Open House

The open house was Saturday, and I have to say, it was a rousing success.


Saturday kicked off with the dedication of the Commons after former Starfish board member Rick Webster. It was Rick who had the original vision for what this building could be and his tenacity for making the project happen that brought it about. Sadly, Rick passed away late last summer before we'd even gotten the final green light to do the renovation.


Rick was the most excited about turning the garage into the Commons, and so, it was only fitting that we officially dedicated and named the room as the Rick and Patti Webster Commons.


The afternoon was full of great tours of the building with many of our current and incoming Scholars, mentors and donors. It just goes to show that good planning leads to good events. All the hardwork totally paid off.


A few photos from the morning's dedication:

The photo on top is the general view of the new Commons. The photo on the right is representatives from each of the businesses who donated to make this project happen.

This last photo is Starfish founder Mike Feeney with Patti Webster, presenting her with a copy of the plaque that names the Commons after Rick and her.

Open House

I am down to the wire on prep work for this open house.

In 24 hours, I'll be back at work for the final morning-of set-up and then it's showtime.

Today is cleaning day and finishing things day.

And I'd better get started...

DONE!

The construction/renovation is done!

We have a few touch-ups to go before Saturday's open house, but today, the last of the furniture was installed. Included in this last furniture order was all of our task chairs. We'd been carrying on with the old ones since these were back-ordered. Now that we have the new chairs (all shiny silver and white!) our offices look finished and pulled together.

Progress is being made on getting everything ready for the dedication/open house on Saturday.

Of course, there's a great deal to go, so back to work for me! (Hopefully, pictures will be forthcoming next week of the open house...)

Welcome to Crunch Time

In a few minutes, I'm headed into my weekly Monday morning meeting and then -- then -- once that is over, crunch time begins.

The open house is now in 10 business day (counting today) and there's quite a long list of things that need to be done/completed for that.

Last week, I got the June issue of our donor newsletter sent to our graphic designer (YAY for making self-imposed deadlines). With that out the door, I could erase my dry erase board full of those plans and re-fill it up with a giant open house to-do list. This list has everything on it from "tent delivery" to "name tags" and all sort of things in between.

Granted, not everything on this list is something I have to accomplish. Our Event Planner VISTA is doing a great job of helping to coordinate things and make displays and just think through what all needs to be done and finalized.

Just in case you were wondering, grant applications and other things are still on-going. In fact, we've got another fairly major grant that's due shortly after the open house is over and I've also got a new e-mail blast marketing system to figure out.

To be clear, I'm not whining. I'd rather be busy than bored any day.

There goes the dumpster

Literally.
The big construction dumpster we've had during this whole project is pulling out of our driveway RIGHT NOW.
Apparently, that means they really are close to done.

Looking around, they really are close to done. More of the super cool stuff (pictures to come) has been hung up and I've spent my day working on a display wall.

Open house, t-minus 12 business days. (There's no point counting weekends because I really hope I don't have to work those to finish this off...)

Open House planning and more

The grand re-opening house/dedication of the Starfish building is now in t-minus 19 business days. This suddenly seems like a frighteningly short time to get this all pulled together.

Invitations are at the printer/going out in the mail any time now, plus we've got a gazillion extra to pass out to friends, acquaintances, etc.

In addition to getting people invited, the construction has to get finished (which I really don't have any control over or hand in, obviously) and then the building has to get completely spruced up. I think later this month, we'll all be on big cleaning jags, washing down walls, dusting, vacuuming, etc. to make this place sparkle for the open house. We've also got displays to put together, posters to assemble and the like in all our new areas.

Of course, in the midst of all this, there's the regular work to get done too...

Meanwhile, consider yourself invited to the open house:

12:30-4 p.m., May 30
Starfish Initiative Office
814 N. Delaware St.
Indianapolis IN 46204

One Month till the Big Check

We found out yesterday that Starfish was chosen by a local group to receive their annual grant of $15,000. We're really pumped about this because it's been awhile since we got any major money.

Let me just say, the no major money thing isn't because of the economy, it's the funding cycle. We've got a bunch of applications out to funders that we'll start hearing from in May/June. Still, it's nice right now that we know this funding is coming because it lets us work on fall plans for camp.

We'll officially get the big check at an award luncheon in May.

Also, the construction progresses along. They are hard at work on the lounge and the commons areas. There was some loud sawing/pounding noise for a bit this morning, but I'm really hopeful that the loud stuff is going to be over soon.

Unexpected

Today was not at all like what I thought it would be.

I spent a good three hours this morning cleaning and organizing our new kitchen. Because we stored all the kitchen stuff in the garage, all of it was covered in a fine film of dust. I washed EVERYTHING and found it a logical home in the new kitchen.

We have tons more space to add to our kitchen, things like pots and pans. We haven't been able to cook for our Scholars in a long time, but we really like doing that and now the new kitchen makes it possible.

Not bad for having prune-hands now.

More Construction Photos

Now that my network is behaving again, here are some more images. This is the upstairs meeting room, set up classroom style.

This is the wall of my office and my window!

This is my wonderful new desk, with tons of storage space and drawers with handles and locks. Hopefully, more pictures will follow when it's all unpacked and cleaned off for the open house.

Office Renovations -- Sneak Peak

Since the downstairs offices are mostly done, I thought it high time to get some photos posted for a sneak-peek at the renovations.

So, beginning at the front of the building:



This is the new reception/lobby. Note the fun swirly orange carpet.











