IndyHallabaloo

BIG here,

It's a lively Friday here at IndyHall and I love it. There's a great level of conversation going on at all times. These days are my favorite. Open forum discussion drowns out the typical clicking and clacking of keyboards. I'm going through my usual learning rotation which at the moment consists of reading designing with web standards, second edition by Jeffrey Zeldman (great book, BIG recommends), playing around with Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop guided by tutorials of which there are too many to sit and name them all, sorting through/ clicking links tweeted by my favorite Web Designers (Brian Hoff, a fellow IndyHall-er, and David Airey, a fellow Irishman being the two most prominent), and finally learning HTML on w3schools.com (a great tool for beginners such as myself). This rotation is perfect because I'm always fresh on whatever it is that I'm doing and time is flyin' by (slow down! I only have so much of you).

I'm thankful for so much. Gone are the days of clock watching and desperate weekend anticipation. I revel in the here and the now. Also, IndyHall has rekindled my love for chess. For this I am especially grateful as I find chess to be a great influence on my state of mind. It engages my mind in such a way that even when I stop playing and go back to work I am more focused and more creative in my approach to whatever it is that I am working on.

My message today is simple.

Thank you IndyHall

p.s. - Where are you small?

THE small is back

...and in action!

BIG and I have been sitting behind that long white desk for a little over a month now. Ever wonder what we do when we're there? -- when we're not running to the corner store and buying coffee creamer?... Well, let me tell you:

1. Indy Hall signage

We're making vinyl signage for Indy's entrance, walls, and conference rooms. These decals will provide new members with useful information too: the Indy Hall wifi password, campfire address, Indy Hall's mission statement, kitchen rules, and "if you are the last to leave" checklist. Woah!

2. Members of Indy Hall interviews, or tentatively titled, The Indy Hall Insider

Alex and Dana have put us in charge of picking the brains of Indy Hall members to provide you with the inside scoop. Every member will eventually be featured within the Indy Hall newsletter and/or Indy Hall blog. So consider this a heads up... BIG or small will be coming to you sooner or later armed with charm and inquisitiveness.

3. Attendance & Billing

Pretty self-explanatory

4. Answer the phone

Again, pretty self-explanatory

5. Other things and such

I made a digital print last week called, "manufactured landscapes" for this little art challenge (the mixed goods: fresh production) I've created via blogger. You can check out my trials and tribulations here.

Also, BIG is diving into the world of web design/development, and together we're working on a project for Johnny Bilotta and Joe Cairns paralleling this interest.

Oh! And...

6. Play with Pepper (the darling pet rat of Indy Hall)

We let her climb on our shoulders (BIG giggles like a little girl when her whiskers touch him), spoil her with treats, and put funny little hats on her. Just kidding, every thing's true except for the little hat thing. Though that would be pretty entertaining.

That's all for now!

Signed

small

The Latest

Big here,

Tonight is Ignite Philly ( http://www.ignitephilly.org ) which I am truly excited for. Somehow I've wound up helping to work the door and I will be watching all the presentations. Yet another random yet beneficial occurrence in my life due to my membership in the IndyHall community. I fully expect to be blown away by the presentations yet I have no expectations regarding what they will be about. I hate that I just thought "Expect the unexpected."

Either way, IndyHall continues to throw positive experiences my way.

Yesterday I sat in on a discussion with the guys from Breakout ( http://www.breakoutfestival.org ) and was blown away by how progressive some of their ideas were. Throughout my life I have typically been one to be very vocal in conversations such as these but I must say, it was nice to sit back and just listen. Alex and Geoff, the co-founders of IndyHall for those of you who don't know, just kept coming up with one idea after the other which snowballed the conversation into what I found to be a very real contribution to what Breakout is trying to accomplish. The idea of permanent work-related fixtures such as giant chalkboards being installed in parks much like tennis courts and playgrounds already are really makes sense to me. This is but a taste of the places the conversation went. I am very privileged to know all the people I've met through IndyHall and yesterday's meeting was testament to that.

Experience coworking. Now.

Big

It's Official. Fridays just aren't the same anymore.

BIG here.

Today is my first Friday at IndyHall and I must say, it's a very different experience than a Friday at any other job I've ever had.

I was just sitting here with a cold beer in front of me, happily learning Adobe Illustrator with a little direction from my resident Guru, Johnny Bilotta, when my eyes wandered to the clock and BOOM! It's almost five o'clock.

I've spent my employed life watching the clock, saying commonplace things such as, "Lunchtime: Second best time of the day." and "I can't WAIT for the weekend. This place SUCKS!" and so on and so forth. I was a typical grunt loathing my typically horrible vocational environment.

However, today I actually find myself wishing that clock would wind backwards a few hours so I could have more time to work on this project Johnny has so kindly included me in. I find myself in this zone I get into when I'm enjoying myself and learning at the same time. I'm not sure I've experienced this since childhood outside of purely recreational learning, e.g. mastering a new video game.

I guess the point of this post is to say that as my first week of interning here at IndyHall comes to a close, I find myself utterly and effortlessly convinced that this environment is the way forward for not only myself, but countless others like me. I feel as though I've enrolled in a new school, one where knowledge is exchanged freely rather than as some abstract form of currency. As environments go, this one is unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced before. IndyHall is truly unique.

I apologize if this post turned out to be somewhat of a ramble, but joining this community has been a life altering event for me and I feel as though that is worth sharing with the admittedly limited number of people that will read this.

IndyHall has rekindled my creative side and my desire to learn countless new things all at the same time, not to mention brought a slew of interesting new people into my life. For this I am very grateful.

More Later.

Signed,

BIG

WELCOME ALL...

... TO INDYHALL!



WE ARE THE BIG
WE ARE THE SMALL

Hello, I am small.
Big and I are riding the first wave of interning at IndyHall.
This is something new for all of us here.

After finishing school, we were at a crossroads, like many twenty-somethings. Should we have taken jobs we hated just for meager pay? Or should we have come to a place where independents form a community, in which ideas are exchanged freely, so that they may grow to better serve us? As you have probably already guessed, we chose the latter. And after only a few days have already seen the benefit of this decision.

To whomever reads this, we encourage you to follow, as you will surely gain insight into a largely unknown and rapidly growing community.

The underrated concept of coworking will soon be known as the way forward for entrepreneurs across the globe.


Signed,

the BIG & THE small