Burnham Works Taps Veteran Journalist to Lead Content

Chicago-based Burnham Works LLC is pleased to announce that award-winning industry journalist Rob McManamy has joined its growing staff as director of content development for the new online technology forum and innovation catalyst.

"We're thrilled to have Rob on board," says Matt Abeles, managing director of Burnham Works. "His decades of experience as a writer and editor, and his proven news sense and editorial judgment are just what we need to take our mission to the next level."

Like technology, itself, that mission is still evolving. But Burnham Works is committed to advancing the conversation across the design and construction industry, encouraging forward-thinking architects, engineers, planners, project managers and technologists to share best practices openly and in real time, uninhibited by competitive silos.

"Our goal here is to be a forum for big ideas and a catalyst for innovation," explains Abeles, adding that Burnham Works already is working with such industry players as Ozinga, Navistar, Leopardo, Northwestern University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Backed by Hard Hat Labs, a Chicago-based venture firm that entered the national market in 2013, Burnham Works is actually the group's second startup. The first was Hard Hat Hub, which is already the industry's fastest-growing Web platform for matching construction, engineering, architecture and facilities professionals with leading companies (www.hardhathub.com).

"Now that I am back in this industry, it certainly feels like home," says McManamy. "I am energized about helping Burnham Works give voice to emerging thought leaders and managing the content flow to facilitate their connecting with and inspiring each other."

McManamy started as a reporter with McGraw-Hill's Engineering News-Record (ENR) in 1988 and served as the weekly publication's midwest bureau chief in Chicago for most of the 1990s. In that capacity, he covered such stories as the Great Chicago Flood in 1992 and the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, leading to his being named editor-in-chief of Design-Build, a quarterly startup also published by McGraw-Hill. Later, McManamy also worked as lead editor for both Building Design + Construction and Public Works magazines. Most recently, he worked as a communications consultant, blogger and social media content manager for the Character Education Partnership, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that promotes the teaching of values in K-12 education.

Founded in early 2014, Burnham Works LLC is a member-based, for-profit innovation forum based in Chicago. It is named for legendary architect Daniel Burnham who famously said, "Make no little plans." For more information, go to: www.burnhamworks.com.