ABOUT · CLIENT REFLECTIONS
Client reflections.
[OPERATOR: 80–120 words. Preserved: “Long-form reflections from Alterra clients. Each selected against three criteria — specificity, non-generic verbs, and language free of stock testimonial clichés. Where those criteria aren't met, we keep the slot open rather than ship a thin quote.”]
“[OPERATOR: testimonial body — 80–180 words, must satisfy spec §4.6 eligibility: (1) specificity — references a specific place, species, material, season, or decision; (2) non-generic verbs — designed, built, planted, shaped, sourced, showed up during Uri, etc.; (3) banned-vocabulary clean. Preserved editorial-shape exemplar (NOT a fabricated quote): ‘The limestone terrace still reads cool in August; the live oak canopy they preserved is the reason.’]”
[OPERATOR: reflection slot pending curation per OD-6. We'd rather ship fewer quotes at launch than fill space with language that doesn't meet the bar.]
[OPERATOR: reflection slot pending curation per OD-6. We'd rather ship fewer quotes at launch than fill space with language that doesn't meet the bar.]
[OPERATOR: reflection slot pending curation per OD-6. We'd rather ship fewer quotes at launch than fill space with language that doesn't meet the bar.]
HOW THESE ARE SELECTED
Three criteria, per spec.
[OPERATOR: 120–180 words. P1 — the first criterion: specificity. A reflection that earns its place references something real and particular — the name of a species we planted, the stone we chose for the coping, the season the terrace reads best, or a specific decision we made and why. Generic observations about the outcome of a project do not satisfy this criterion; observations about the process of it, or the material register of it, often do. Preserved: references a specific place, species, material, season, or decision.]
[OPERATOR: 120–180 words. P2 — the second and third criteria together: non-generic verbs and banned-vocabulary clean. Verbs like “transformed,” “exceeded expectations,” and “went above and beyond” are disqualifying because they describe an emotional response rather than a material reality. We want the verbs that do actual work: designed, built, planted, shaped, sourced, showed up during Uri, preserved the oak, matched the limestone to the existing coping. The third criterion is simply that the quote contains none of the vocabulary we exclude from our own writing — a reflection that contains those words cannot represent the practice honestly.]