Pimp Your Office: City Style
As the Buffalo Rising offices come along it is interesting to see that different factions of people (artisans and businesses) that we have found along the way to help customize the space. Now that the custom Rigidized Metal's HVAC system has been installed (photo), the rest of the features are coming together. We tried to utilize as many local sources as possible during the build-out, and during the search, we hooked up with some fascinating sources. Our landlord, Savarino Construction, was instrumental in letting us have creative control over the interior design. With the help of architect Brad Wales, we were able to able to conceptualize the future look of our new office, and our hopes were to find an innovative approach.
The lighting plan was trickier than we had imagined, and after spending countless frustrating hours searching for lighting that would be unique, cost-effective, and available, we turned to Roy and Sionen at Lightmakers to come up with a presentation. Within two days we were fortunate enough to have these two out-of-the-box lighting designers nail down a grand plan (that we have not altered since). Instead of going with standard electric fixtures, Roy and Sionen went the extra mile and even ended up designing a custom fixture, which they will assemble by hand at the site.
The steel work stations are being hand-made by Brad Wales and John Spielman with the help of Jeff Gabriel Designs. The custom stations will give our employees the ability to spread out, while the details of the work stations include hidden wiring, Rigidized privacy panels and to-be-determined add-ons that will be decided on as the sections are constructed. The work-station designers have collaborated on such projects as Spot Coffee, the artistic UB bus stops, Gallery 164, etc.
The next piece of the puzzle that should have been easy and ended up being a nightmare was the bathroom and kitchen fixtures. We wanted something different, but once we saw how much 'different' would cost we found ourselves in a jam.
It was then that we contacted Artisan Kitchen and Baths located on Amherst Street near Wegman's. After one walkthrough we were hooked on their over-the-top showroom (in a gorgeous warehouse setting)... one visit to Artisan is all it took. Our sale's person named Jeff sat us down with catalog after catalog of name brand items and offered suggestions on everything... from design to specs. This was amazing because we had assumed that we would not be able to find anything remotely close to Artisan in the city. The showrooms have a ton of in-stock (and in some cases working) appliances (like the coffee machine in the photo). Even though we did not go for the top-of-the-line items, we still found hard-to-find, quality products that we needed to obtain our C of O.
We continue to find and utilize as many local businesses and artisans as we can possibly find, and in doing so we have ultimatley saved time and money.
hmmmmmmmmmmm… sounds like you might be needing some noise-absorbing fabric touches before too long…
something to soften glare from all those windows… fabric-wrapped homosite push-pin boards… pillows to throw at one another when the pressure of deadline gets to be too much. You know where to find me. ;-)
forfabric-
Marimekko style pillow fights?
That sounds stylish and fun!
I loved meeting you and seeing all of the beautiful fabrics in your shop today.
You have great ideas- and we love the new window covering! It is already in place and the morning will be better (not brighter) because of you! thanks.
bunny
you tease and then don't give us enough pictures.
I'm not familiar with your financing but...
It seems like you're following the typical dot com business model of sinking too much capital into things that don't contribute directly to the bottom line. There are thousands of businesses in the graveyard who felt it was important to expend significant VC into cool coffee machines, cutting edge desks, and highbrow nonsense. In fact, I worked at three of them.
Hopefully, you'll sink as much money into hiring better writers and layout artists for your print magazine. Otherwise, this cool office space will lie fallow in a year or so.
Here's to hoping that you have a very friendly angel investor in your future.
Worried, don't worry too much. Products like the Rigidized were similar in cost due to the experimental nature of the product and our willingness to work with their company. The custom workstations cost us half as much as the prefab office layouts that we had originally considered. Lightmakers took our lighting budget and blew away the competitors list prices, which allowed us to save enough money to buy a cool coffee machine that will be used over the duration of our lease. Besides that, you might remember that there are two businesses moving into the space, it is an open environment with few walls, we kept the original cement floors, kept the exposed ceilings... and did it all within the allotted budget. And guess what? After working in coffee shops/dining rooms for a couple years, we will now be happy under one roof where we can concentrate more on our writing skills and magazine layout. And still know that we supported other small businesses in the process.
since when does UB have artistic bus stops?
Sorry Mark, the bus stops were designed by Brad Wales and were built by UB students. I should have clarified.
