The AIA maintains an online service that directs people looking for an architect to AIA-member firms. Through this site, AIA Access: The Architect Finder, prominently located on the public side of http://www.aia.org, potential clients can search by location and building type, and services to find phone numbers, addresses, Web addresses, and other information about AIA-member firms.

It's up to each firm to make sure its own information is updated, though.

How to do it
The central database for the architect finder feature and ProFile on the Web is maintained by Cahners, an AIA strategic partner. Cahners has developed a procedure that allows you to update your firm listing regularly and securely.

1. Step one is to email cmdguide@cmdg.com and either ask that a change be made or request an access code so you can do it yourself. (You'll need a new access code every time you go into the cmdexpress.com site. The code allows Cahners to provide you with a temporary window of access to their secure database.) This is also the email address to use if you cannot find your firm listing on aia.org or Profile on the Web in the first place.

2. With the access code at the ready, go to http://cmdexpress.com. If it is your first visit, click on "Register," and fill in and submit the form. (The user ID needs to be all lower case, and the password is case sensitive.)

3. Registered users begin by clicking "Log In to Main System." Enter ProFile Express and, when the screen asks, put in your firm's access codes.

4. In ProFile Express you'll see all the information listed on your firm. Make any changes and submit them. (If you are updating multiple office listings for your firm, use the "Enter ProFile Using a Different ProFile ID" option.)

Cahners editorial office will review your changes and send them to the database. Each time you submit an update, Cahners follows up by emailing its thanks and providing regional project leads.

The advantage
There is no second chance to make a good first impression. Your listing represents your firm to the thousands of people who visit the aia.org site and ProFile on the Web regularly, so it is imperative that you keep your listing current. It is especially important to have the information updated before September of each year so that your firm's printed listing is correct in The Architects Sourcebook, an annual Cahners publication circulated to major clients throughout the country.

Many of the AIA components also use the Cahners database to generate their component-member directories. Check with your state and local components to see if they use the central database or require a separate update from you.

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.