In Other Words with Dave

Buy a building. It will be fun, they said. No, no one really said that.

A few years ago, after paying rent to the rent gods for nearly 20 years, I decided to buy a building for Back40 – it seemed like a solid bet. It was an exciting time. I found a nice one, of course, it had to be remodeled, We’re a design agency – we wanted a design-y space. The remodeling went well, the building came in on budget and on time.

There was a sense of pride and accomplishment on moving day. We had individual offices, 2 conference rooms, an eat-in kitchen, and a big Back40 logo up on the front of the building. We had it going on. We were an in-house team producing digital marketing for our clients. Then 3 months later, Covid happened. And we sent everyone home to work remotely. And it hasn’t been the same since.

So now I have a second address that I can get packages delivered to, a generous 3,000 square feet to keep all my work stuff, and spacious areas to grow office plants. Plus, I own 44 chairs (at last count). Over the last 2 years, we have had a couple of office dwellers return – but nearly everyone is on a remote or hybrid schedule. Office tours for new clients just aren’t what they used to be. “Over here, this is where the senior developers used to work.”

Remote working was not a new concept for me or Back40 or my industry. Prior to the pandemic, we had remote team members – even ones who lived locally. Personally, I’m not loving this new normal. I enjoy being around creative designers and coders. It’s a big part of enjoying what I do. So, if you’d like to talk design or digital marketing, please come on by – there’s plenty of seating.