Still need the Excaliber sword, but credos for the location, the quality of your work ,and the artisans of Buffalo.
'Worried,'
I appreciate your input on how to run this business, and while the failures you've been part of might be helpful to you in making future career decisions, they're not particularly informative for us. Our focus is delivering quality content to readers. If we do that, we'll have a company that can help bring a new perspective to the local media landscape and, just as importantly, help generate some new jobs. If we don't do that, the office space will be irrelevant. Rest assured, though, Hyperlocal Media is not a dot com and this isn't Silicon Valley in the late '90's.
I think WNY needs fresh media outlets (and new companies that can bring some new jobs), so I hope this endeavor doesn't end like your past efforts.
Barry Heneghan
By the way, in addition to helping out Hyperlocal Media, I run Think Financial, the company sharing this office space. To help settle any potential worries you might have about this effort, Think Financial is an old-fashioned finance company. We help families better afford education by offering flexible, convenient private student loan products. Our goal is to grow this company substantially over the next few years, and we intend to do it right in downtown Buffalo. And all the while, I won't be spending too much time sniping at other local start-ups. Instead, I'll be hoping others can bring some success to this area as well.
Happy New Year.
Yo Swannie Jim! When are we going to find you down on Michigan Ave?
Are any staffers going to become urban pioneers and move into the surrounding neighborhoods? There are plenty of houses in the First Ward and Valley for sale.
Curious, this Buffalo Rising staffer has been living and working in the Old First Ward for fifteen years. I own my house and I've been trying to encourage others for a long time to consider the move - cheap homes, high owner occupancy, well-tended properties for the most part, and, just off the 190 you can get nearly anywhere in about 15 minutes. And the grain elevators are in our backyards!
I am kind of writing and thinking at the same time here, but it looks like the costs have been studied by BRO. Looks great
Also as Barry said and I agree "fresh media outlets" are so needed in WNY. In this day and age the forum of traditional Newspapers are going the way of the of US manufacturing jobs. With online, TV (WRGZ I belive is the best), and radio constanly updating stories and getting to the root of issues and publicizing development, I felt the need to cancel my Buffalo News subsciption.
"Worried" has a good point. Cutting-edge office space can't and won't magically transform a shitty product into something of tangible quality. Dressing up a Yugo in a Lexus body will still lead to a terrible car in the end.
Barry's response was defensive and off-target, rife with platitudes like talking about what sort of media "WNY needs," instead of stating why a flashy new office in brand new building is fiscally prudent for a brand new company.
I guess I don't get it. I've been watching these guys for a while now. They have a really solid executive team with great experience, contacts, a history of achievement (Newell, George, Barry, Emily) and are generating revenue online and in print with local advertisers and larger ones like Mini, Volkswagon, Premier, Plaza Group. They have a list of print contributors that includes Dave Staba, Nancy Parisi, Alan Bedenko, etc. and a very good editorial staff--especially since they shed some of the fat which will probably be good in a few years but definitely wasn't ready yet for prime time.
So the magazine keeps getting better. More and more people visit and talk about the site. Even the Buffalo News mentioned or referenced them 3 or 4 times in the last week or so. Just about every member of the exec team has done it before. They continue to improve their products. They book revenue. They care about quality content and the city.
To do anything other than root for them (taking cheap shots and jealously begrudging them office space that, while cool is definitely not excessive) seems like Old Buffalo discouragement and envy.
If Heneghan (also one of their investors) says they're ok and can afford it, what's the problem?
They're doing something quite interesting that we all clearly use and enjoy. And they've done most of it in just 6 mos. or so.
By the way, who doesn't want to work in a cool office? It seems to be a great way to attract talented people and get them to not want to go home. ;)
Any chance of the critics here using their real names?
I'd be curious to see people like "fellow entrepreneur" and "cowardice" use their real names.
Uh huh,
or "urban critic" or "durrisimo" or "curious" or "Brutus" or "qua" or "Sascha" or "Cheektochooga" or "100th comment" or "durak" or "captain obvious"... Your interest in "real names" is more than a little ironic.
Best of luck in the New Year!
Don't a lot of BRO's commenters use multiple names in the first place?
Seeing the people who run this site descend into the realm of petty bullshit is pretty disconcerting.
