architect54

The AREforum is down again. Looks like it might be a maintenance issue. I’m only guessing. In the mean time check out these AREforum Alternatives.

I only hope whoever maintains the forum is installing options to make it more secure. Or backing up information. Or possibly took the bulletin board down to address some legal issues before continuing. Perhaps someone’s posting behavior is jeopardizing the forum, from a malicious hacker or a poster of exam questions. I can only guess. I have come to realize there are some not-so-obvious concerns to address when you’re participating socially online. For example, how do you mention copyrighted material?

Let’s not forget whoever is maintaining/operating the ARE forum is putting out their own money. vBulletin 3.8 currently costs $195. The last time the forum was hacked, it was upgraded to the latest version. It is not free software. Put into context, it’s at least the cost of an exam. That’s only a starting point for the total costs. That doesn’t address hosting fees, paying for any tech support, time spent (meaning labor) and I don’t know what else. Even the url www.areforum.org costs something.

So let’s be patient for the ARE forum bulletin board to come back online. For now, check out some AREforum Alternatives while waiting.

If you’re in the NYC metropolitan area and you intend to take the architect registration exam, then I highly recommend you attend tonight’s AIANY free event Demystifying the ARE 4.0.

Successful recent takers of the Architectural Registration Exam (the A.R.E.) describe their experiences through the process, sharing many useful suggestions and specific tips they used to navigating the complex waterways to licensure. We also invite members of NCARB who have been involved in the planning of the exam discuss what goes into create the questions and what are the best ways to prepare.

We anticipate you will find this informal professional exchange valuable. We’ve also encouraged attendees to make contact with a study-partner for one or more of the divisions of the ARE, during this event!

Find out more about it on the AIANY calendar and be sure to RSVP at the bottom. If you don’t RSVP, don’t let that stop you from going. You can find out some interesting information. Here are my notes from last year. I’m not sure if I will attend this year. Sorry I didn’t post this sooner.

First of all, could there be such a thing?

The ARE Forum is up again. But a lot of you were scrambling for an alternative when ARE Forum was down. Hopefully this horrible online event helped some better communicate in their office. Maybe it helped build more tolerance for one another in our common struggle to pass the architect registration exam. Shoot, maybe a few of you formed a freaking study group already!

Still most are less interested in why the ARE Forum went down and more interested in it being up. I had no idea when the forum would return. So instead I did a common Google search, and came across some alternatives. They may not have the critical mass of participants the ARE Forum has and technically the posting method may be different. But with enough participation and adjustment you may find some ARE assistance using these ARE Forum alternatives.

• ARE Help (Friendfeed)
• Architecture Registration Exam Group (Facebook)
• ARE Forum Archive You can ONLY view old posts. You cannot post or edit.
• PPI Architecture Exam Forum
  

Please leave a comment if you know of any other alternatives where people can post and receive a response regarding the architect registration exam. Let’s have those alternatives ready in case the forum goes down again.