This is the former blue office. Not blue anymore. Also, not the space where I work anymore.

Argh. I just lost my network connection and can't get to the photos on our shared drive.

Sigh. Hopefully more later.

The new office

I'm moved in to my new office. Hooray!

Yesterday I was without Internet while the move happened. Today, I am without a camera because we've got a group of Scholars on spring break who are taking a trip with Starfish staff to Ball State. Since college access and planning is a big deal with what we do here, I won't begrudge them taking the camera.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have the ability to share photos.

The great news though is I'm in and it looks fabulous and I have wonderful file storage for everything and all the other offices are beautiful too.

Office

The furniture is installed.

I'm in.

Pictures to come.

Furniture Day

The furniture has begun to arrive this morning.

So far, one semi truck (or, to use correct AP style "tractor trailer") has been here this morning, dropping off filing cabinets and things. More deliveries are expected this morning and then the installers will start to set up the Exec. Director's office and then my office.

I think I'm being overly optimistic that I will get to move into my office by EOB today, but, I've still got my fingers crossed. In the mean time, I'm repacking up my table from all the stuff I've been using for the last month.

I have to say, I'm really surprised by how much I've gotten done while banished back here. I'm sure I've been less productive than I was even in the old Blue Office, but I've gotten a lot done. Hopefully, I'll get a grant report sent off today and then be ready to start writing some new requests at my new desk this week.

The new office

The official furniture installation dates just went out.
Of course, it's subject to change, but ---
*drumroll please*
If the schedule stays as is, I could be moving into my new office on March 30 or 31.

Let the countdown begin!

Construction and Classes Update

Today's a big day in the renovation world -- ceiling tiles and light fixtures and flooring are being installed. (Oh my.)

The furniture should be here around the end of this month or early next, so it's looking like early-to-mid April to move back into the "real" offices.

I was out part of last week for another Fundraising School class -- Developing Annual Sustainability. The material is starting to sound repetitive, which I'm thinking means that I actually know it now. Next up, implementation of what I learned.

I've got one grant due today that I've got to go turn in and then finding the bottom of my table will be a high priority for this afternoon.

No new photos of construction right now, but hopefully I'll get some more in progress shots soon.

Talkin' about my fumigation...

They are spray painting again today in the office, meaning day two of paint fumes. When they painted walls last week, it wasn't so bad, but the spray paint is a bit noxious (though nowhere near as bad as the dry-erase wall paint upstairs).

The downstairs renovations are now in week two of hopefully four total. The walls have their first coat of paint. The spray paint is where they are doing the ceiling tile grid. (It's a huge cost savings to paint over the old dingy grid instead of putting in new grid and it looks great upstairs.)

Despite all the noise and fumes, we're still plugging along here at work. I've got two major grant applications due in one week, so I'm bouncing back and forth between these projects and wondering how I was always ahead of deadlines last winter/spring and when that changed.

And, just to help the craziness of this week, I'm back at fundraising school tomorrow and Thursday to learn about developing annual sustainability. Good stuff, I'm hoping.

Construction, Pt. 2

We are all back at work now and relegated to little tables in back rooms. It is far from ideal, but we keep telling each other that it's all going to be worth it in the end after the spiffy renovation is done. The upstairs, which has everything but furniture, looks awesome. The downstairs will be equally as awesome after this period of displacement.

Despite the chaos of the morning, I went through the downstairs offices and snapped some photos of the now-empty offices and the current workspaces.

This is my current "desk."

The other main work room, for about five staff.

The old blue office, now sans carpet, furniture or ceiling tiles.

The room that will be my office once the renovation is done.

The reception area, with sunshine coming through the window.

End of class and the move

My fundraising school class was great. Lots of excellent information about how to raise major gifts.

The office renovation move now happens in less than 48 hours. That means between now and then, I've got to re-find the bottom of my desk and move all the rest of my stuff.

I better stop blogging and get to work.

Entropy in action

On Tuesday morning, when I thought I had to have my entire desk packed by the end of today for the move that's not happening now until next Friday, you could actually see most of the bottom of my desk.

This is no longer the case.

I do not know what happened. I sort of refuse to believe that I am that much of a piler that I covered over an entire desk in a day. One day.

Obviously, this is proof of entropy or blue shift, that the universe is closing back in on itself or something.

In other news, the painters and the carpet people are here today working on the upstairs. No new photos to post of the work. I think that may just wait for the big "reveal."

Also -- next week, I will be in fundraising school learning all about major gifts and then moving my office, so I'll update when I can.

This is a holdup

Well, not that kind of holdup, but the kind that involves the carpet not being in yet, meaning the carpet layers can't install it upstairs, meaning that we can't move upstairs/to the back of downstairs this week because they aren't done yet.

That's right -- the move is delayed until the end of next week. We were on track for moving this Friday, but carpet's kind of an important thing.

Most of my office is in boxes, although not quite all of it. I'm holding off on packing the remainder until it's time to move, because I keep having to get in the boxes I packed to get files I need. Many of the boxes are coming with me to the temporary digs I'll be working out of next month.

The move gives the whole office sort of an unsettled feeling as we transition. But, then if I just go upstairs and start looking at the new paint and everything that's been done up there and how AMAZING it's starting to look, it makes all the unsettled-ness completely worth it.

Hopefully, I'll get upstairs for some more sneak-peek photos soon.

If I can remember what box I put the camera in.