End of Another Week

Yesterday was the end to another busy week. In addition to all the stuff going on that I have already mentioned in blogs, we were really busy with client meetings, pitches and proposals. I just finished going through another one. I tried to look at it yesterday but was to brain fried. So instead of finishing the proposal I had a frozen slushy drink.

We put Margaritas on hold and tried frozen daiquiris. I'm new at those so my first batch wasn't slushy enough but the second one was much better. Nothing like watching Toy Story with a frozen drink.

I ended the week meeting with our architect to hand over the almost finished design plans for the audio space. Hopefully he doesn't find anything glaring and we can get going on the build ASAP. I will probably meet with our GC Monday or Tuesday this week to give him the plans. In the meantime, Audio B is up and running and is a really nice cozy space.

New Members of Team

David reminded me that I have not told everyone about the new members of our team. A little more than a week ago David found a couple newborn kittens living in a drainpipe in back of our place. He has since helped them get food and they have adopted us as their family. David's plan is to help them get strong enough and eventually bring them to the humane society. It's funny how attached some people on our staff have become. If the kittens aren't there for a day or so everyone gets worried something happened to them.

Blinds

I forgot to mention this earlier. I think the part of the new building that has made the biggest transformation from when we first saw the building until move in day is the design & programming area. It was a cave, with an UGLY navy blue carpet wall covering 3 pairs of windows and the other 2 pair were covered by drywall. All windows exposed and fresh paint later, it's one of the nicest areas of the new building. However, the pair of windows on the east side and the pair on the west side, while wonderful, can be problematic early in the day on the east side and late in the day on the west side because of the sun. There's nothing like seeing T work at his computer until 10am each day in sunglasses. Or watching Millo hide behind a poster he has in front of the windows the last hour or two of the day. So, we ordered custom sized horizontal blinds that match the rest of the building to cover those windows and they were installed yesterday. The ironic thing is that the guys never had windows in the old place, then we work real hard to get them windows in the new place and we immediately bet blinds to block the sun.

Audio, LCD Screens & Facebook

It wasn't easy and it definitely didn't go as planned, but largely due to the efforts of Rob Hill, we saw hard copies of the design specs for the new audio mixing room today. I'm not an architect so I don't know what half of it means but it looks impressive. We meet with our architect tomorrow so he can review the plans then our contractor will look everything over early next week and give us a quote to execute what the design is. If the construction phase is as stressful on Rob and me as the design phase has been, I will be quitting.

Our LCD screens for Bay 1 & Bay 3 came in today. Coincidentally, one of our staff bought the exact model a couple weeks ago and absolutely loves it so that is encouraging.

And finally, a lot of us are on Facebook, David does our Twitter page, Bob organized an IDEAS Group on Facebook and of course I'm doing this blog. But we (it was Christine's idea) thought we should create an IDEAS Orlando "person" on Facebook so we could be more connected with our friends and give updates on what's going on here more often. So we did it and we're working on connecting to as many clients and friends as possible so we can stay in touch with as many of them as possible. Our company clients & friends are our livelihood so the more we stay in touch the better. If you search IDEAS Orlando you should find us.

Casting, Audio & Muppets

Today we held our first production on our new stage. Well, it wasn't a real production but there was talent and a camera. It was a casting session. The stage is far from ready for real production but it was great to have the talent wait in the lounge and then have the casting session on the stage. It showed our set up is going to work and it's always cool having lots of people in and out of the building. I can't wait until the stage is ready, for real.

Speaking of the stage, if the stars finally line up, we're supposed to get the as close to final as they get design plans for the new audio suite. A couple beers and about 3 hours and maybe sometime I'll tell everyone about the design process for audio, it's been an adventure. But for now, let's just say we're all anxious to move on to the construction stage of the project.

A couple people didn't like that I was playing The Muppet Movie in the lounge today. Seriously, who doesn't love the Muppets? I was planning on playing The Muppet Movie followed by the Muppets Take Manhattan then The Great Muppet Caper. But some people in our building don't have the same reverence for Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo that I do apparently.

Monitors and Way Finding

At long last, we have made the purchases for LCD screens for the edit suites. Despite my business credit card not cooperating for unexplainable reasons other than it being maxed out, we got everything taken care of. We landed on 2x 46" Samsung 120Hz LCD screens, one for the Symphony and the other for the Media Composer. Then we also got a 32" LCD/DVD combo unit for the lobby to play various demos things while people wait. We already had the wall mounts for the new LCDs, we got full motion mounts so they will be able to move out from the wall, tilt and pan depending on the need. We got regular flat mounts for the lobby monitor as well as the other monitors we already had in house.

Late last week we also locked our way finding design. We're very excited to get the final quotes and make a decision on our supplier. Each sign will have a little icon that is related to the text on the sign. The icons are cute and should add the spice we were looking for so the signs weren't just the same old, same old way finding inside the building.

New Webisode

Our next installment in the Behind the Scenes webisodes, "Ready to Move In" has been posted to the new home website: www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome and it will be active on iTunes and You Tube tomorrow. The next webisode, "Moving Day" will be up in about 2 weeks, we need to do some client work to pay the bills between now and then.

