GFM Excited to Announce "On My Own Time" Art Exhibit

The team at GroundFloor Media has been painting, sculpting and crafting up a storm in preparation for the 2011 Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) "On My Own Time" employee and family member art exhibit! See here for a video starring our own Kimmie Greene and Carrie Odberg introducing the program and providing a preview of some amazing pieces of art including pottery by GFM team member Wendy Artman and paintings by GFM family member Cathy Lester.



We hope you'll stop by our office between May 9 and May 20 to see our work on display!

GroundFloor Media Gives Back - Announces Get Giving

If you know anything about GroundFloor Media, you know how passionate each of the staff members is about the organizations we support, either by volunteering as mentors, serving on boards, or making regular donations of goods or money. Last weekend, a handful of GFM team members got together in support of the Youth Opportunity Foundation’s annual Big Bowl event to benefit Colorado Youth at Risk and Byrne Urban Scholars. While there is little concern about any of us running off to join the Professional Bowlers Association, a good time was had by all and team spirit was running high – particularly with our very own Jim Licko whose bowling team won their fourth straight Spirit Award by dressing up as the members of music group Devo. Nice…

Even in these uncertain economic times, participants and supporters of the Big Bowl event dug deep and raised more than $16,000 (compared to just over $10,000 in 2009) to benefit the deserving youth from Colorado Youth at Risk and Byrne Urban Scholars. Youth Opportunity Foundation founder Tom Kimball drove the importance of the event and giving back home when he reminded all attendees that while we were cheering on bowlers in the grand finale “horse race,” enjoying drinks, food and good times, young people across Denver might not be so lucky – enduring the pressure of gangs, challenging home situations and struggling to help their families make ends meet.

Community giving and involvement is at the cornerstone of GroundFloor Media’s beliefs, and inspired by the events we attend and organizations we serve, the staff recently launched the Get Giving program. Through this new effort, each month we’ll select a new nonprofit organization that’s close to our hearts and collect needed items and donations for the organization in a collection box at the front of our office. Friends, family, colleagues, clients and vendors are welcome to donate items on the designated organization’s wish list – which will be prominently posted with the collection box each month.

In April, a generous basket of items was collected for Platte Forum, an organization for which Amanda Brannum sits on the board. This month, we’re collecting items for SafeHouse Denver, which recently welcomed Ramonna Tooley to its board. If you are interested in joining the GroundFloor Media team to Get Giving in the coming months, please contact us at getgiving@groundfloormedia.com and we’ll be happy to relay the latest Get Giving beneficiary and provide you with a wish list for that organization. By way of an example, SafeHouse Denver is requesting items as varied as mascara or dishwasher detergent to paper plates and coloring books – all of which would greatly benefit its residents. Thanks, in advance, for joining us in staying motivated to give back to the community that gives us so much!

Hyperlocal sites are catching on

Clearly the media landscape is changing as traditional vehicles like newspapers, which a handful of publishers filed earlier this year for Chapter 11 including the Tribune Co. and the Sun-Times Media Group, are reeling from a significantly declining advertising revenues. In turn, this has opened the door for hyperlocal sites – which allows news and information to be delivered down to the city and neighborhood level – and it is quickly emerging as the reincarnation of media.

Last week, GroundFloor Media announced that we have been retained by Examiner.com. Launched in April 2008, Examiner.com has grown more than 200 percent since the beginning of this year and now has more than 21,000 Examiners in 177 major markets across the United States and Canada providing in-depth local news and information to consumers hungry for hyperlocal information.

Interestingly, many still argue the hyperlocal model isn’t viable, as advertisers have yet to flock to hyperlocal sites. According to Borrell Associates, the online local-advertising market is projected to grow 5.4% in 2009 to $13.3 billion. I tell you, it is just a matter of time before businesses make the shift from traditional offline, local venues like the Yellow Pages to hyperlocal sites like Examiner.com, as hyperlocal sites deliver a highly targeted and interactive audience.

Need proof that this trend is catching on? In late August, National Public Radio aired a story about how Nike and other shoe manufacturers are focusing more on hyperlocal marketing activities rather than big, expensive national marketing campaigns. Read about it here.

While companies look to creative ways to partner with the hyperlocal sites, from a traditional PR perspective, many of my cohorts, myself included, have worked, and will continue to work, with Examiners (Examiner.com’s expert writers) to tell our clients’ stories. It’s refreshing that we now have the opportunity to share why hyperlocal content is here to stay and the unique marketing and PR opportunities it will offer. I am excited to be on this account team and to work with the team at Examiner.com to create greater brand awareness and help them achieve their aggressive expansion plans.

~ Jennifer

Bringing home the gold (and silver)!

