In January 2007, when I first started at Meltwater News Philadelphia, we were in a cozy office in the Curtis Center off Washington Square Park (just a block from the Liberty Bell). It had huge windows, a nice lobby, and good restaurants nearby…but always felt temporary. Even the memories of office Bandana Ball and Ping Pong with Scott were not enough: we knew we needed a new space.
View from the old office
We set the move-in day for the first Monday in May. It was hectic. We had to move into our new office space and then finish up recruitment phone interviews that were also taking place. Oh not to mention, we also have to do in-person interviews that same week. Fortunately for you, dear reader, I faithfully keep a diary:
Monday
8:00 A.M. Arrived at old office off Washington Square Park. I wrapped up some end-of-the-month administrative stuff (forecasting, management reports, expenses), as well as tied up loose ends with logistics (moving truck, building management, electrician for phone lines).
The rest of my team, everyone from Sales Consultants upwards, arrived in their sweats to start taking apart desks, packing up small stuff, taking things to the trash.
11:00 A.M. AJ and Chris got to work on some phone interviews. We received about 250 applications for the International Management Trainee position, and had narrowed it down to 60 people we wanted to continue conversations with. Our goal was to talk with these candidates via phone to discover who could think on their feet, seemed like a good fit and really understood the nature of the position.
12:00 P.M. Break for our FINAL lunch from the office favorite Corner Store, consuming our favorite office snacks: Pirate’s Booty , ice cream sandwiches, and all things bacon.
4:00 P.M. I parked the moving truck at the loading dock and we started moving stuff. We got the whole thing loaded up within three hours, then drove over to our new location on South 17th Street, about a block from Rittenhouse Square.
View on 17th St. Tall building on the lefts is ours
7:30 P.M. Gentle rain begins. Frustration ensues. Never really sure if we’re going to get towed or not, we frantically unloaded the entire truck in about 1.2 hrs. Special thanks to Dan. Mia was afraid of the elevator, so she hung out upstairs. Actually, taking a look at this freight elevator, it’s about the size of a small fridge, and I should have been scared too: Check out that hand crank!
Elevator hand crank
9:00 P.M. Pizza arrives, the guys take a break, and I return the moving truck (only $26!). We half-heartedly put together enough tables for a few days work. AJ and I needed a drink, so we hit up Black Sheep next door. Everyone else headed home for some much needed rest.
Too much time spent at the Black Sheep
Tuesday
Our new office is fantastic! We have a small floor all to ourselves. They’ve repainted (“Dover Cliffs”) and put in a new carpet (“Wheatgrass”). We’ve got a nice big kitchen, and three corners of windows. We like the view up 17th street the best. (Today a few of us are eating lunch in the park…).
AJ and I spent most of the day on the phone, talking to candidates for the interviews. Around 8ish we take a break to put together more desks and tables, arrange furniture, and clean up the office. We head out to Black Sheep (again) with Emily.
Wednesday
Angela and Henrik (both Area Directors) are in the office today, visiting from New York. They’re going to help out with the interviews on Thursday/Friday.
I have to babysit this little guy (whom I haven’t seen in a few days!) because my wife has plans, so I head home at the oh-so reasonable hour of 6:00 P.M. Of course…AJ and Angela stay to get some more work done, and end up (where else?) at BLACK SHEEP.
Thursday
We always do our group interviews in hotel conference rooms so we don’t distract or get distracted by people in the office. The usual hotels we use were booked this time around, so on a hunch I called up the Ritz!
Of course, the room was gorgeous. But besides that, it was a really solid group. We ended up inviting 6 candidates (out of 18) back for individual interviews on Friday. Of course, it took us some time to end up with 6 amazing candidates, but I still made it home by 8:30 p.m.
Conference room for interviews
Friday
At 7:30 a.m. we were in the conference room preparing for our 6 individual interviews, each of which would take about an hour. These were some of the strongest candidates I’ve ever seen. I was so impressed with their drive and work ethic. In this job, if you’re humble/teachable, and work hard, your chances for success are great. We can teach you the rest. I feel very confident that we’re getting some strong additions to our team with this recruitment round.
Finished off the day and the week with a drink (Allagash White Ale, since you asked) at the bar at the Ritz. I left the bar feeling even more ownership of the Meltwater News Philadelphia office.
Those first couple weeks last month were hectic, but I walked away feeling more inspired and ready to build a great office. Since the move we’re being putting the building blocks in place for an even stronger office to come… more on that in my next post.
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Happy anniversary Chris and Mikah! I hope you have a reservation at Philly’s finest : )
Congrasts on the new office. You’ve been an inspiration since you started and I’m sure that will continue. Best of luck to the new Philly office!