And here I thought BRO always took privacy concerns very seriously. Stuff like this makes me not want to come back after the new year. If that makes me "Old Buffalo," then so be it.
hypocrates,
No one's privacy concerns were violated. I didn't disclose who "Uh huh" AKA "urban critic" AKA "durrisimo" AKA "curious" AKA "Brutus" AKA "qua" AKA "Sascha" AKA "Cheektochooga" AKA "100th comment" AKA "durak" AKA "captain obvious" actually was. Or even disclose the alias which would clearly identify just who “Uh huh” is.
What I did was point out the irony of "Uh huh" using multiple aliases in this thread to not only critique BRO/M but to implicitly request the identities of BRO/M supporters.
Let's cut the crap. Calling people "Old Buffalo" for not partaking in the mindless cheerleading often found on BRO, is the equivalent of the Rummy usage of "cut n' run" or W's famous "If you're not with us, you're against us."
I've read BRM, and to tell the truth, i'm not impressed. While I wish you the best of luck, I think you guys could live without taking cheap shots.
Buffalogal - i think 'hypocrates' called himself old buffalo. So he gave himself a cheap shot, i guess? not sure i follow.
Anyway, in the words of the great american philosopher rodney, can't we all just get along?
Umm, isn't this post about a local company using the products and services of other local companies to make a cool office space?
Enough about aliases and jealousy. I want to know when friends of BRO can come down for a cup of coffee from that swanky coffee machine.
I'm with D.S. When do we get the free coffee?
And when will the BR Gear tab start working?
Sorry, you knew I was going to say that.
Happy New Year to all.
Bravo Nancy for living in the Ward. My comment wasn't meant to be snarky. I'm just curious as to why more folks aren't interested in moving to this part of the city.
As to monikers: I've yet to see any disclaimer stating that real names must be used. This is a blog and not a legal document. What is said here is nothing more than conversation.
Geez Newell, aren't you glad you shared the good news about your new offices with all the optimists out there!?
Happy New Year BRO and even to all you "AKAs" !
That coffee machine looks sweet. If the rest of the place looks that good, you've got a hell of a nice place to work!
Curious, there are other BRO/M writers and sales people out there who currently rent and will be looking for their homes in the (hopefully) near furture. Be sure to keep posting about some of Buffalo's 'best kept secrets' in the area - I know there are others who value knowing what they are when it comes to living here. :)
Can't wait for the offices and to be under one roof soon! :)
I'm so disappointed that my company will not be moving to this building. A few of the people on my office had tried to talk our Boss into moving us there from Cheektowaga, but to no avail.
Oh Well, enjoy the space. Looks great so far!
The only thing that blows me away, is that this place gets mentioned in the Buffalo News, has a ton of ad revenue, and seems to have fooled alot of people into believing they are a lot larger than they really are. In the meantime, I've run a consumer electronics site for the past 2 years out of Tonawanda that gets over 240,000 unique visits a month, had grown tremendously, has had other local markets do news broadcasts, appeared in trade publications, but can't get any local recognition for who we are or what we do. I find it laughable that there seems to be an aura of promotion with this site of things that go on in WNY, yet it still takes the greasing of good-ol-boys (old media outlets) to get any press. BRO/Hyperlocal seems to be pretty dang good at one thing... honking their own horns..
I will however, give the group credit for taking advantage of an undervalued market in both terms of buying buildings and talent for a whole lot less than they would anywhere else in the country. At least they are doing SOMETHING with that space downtown. I guess Buffalo can use more chest-thumpers. They just better back it up, or I would be very disappointed.
Yo, anybody thirsty? This thread's got a WHOLE FRICKEN' COOLER full of Haterade!
@Kevin
Boohoo.
For the record, BR isn't honking their own horn, they are honking Buffalo's horn. (If you can't understand why that makes BR popular with regional media outlets, you should probably meditate on the idea for a few minutes.)
PS- Stop moping like a fat chick. It's unbecoming.
I am curious to see the new office layout. Furniture? How about showing some pics of the new digs.
BRO Staff - any chance you might have a party to show off your new digs when ready? Sounds really cool and Kudos for using so many local businesses to outfit the place!
Kevin - maybe you could help with a story about your business and write a few blurbs, pass it along to BRO stafff? I would love to read about your business, as well as any other business in WNY.