for intranet inspiration? We have some new additions to our Design Inspiration Gallery.
You can now explore examples in three new resource categories — Onboarding and Intranet 101.
Our own Christopher Parsons recently connected with Evan Troxel of TRXL Podcast and Randall Stevens of AVAIL to go behind the scenes of our transition to Synthesis 6, the story of building Knowledge Architecture, and a high-level overview of knowledge management and intranets in the AEC industry
It was really fun to talk through the journey and lessons learned along the way and we're really grateful to Evan and Randall for the opportunity.
If you are curious to learn about how major software projects are designed and managed and/or how AEC firms can make the best use of their knowledge, then this episode of the Confluence Podcast is for you!
Stefanie Henderson, Internal Communications Leader
Colby Dietz, Knowledge Manager
We’re excited to share this Synthesis Spotlight on Square1, DLR Group’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Our guides will be Colby Dietz, Knowledge Manager, and Stefanie Henderson, Internal Communications Leader.
Read moreWe're excited to announce that the Next Generation Search Idea Lab is now open for submissions.
We have been conducting R+D to determine the best ways to incorporate recent technology advances, including generative AI, semantic/vector-based search, natural language processing, and conversational chat into Synthesis Search.
In addition to incorporating new technology, we’re also investigating ways to improve our traditional keyword search, and exploring additional search integrations.
In short, we’d love to include your ideas and feedback as we strategize on how to take Synthesis Search to the next level.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Read moreHillary Thompson, Director of Brand Communications
We’re excited to share this interactive tour of Archie, MBH’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Our tour guide will be Hillary Thompson, Director of Brand Communications.
Read moreLooking for intranet inspiration? We have some new additions to our Design Inspiration Gallery.
You can now explore examples in three new resource categories—Office Resources, Practice Areas, and Launch Videos.
Matt Dvorak, Senior Vice President, Marketing + Communications
Nick Sternowski, Director of Operations
We’re excited to share this tour of Alma, Primera’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Your tour guide will be Matt Dvorak, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, and Nick Sternowski, Director of Operations.
Read moreWe’re really excited about the future of Synthesis and want to share what’s in progress with you. This 7-minute video will provide an overview of what we’re currently building, designing, and researching, including:
Unanet AE ERP + Additional ERP/CRM Integrations
Mobile/Responsive Updates
Post Analytics + Content Optimization
Video Captions + Transcriptions, Dark Mode, and General Accessibility Updates
Synthesis LMS
Next Generation Search + AI
Search Analytics
SOC 2 Type 2 Security Compliance
We hope our roadmap reflects your intranet hopes and dreams. As always, our roadmap is completely driven by the KA Community, so please keep the questions, feedback, and ideas coming to support@knowledge-architecture.com.
You have two ways to access the Synthesis Product Roadmap:
Via our website. You can find the Synthesis Product Roadmap under the Support tab on knowledge-architecture.com.
Via the Synthesis 6 Help Menu. A link to the Synthesis Product Roadmap can be found in the Synthesis 6 Help Menu.
Brandon Norton, Multi-Media Manager, Fuscoe Engineering
We’re excited to share this tour of Arc, Fuscoe Engineering’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Your tour guide will be Brandon Norton, Multi-Media Manager and Intranet Champion.
Read moreWe’re excited to announce the return of KA Connect, our annual knowledge management conference for the AEC industry.
KA Connect 2024 will take place at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Sundance, Utah from August 13th to August 16th, 2024.
We envision KA Connect 2024 as being “half conference, half camp,” with general sessions in the mornings, and a choose-your-own-adventure program comprised of breakout sessions, intranet tours, outdoor activities, and plenty of unstructured time to connect, reflect, and recharge in the afternoons.
Sundance’s location at 6,100 feet in the north fork of Provo Canyon will provide an inspiring backdrop for you to learn from and with your fellow KA Community members.
Our program will focus on sharing strategies and best practices for using knowledge management, internal communications, learning + development, and intranet programs to help your AEC firm evolve and grow.
Early registration will open this fall.
If you’ve got ideas or thoughts to share about KA Connect 2024, please send them our way.
Save the date!
We're excited to announce that the Synthesis LMS Idea Lab is now open for submissions.
In conversation after conversation with this community we’ve heard loud and clear that improving your Learning + Development programs is consistently one of your highest business priorities.
Knowledge Architecture is embarking on a journey to bring Learning Management System (LMS) capabilities to Synthesis. For years clients have been using Synthesis to support Learning + Development programs by building “LMS Light” solutions with pages, videos, posts, and now, video libraries and guides in Synthesis 6.
We are going to advance beyond “LMS Light” by adding new capabilities to Synthesis such as courses, learning paths, and assignments, as well as the proper reporting and analytics functionality to help your firm track the progress of your learners and monitor the health of your Learning + Development programs.
The Synthesis LMS Idea Lab is the next step in our journey towards co-creating a unique and compelling LMS offering with our community that is both AEC-specific and also deeply integrated into Synthesis.
We’d love your help!
Read moreWe know that designing a new page, guide, or community from scratch can be intimidating.
That’s why we created the Design Inspiration Gallery. The Design Inspiration Gallery will help you jump start your Synthesis Intranet design (or redesign) process with inspiring examples from your peers in the KA Community.
We’re launching DIG with three resource categories: Home Pages, Style Guides, and Benefit Centers, and will be adding new categories and examples each month.
DIG is now live and ready for you to explore. Enjoy!
Brian Alting, Principal, Director of Technology, Moody Nolan
Nick Bower, Director of Design Technology, Moody Nolan
We’re excited to share this tour of The Mood, Moody Nolan’s Synthesis 6 intranet. Your tour guides will be Brian Alting, Principal and Directory of Technology, and Nick Bower, Director of Design Technology.
Read moreWe built this integration because several of our clients have created Information Technology and/or Design Technology articles in their Zendesk Help Centers. They want those articles to appear when their end users go to create new support tickets or to be available in Zendesk Chat.
That said, our clients using Zendesk would also like for that content to be available in Synthesis Search. Our intention with this integration is to give our clients using Zendesk the best of both worlds.
Once enabled, Synthesis will index articles in your Zendesk Help Center and return them in Synthesis Search Results as External Links.
If you’d like to integrate your Synthesis 6 Intranet with your Zendesk Help Center, just reach out to us at support@knowledge-architecture.com and we’ll get you started.
Enjoy!