Last night was the 2009 PRSA Colorado Awards celebration. This year's event was a little different than recent years (kudos to CSU PR students for a super creative auction and to Andrew Hudson and Bruce Goldberg for adding their unique humor to the emcee honors), but the purpose was still the same - recognizing amazing PR campaigns and the people who execute them.

At GroundFloor Media, we were honored for five our clients' campaigns to be selected as Gold and Silver Pick winners. Here's a snapshot of the awards breakdown:

Gold Picks
2009 Events and Observances (7 days or fewer) – Association/Nonprofit Organizations
"The Children’s Hospital Makes 111 Miracles Happen"
GroundFloor Media and the Children’s Hospital

2009 Media Relations – Associations/Nonprofit Organizations
"Celebrating 20 Years of Financial Education"
GroundFloor Media and Young Americans Center for Financial Education

Silver Picks
2009 Reputation/Brand Management – Business
Qdoba Builds Brand Through Creative Q-dentity Profiles and Taste Bud Politics
GroundFloor Media and Qdoba Mexican Grill

2009 Media Relations – Business-to-Business
CH2M Hill Sheds Light on Solar in 25 American Cities
GroundFloor Media and CH2M Hill

2009 Blogger Campaign
Leveraging the Influence of Top Consumers Technology Bloggers to Launch Fuser.com GroundFloor Media and Fuser

Our heartfelt congratulations to our clients and to every one of last night's winners. We feel very blessed to work in a city that is home to so many smart and creative PR professionals.

You can read a full list of winners here.

Award-winning Campaigns

I have to take a minute to brag… We were recently awarded the 2008 Grand Gold Leaf Award and 2008 Nonprofit Project of the Year Award from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators for work conducted on behalf of our clients, The Children’s Hospital and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, respectively. I was on the Colorado Healthcare Communicators board for five years and never even saw a Grand Gold Leaf. As one of our clients put it, “The strength and quality of our partnership was on full display at the ceremony with the wonderful acknowledgement by our peer professionals.”

Not only did GroundFloor Media and The Children’s Hospital receive the Grand Gold Leaf Award for the campaign, “The Children’s Hospital Makes 111 Miracles Happen,” but this campaign also received a Gold Leaf Award in the media relations category. This campaign consisted of an aggressive, proactive local and regional media relations strategy during The Children’s Hospital’s move to its new state-of-the-art facility at I-225 and Colfax in September 2007.

For the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, we received the Nonprofit Project of the Year Award and a Gold Leaf Award in the new media category for the What If? Colorado social media campaign, which was comprised of both traditional and non-traditional public relations components, including a reality competition.

I’m extremely proud of our team members at GroundFloor Media and have to commend them publicly for continually generating fresh, strategic ideas to help our clients meet their marketing and business objectives!

Communicating in Beijing

And now a special post from our own Ramonna Tooley who is attending the Olympics in Bejing...

You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that the little Spanish I know does me absolutely no good in China. That said, I keep resorting to it when trying to communicate because it’s the only foreign language I know. Here in Beijing, however, there is nothing about the language that is familiar to English or Spanish – or anything else I can conjure up for that matter. Regardless, everyone here tries very hard to communicate beyond the “hello” and “thank you” that I’ve learned in Mandarin. The volunteers at the venues are very good at saying, “Nice to meet you” and “Please turn around” (as they wand you in security) and “This way, please.”

My favorite recent example of communication is the sweet cab driver who pulled out a book that listed several countries and pointed to United States of America, to which I nodded enthusiastically. He then did the breaststroke in the air to ask if I’d gone to see swimming at the Olympic venue. I had really gone to see gymnastics, but I didn’t know how to motion that in the air in the cab, so, I said that I had seen swimming.

Upon exiting the cab, I provided my new friend with a USA Basketball Olympic pin, which he seemed to really appreciate. He waved the whole way as I walked through security to go into the hotel. One more good thing on the first sunny day I’ve spent in China and the day I saw the Americans win gold and silver medals at the women’s gymnastics all-around competition!

PS – When I went to Blogger to post this, the Web site was in Mandarin and wouldn’t let me log in. That’s why I asked Ashley to post this for me. So much for communication!

Owen's Wish Comes True (in a galaxy not so far away...)

Thank you very much to everyone who has been sending get-well wishes to my son Owen over the past several months. We are very excited that his latest scans look great with no new cancer since the end of chemo. As many of you know, Owen was diagnosed with a malignant form of kidney cancer that had metastasized and spread to a couple of other spots in his body…but the surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have been effective and he is doing very well. Yaay, Owen! I truly appreciate how much support Lisa and I have gotten from so many people during this – from family, friends, current colleagues, former colleagues and friends of GroundFloor.

Our Make-a-Wish trip to Disneyworld for Star Wars weekend was fantastic and Owen had so much fun. He and Sela got to meet Darth Vader and Princess Leia and Anakin and so many other Star Wars characters. Owen even got to go on the Star Wars ride with the entire Star Wars Cantina Band!