We got a nice write up on WDBO.com and RealEstateChannel.com and a couple stories on Central Florida News 13 from the event with the Mayor yesterday. We shot the event so after the holiday weekend we'll edit a piece and get it up on the website.

Pre-Grand Opening Event with the Mayor

We just finished the pre-grand opening event with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer here at our new home. He was here to welcome us to Downtown Orlando. There were a lot of people from the Mayor's office, EDC, Downtown Development and guests. I thought it went really well. The Mayor arrived, Bob Allen spoke for a couple minutes, the Mayor took over and spoke for a few minutes then Bob and the Mayor unveiled a piece of artwork that we designed. A large version will stay here in our lounge and a smaller version will be framed and given to the Mayor for his office. After the short ceremony the Mayor and Bob did a quick tour of the building and answered some questions from the media. Then the guests were taken on tours of the building. Tours were very well received and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and were impressed with the transformation of the building. The Mayor remembered the building from it's earlier years and commented a number of times on how great it looks now. Photos will be on the website later today www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome

Rain, Rain Go Away

Tomorrow we have our press event with the Mayor of Orlando. He's coming to our place to welcome us, we're going to thank him and his staff for their support and we're going to make a presentation on behalf of IDEAS to the Mayor's Creative Village vision. We had rain on April 3 (our moving day) and then we didn't get rain, literally, for 6 weeks. Then someone turned on the rainy season last week and since then it hasn't stopped. So rather than have the event on the front steps outside we'll probably be moving everything inside to the lounge. Things should still be fine but it's a bummer. Pictures will be posted tomorrow or Friday.

We contine to make progress on the way finding and the next webisode should be done before the end of the week.

Way Finding

I think I've mentioned previously that we're trying to figure out what to do with our way finding. Rather than have standard signage throughout the building we're trying to do something more creative. Have you ever seen a Fat Head? It's a vinyl sticker that can be removed and re stuck multiple times. That's our idea for material for the way finding signs. That way we can design the signage any way we want- color, design, language, artwork, etc. Mary Anne and I gave Millo ideas for what we were looking for and he's been working for the last week on options and we're narrowing in on a final look. Once we're locked we'll post some pictures on the new home website. I think they are going to be really cool.

Landscaping

It's a hot Sunday afternoon and I'm at work. Fortunately for me, I'm not in charge or the real work being done here today. David and Rick worked really hard and completely upgraded the landscaping around the front door. We had overgrown bushes and after tearing them out but after planting new bushes and flowers we have a really nice entrance to the building now. Landscaping isn't my thing but others have been begging that we do something since we got here and Rick and David did the hard work and now it looks great. The big things were done in the overall build out but each little thing that we do now continues to add to our new home. Pictures will be posted this week www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome

Happy Birthday

Today we had our first birthday party in the new building. Every month we do a cake and celebrate the birthdays of the month. Our April birthdays got screwed with last month being so crazy so we celebrated April & May today.

David took Shirley and I to a dive today for lunch. I can't remember the name but it was a hamburger place off Orange Avenue a little south of ORMC. It was quite a place but really good food. It's so nice eating at so many different places, none of which are chair restaurants, which is all we had near the old place.

We found out yesterday that the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade was nominated for 3 Daytime Emmy Awards, one of which was for Audio Mixing. That's the second year in a row the audio on the Parade was nominated for an Emmy. We're hoping the Parade will follow us downtown this year for the post production.

New pictures posted on the new home website: www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome

Staff Quarterly Update and Webisode Progress

Today we had our first staff quarterly update in the new building. After each quarter we do an extended staff meeting in which we give the financial and sales update of the company. We also review the past couple months of highlighted projects and operational issues.

This past Tuesday we shot the interviews for the remaining webisodes. Sam had everything loaded in by lunch on Wednesday and a real solid rough cut by the end of the day yesterday. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how we look at it, Sam was booked today & is tomorrow and Monday so we'll probably not get back to it until next week. As soon as it's completed I'll do another e-mail blast to tell people it's up there.

David & I did a couple things today to continue moving the building forward. We set up a projector in the conference room. It's not mounted in the ceiling but it's there and ready to use. David also really wants to hang stuff on the walls, especially in the conference room. We figured out what will go where so we're making progress.

New pictures on the website www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome

Webisode Interviews

Today we shot the remaining interviews for the Behind the Scenes webisodes. We shot Phil, Bob, Shirley, David, Mary Anne, Rob, our general contractor, our real estate agent and me. I think we got great stuff. The original round of interviews were only Bob, Shirley and me and we weren't too far into the packing and moving process so there was only so much to talk about. Now, we're so much further along with things that there's plenty of different perspectives and stories. Sam started digitizing this afternoon and we'll start editing tomorrow. With any luck we'll have the next webisode on line early next week.

We also got two more of the wall mount units for the LCD/plasma screens today. And we got samples for the clear dry erase boards for outside our offices. If we can figure out a way to attach the baby pictures behind them this will be the way to go. It will keep the baby picture, a place for the name and add a dry erase board for messages.

