i've been out meeting people a lot these past couple of weeks - some who i'd rather not see again but a ton of inspiring and interesting people from all walks of life.
one of the best was ben chesnut, an industrial designer who's gone on to work in (what else) software development and who founded mailchimp, a constant contact type of email campaign app. ben spoke at the atlanta version of creative mornings, a breakfast series started by tina roth eisenberg, a graphic designer in new york who quit her own clients 2 years ago to figure out another way forward (some of you may know her from her nom-de-plume "swiss miss"). what was so striking about ben's talk was just how he was able to keep his group both on task but with enough room to innovate - probably much like an early google. he's not concerned with trying to keep his employees happy (not possible) but instead in creating an environment in which they can make the company's mission their own and vice versa, providing challenging work for all. he truly seems to live by his mantra: "love what you do" (not "do what you love"). you can see some more about his group here, and cm_atlanta should have his talk up shortly. look for it - one of the best lectures i've seen in a while....
finally, my own spawn is in the throes of doing his own gaming company (at the ripe old age of 13) with a couple friends. i love the charter they came up with - really, can you say this any better?
1. You must be fully committed to the company.
2. You must try not to have many conflicts on business matters.
3. You must consider this company almost like homework.
4. You shall NOT tell other companies about our plans for apps or products.
5. You shall NOT give away any information about the company as of yet.
6. Once signed, you have to stay with the company for 5 months or until summer vacation.
7. You must attend all to most meetings of the company.
8. I assure you that you will have a great time, so ENJOY YOURSELF!!
Central to the blog is a long running interest in how we construct practices that enable and promote the kind of work we are all most interested in. From how firms are run, structured, and constructed, the main focus will be on exploring, expanding and demystifying how firms operate. I’ll be interviewing different practices – from startups to nationally recognized firms, bringing to print at least one a month. Our focus will be connecting Archinect readers with the business of practice.
4 Comments
Mailchimp is awesome. We've been using it for a couple years here for Archinect. Really well thought out product all around, and you can tell the people that work there love their job.
Wow, if your son's business doesn't work out he can intern with us!
paul - i'll post up the video link when creative mornings does it. he's a great speaker -
paul (and whoever else is interested - here's the video link to the ben chesnutt talk. just went up today...
Thanks, can't wait to watch it.
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