Thank you to everyone at Make-a-Wish and Disney who put so much time and effort into making this an unforgettable experience for Owen. The chapter here in Portland (OR) has done so much for our family and for other families we have met at the children’s hospitals here…and I have heard wonderful stories about the wishes that the Denver chapter has granted as well.

For your viewing enjoyment, here are some photos of Owen’s Wish trip and of him playing with some of the goodies he got during his adventure. He’s pretty darn cute, huh?

--Rich (Miller)

Forget the "lucky duck" - he's one lucky dog!

One of the great benefits of working at GroundFloor Media is that dogs are a welcome part of the office environment. It's not unusual to see Maddie Love, Simba Tooley or Maxwell Wills running around our office space - so today when I felt a little guilty about leaving my dog, Otis, home for the next week while I'm off on vacation, it took only a second to realize that I'd simply bring him to work so we could spend the whole day together.

Little did I know that today is Take Your Dog to Work Day! Not only have Otis and I spent the day together, but he's already been the star of a photo shoot, eaten two cookies, received multiple belly rubs, chased a gingerbread girl toy, and had about three naps. Although there isn't much time at GroundFloor Media for chasing balls or squirrels, Otis is currently napping under my desk while I type away - just one more reason that GroundFloor Media qualifies as the best place to work in Denver!

Getting Grounded through AirLife

One of my favorite things about working at GroundFloor Media – besides the awesome people with whom I get to hang out every day – is our Get Grounded program. Through this program, I was recently able to support a charity near to my heart, Friends of AirLife. Each year, Friends of AirLife hosts the Annual AirLife Memorial Run/Walk and EMS Celebration in honor of the everyday heroes in EMS and those EMS providers who have lost their lives.

The race was created in memory of Pete Albplanalp, Beth Barber, Leslie Feldmann and Julie Olmstead, who died on Dec. 14, 1997, in an AirLife helicopter crash and related car accident. Since its inception, the race has evolved to include honoring the fallen heroes of air medical, EMS, fire and police, as well as the beloved Friends of AirLife founder and good friend of mine, Jim Ulrich, who lost his battle with leukemia in Dec. 2006.

Being able to take time to support this event each year as a committee volunteer is extremely important to me, as is the support I receive from GroundFloor Media in order to do so. Here’s how the Get Grounded program works in a nutshell… GroundFloor Media team members are able to volunteer for qualifying nonprofit organizations during normal business hours. And – if our volunteerism takes place after hours, GroundFloor Media donates funds to the nonprofit on behalf of our efforts at the end of each year. Not a bad way to support the charity of your choice!

Beyond the Get Grounded program, my friends at GroundFloor Media turn out to support the event and the Friends of AirLife, which truly means more than they ever know!

~Ramonna

Reflecting on the Sabre Awards Dinner

As I traveled back from Manhattan, I had some time on the plane to write about some exciting GroundFloor Media news… GroundFloor Media is the “Best Boutique Agency to Work For,” and I was fortunate to accept this honor for the firm at the Holmes Report’s annual Sabre Awards dinner in NYC. Following a survey of close to 5,000 employees at approximately 80 of the leading public relations firms in the United States, four agencies were named the 2007 Best Agencies to Work For. We’re proud to be in the company of the best large agency, Fleishman-Hillard; the best midsize agency, Text 100; and the best small agency, Davies.

The press announcement from the Holmes Report cited GroundFloor Media’s low six percent attrition rate and high employee satisfaction, along with positive comments from our employees – who were surveyed for the award – stating that the atmosphere at GroundFloor Media is “very positive, empowering, supportive, flexible” and another citing “The people. GroundFloor Media has a team of only senior-level PR pros that respect each other, spend time with each other outside of work, encourage one another and deliver excellent client work.” It is truly an honor to receive such an award based on employee feedback, because GroundFloor Media strives to be THE agency top PR pros want to work for. Part of our culture is rooted in giving back to our community, so the fact that we won an Iron Sabre award for our Get Grounded community involvement program is also very exciting!

It was also an honor to meet other PR practitioners from agencies around the country and to hear about their best practices and challenges alike. I was fortunate to sit at a “winning” table with delightful colleagues from rbb Public Relations in Miami, 360 Public Relations in Boston and The Red Consultancy in San Francisco and New York. Each agency represented at our table won an award for their unique attributes, emphasizing how diverse the world of public relations has become. It was truly an inspiring event.

~Ramonna

GFsM takes flight

Unless you've been living completely off the grid, it has become impossible to dispute the dramatic impact that social media has had on the public relations industry during recent years. Initially many of us in the PR world dismissed social media as just an outlet for blatantly biased rants or boring personal narratives. However, as we've watched the popularity of social media mediums like blogs, social networking sites, podcasts and social tagging grow during recent years, their importance to marketers has become undeniable.