More New Stuff

Besides the dividers for the design & programming area, we also received a sample for the way finding idea we're exploring, round 2 of business cards for some of the staff, and the 2 full-motion wall mounts for the LCD screens that will go in Bay 1 & Bay 2.

The way finding sample is interesting. Not as flashy as we had hoped but maybe our actual design will make it look better, as opposed to my attempt while playing in Photoshop. The image looks a little flat right now. We're supposed to get at least one more sample from another company so we'll see.

The LCD screen mounts are actually kind of exciting. We wanted to get mounts that come out from the wall, can tilt up and down and can pan right or left. I looked around and was about to buy them at Best Buy when I found the exact same model on-line for almost 1/2 price. Even with shipping it was significantly less expensive to go this route. Speaking of the LCD screens, I spoke with someone from Best Buy Business (who knew it existed) to talk about getting the models that we want since our local store doesn't have them AND getting a Best Buy credit card. If the general public can get no interest for 18 months, why shouldn't we? You would think. Unfortunately Best Buy doesn't really do a credit card for businesses. We'll figure it out, no big deal.

Central Florida Business Article in Orlando Sentinel

Last week I mentioned being interviewed by a technology reporter from the Orlando Sentinel. The article/profile was in today's Central Florida Business section of the Orlando Sentinel. Here's the link:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-cfbtalking-with-john-lux-051109051109may11,0,3994205.story

They say any press is good but when it actually is good press it makes it that much better.

Today we also received another 4 dividers for the design & programming area. Greg Roux originally had some of them, Robbie bought a couple more so I bought four more. This seems to be what the guys want to use to get some privacy. They're pretty cool, user friendly and cost effective so why not?

More Margaritas

There was a lot of stuff that came from our old building that we really weren't sure if we needed. It became official this week that most of it was not needed. So today recyclers came with a large box truck to take away unneeded equipment and furniture. We had so much that they couldn't fit everything. Our entire stage was full before they came and by the time they left only about 1/3 of the stage had stuff and there's still some more stuff to go. This opens the door to start the build out for audio in the next couple weeks.

Today was also Margarita Friday #2 in the new building. I bought a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville frozen concoction machine a couple weeks ago. The first time we used it a couple weeks ago I wasn't too happy with the way the margaritas turned out. I followed the directions but they were still too icy. I got some guidance from a friend that has a machine and this time was much better. I had a couple people say this time they were better so my bar tending skills are improving.

New pictures will be on the website early next week www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome

Spending Money

Today we finalized which LCD screens we're getting for the lobby, Bay 1 & Bay 2. We also decided and ordered the mounting mechanisms for all of the monitors, LCDs and plasmas. The LCDs in Bay 1 & Bay 2 will be the full motion- can pull away from the wall, tilt up and down and pan right and left. The others will be static wall mounts.

David and I installed the new track lighting fixtures in the machine room and our extra edit suite. Sam & Rob installed the window tinting in Audio B. Dennis pulled out the white boards to firm up the "to-do" list and schedule for the technical work still to be done (see photos on the new home website www.ideasorlando.com/ideasnewhome). We also ordered some clear white boards that might go outside our offices with our baby pictures behind them to serve as a frame for the pictures but also be a functional way to leave messages when people aren't in their offices. We ordered a couple to see how they would work. If they do, we will get the rest. A couple possible suppliers for our way finding are also sending samples for us to see and decide on. I also spent some time in the vault today continuing the organization process.

Week 5 Begins

Today started week 5 in the new building. And just like last week, lots of meetings and tours with people and the rest of the week will be more of the same. We're locked in for the next round of interviews for the Behind The Scenes webisodes. We're shooting 11 different people including our general contractor and real estate agent. More on that next week.

Carlo, Christine and I are making progress on the organization of the new Media Storage area. I was interviewed by a technology reporter from the Orlando Sentinel. Based on what he was saying it should be in the paper and on line maybe next week. If I like it I'll post the link once it's out, kidding. I had my first meeting in the Story Lab today with the new chairs. What they were talking about was way over my head but man was I comfortable. And over the weekend we received the renderings for the new Audio A. It looks amazing. I know we'll change a couple things aesthetically but overall, if we can build that room and it sounds as good as I think it's going to sound, our old room will be a distant memory. I'll post some of the images later in the week.

First Client Session

Yesterday was another milestone day for us in the new building, we had our first edit session with a client. Our earlier sessions were unsupervised but yesterday we actually had clients in the edit suite while Sam did the session. Again, sounds like no big deal but there are a lot of first and each are meaningful.

David & I went to the Cinco de Mayo party that our flooring provider, Spectra Contract Floors, throws every year. This was the first time we were invited. It was a good time but the one thing we noticed is that there were a couple people that were part of our interview process when we were looking for General Contractors to do our building. Nothing like running in to people you did NOT choose for a job. Awkward!

The other thing that was really cool this past week was that we are really seeing clients interested in coming to see us in the new building and talk about new projects. We got a couple proposals signed this past week, had a number of meetings about upcoming potential jobs and had a lot of great conversations with clients about things in the near future. There's a long way to go still but things are starting to come together.