Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A NOTE TO THE 1871 COMMUNITY

                                          A NOTE TO THE 1871 COMMUNITY

1. Thanks to all of you who have made an effort to come up and introduce yourself to me (and/or to Tom Alexander). We are slowly making the rounds and trying to meet everyone and we got a nice knowledge boost from all the Google meetings we had with interested member companies. Jasmine is also setting up some one-on-one company meetings for us. Be sure to take advantage of those opportunities if you're interested and especially if we can give you a hand in some way or if you have news, suggestions, complaints (give those mainly to Tom :)), etc.  Thanks also to those of you who have commented on the art and posters that we are starting to hang around the place to make it a little less austere and empty looking. This really is our "home" away from home in many ways (and we spend a great many of our waking hours here) and we want it to be as comfortable, warm and welcoming an environment as possible for all. In addition, please note that we have a Town Hall meeting coming up in a couple of weeks and I hope that you will all also take advantage of that opportunity to get caught up on all the exciting developments around 1871 and to share with us any thoughts or recommendations that you might have about making things even better.

2. We are already making some decent progress on a number of fronts (we aren't really very good at waiting or being patient as you might have heard) and we are trying to move as quickly as possible when we can. As an example, I learned on Monday that several members felt it would be helpful to them for us to install monitors for presentations in the two small conference rooms (S3 and S4) and we should have the new monitors (55" HD displays) on heavy duty mobile racks in those rooms in about a week. On the other side, I also learned that we weren't doing a good job of making sure that the nursing room (S12) was essentially reserved for our nursing mothers even when there aren't any babies in sight. This isn't the only use that Moms make of that space and, frankly, even though it's tempting to hang out in there when it appears empty, we want it reserved (regardless of the time) exclusively for the Moms. Please find somewhere else to hold even the shortest calls, etc. so it's always there for them.

3. You can expect to see a lot more press and media as well as strengthened and expanded messaging, but it will be more about telling our members' stories than about 1871 itself. We will have a regular (weekend air time) video feature on the tech segment on NBC featuring our companies which will be shot by Charlie Wojciechowski (NBC Tech Reporter) here at 1871. We want to spread the wealth around a little more in terms of the companies we feature (so reach out to Melissa if you think your story is good and ripe for telling) and we also want to expand our efforts to focus on some broader issues. We will be taking a page from the stories of several Impact Engine companies because we want our overall message at 1871 to include and make it very clear that "making a life is about a lot more than just making a living" and that, in our actions and our plans, we should be conscious of how we can all be part of something bigger and more important than just ourselves and how we can demonstrate that to our community and to our city and state as a whole.

4. Finally, let me just say that I'm very glad and excited to be here and I regard my primary job as making you and your businesses successful and self-sustaining. Everything else warm and wonderful flows from that simple goal.


- Howard Tullman