Out with the Old and In with the New
Today is an exciting day for me – a little less exciting than it should be still … very exciting. We are wrapping up the process of ownership in my firm and within a few days my name officially goes on the door. What was once Michael Malone Architects, will now become Malone Maxwell Borson Architects.
… and it only took 22 years (back story: How to become a partner in 21 years)
The other super-terrific exciting news is that I am finally leaving behind “Bob’s Box of Hell” and moving into our new office space. Well, we are “technically” moving into our new offices this Friday (and Saturday and Sunday …) but feel free to send me an email at my new address. The website hasn’t been moved over yet because, you know … I am not a miracle worker.
Seriously, I couldn’t be happier.
Well, I could be happier if I didn’t have to do the moving part myself but we’re calling it a “team building exercise” and I plan on bringing beer.
Guess what? Our space isn’t actually ready yet … I love that part. As of this writing there is still the punch list work to address (and the air conditioning) but I am working with some ah-mazing architects and I know that there is a plan in place. Of all people, we know that in the world of construction things don’t always go the way you plan. The true mark of a pro is measure in how you deal with it. So after I finished stamping my feet and holding my breath, I think I got my way and things are going to get wrapped up tomorrow morning.
*Pro Tip* Using the technique of “I know you are but what am I?” works like a charm on contractors, but the trick is to not break character, otherwise you’ll just look like a child.
Just a few day ago there was a lot going on. Thankfully I was in Wisconsin at the time (Scary Story: Cabin in the Woods from my Wisconsin trip) and I was able to miss out on what looks like a tremendous amount of coordinating fun.
I’m not sure why I included this picture (yes I do) … some of you might get it and think it’s funny, some of you won’t. Either way, I’m not talking.
Aaaaaaand here’s the conference room. Some of you hardcore observant people might recognize ‘Voltron‘ down there in the corner – at least 1/12th of it. Voltron has a giant footprint and there is space specifically dedicated to where this beast of a model will live. I haven’t shown anybody what it looks like yet. It will eventually get its own post … I worked on the design and one of our summer interns – John Charbonneau – built the table that it will sit on the weekend right before he left working in the office and returned back to school. More on that later.
Once the office is completed and populated with stuff and finishes, I’ll do a proper post covering what we did and the products we used.
All I can say is that this is a very exciting time for me. I can’t help but feel that all the long hours and hard work have finally paid off and I am part of something that really matters
… AND I have my name on the door. This is truly the beginning of the end.
Cheers,
This was the second post in what I am trying to organize into a series of posts called “ArchiTalks”. There are a few other architects who maintain blogs who were given todays topic “This is Exciting” with very loose instructions as to what they are to talk about. We have all agreed to publish our responses on the same day – that way none of our answers will influence somebody else. If you would like to see how other architects responded to this topic, just follow the links below. As the links get sent to me, I will come back and add them to the list.
Marica McKeel – Studio MM (twitter @ArchitectMM) “From Dreams to Reality – THIS is Exciting”
Jes Stafford – Modus Operandi Design (twitter @modarchitect “This is Exciting – It is All Comes Together”
Enoch Sears – Business of Architecture (twitter @enochsears) “This is Exciting: Marketing for Architects that Works”
Mark R. LePage – Entrepreneur Architect (twitter @EntreArchitect) “This is Exciting: Making a Difference at Entrepreneur Architect”
Jeff Echols – Architect of the Internet (twitter @Jeff_Echols) “This is Exciting: 5 “Re’s” to Change the Future of Architecture”
Lee Calisti – Think Architecture(twitter @leecalisti) “this is exciting :: start + finish”
Oscia Wilson – Boiled Architecture(twitter @leecalisti) “This is exciting they’re fighting it out”
Matthew Stanfield – Field9 Architecture(twitter @FIELD9arch) “This is exciting”
Jeremiah Russell – Jeremiah S. Russell, Architect(twitter @ronestudioarch) “I’m so excited!”
Cormac Phalen – Archispeak Podcast(twitter @archispk and @archy_type) “The End is Like the Beginning”
Evan Troxel – (twitter @etroxel) “This is Exciting … Because it’s real”