In essence, social media has transformed consumers from content readers to content publishers. This shift requires not only a new line of thinking for PR teams, but a new set of strategies, tactics and metrics. We've already had the pleasure of working with a few of our existing clients to help them leverage the social media universe to their benefit and now we're excited to expand on that experience.

Today, we're very excited to officially unveil the GroundFloor Social Media program (GFsM). We developed this program to provide companies with creative and intelligent recommendations for utilizing the social media universe to help further their marketing and PR goals. Ever wondered if you should launch your own corporate blog or how you could leverage the popularity of Facebook to reach a new audience? Our GFsM team will work with you to develop and implement a customized social media outreach program that can help you:

· Build a blogosphere presence
· Spread your message through social networks and online communities
· Socialize, share and extend the shelf-life of your news and thought leadership content
· Add viral and visual components to enhance your existing marketing and PR campaigns

We're also going to start really practicing what we preach here at GFM, so be sure to check back here often as we offer insightful commentary and real world tips for marketers in a Web 2.0 world. You can also check us out on Facebook (http://groundfloormedia.blogspot.com/) and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com//groundfloorpr.

So buckle up social media marketers! It's already been a wild ride and I don't expect it slow down anytime soon!

PR and software development may have more in common than you might think...

As one of GFM's "technology specialists" and a self-proclaimed nerd, I take a lot of pleasure in sharing my technology-related loves with my fellow GFMers. While they may not always share my passion for the latest Web 2.0 technology or sympathize with me when I'm trying to kick my Twitter habit, they're always open to learning more and willing to try new things. It's one of the things I love about working at GFM.

A few months ago, GFM began working with Rally Software, a provider of on-demand Agile software lifecycle management solutions. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Agile development practices, it's a type of software engineering that promotes development iterations throughout the life-cycle of the project. In other words, it makes better software faster in a more people-centric way. There are numerous principles, methodologies and processes behind Agile, but one of the more well known is the daily scrum or daily stand-up. Stand-ups are short team meetings (team members stand in order to keep the meetings short - usually under 15 minutes) where each member shares their work commitments for that day, schedule updates and identifies any obstacles that might prevent them from reaching their daily goals. The goal of the stand-up is to foster team building and - for lack of better words - get things done quicker.

Having worked with multiple software companies through the years, I've been exposed to Agile on a number of different levels. (If you've ever noticed a wall full of insanely organized post-it notes while walking through a cube farm, chances are you have too.) However, my recent tenure with Rally, where every team - including the marketing team - does stand-ups, has been my first experience of being able to actually participate in daily stand-ups. And I have to confess, I've become a big fan. It's like making yourself publicly accountable for your daily to-do list while also hearing about all the cool things your other team members are working on. After most stand-ups I walk back to my computer thinking "I'm up-to-speed, I'm committed for the day... and it's only 9:15." Love it.

After witnessing the virtues of stand-ups first hand, Laura and Ramonna had the brilliant idea to replace our bi-monthly staff meeting with our own semi-weekly stand-ups at GFM. Yes, we're a PR firm, but it's a good idea and who ever said that software developers had the monopoly on good ideas? We're calling them the :19 @ 9 and we're starting them next week.

I'm very excited to share my fondness for stand-ups with my GFM friends and for them to have their own Agile experience. I'll keep you posted on our stand-up success!

Happy New Year...

As we celebrate the New Year, it is always refreshing and energizing to look back and realize just how much happened in a mere 365 days. Together our team managed to find new office space and make a massive move, pull off a great concert at Red Rocks, run a ½ marathon together, survive our first Ground Hog Day party, spruce up City Park, move The Children’s Hospital across town, make a reality competition come to life, increased our Web design capabilities and social marketing expertise, win a few awards, bring some new babies into the GFM family and help celebrate a wedding and celebrate an engagement.

We were lucky enough to work with America on the Move again, and have a first-time opportunity to partner with Fuser, Rally, Qdoba, Corporate Express, Colorado Garden Show, Point B and VICORP (just to name a few). As we look back on this year, we have much to be thankful for. I can’t imagine what we will be able to look back and say at the end of this coming Leap Year!

Happy New Year - Laura

Our Get Grounded Program Goes Global

While my colleagues were busy settling into our new office, helping The Children’s Hospital move across town and producing and directing a reality show competition, I had the opportunity to experience a different kind of reality. In early September, I joined 22 other volunteers from across the country in Ladakh, India as part of the dZi Foundation’s (www.dzifoundation.org) dental and vision clinic. During the course of a week, we partnered with The Himalayan Dental Relief Project (HDRP) to bring dental care to 484 children in that region -- ages 3 to 18. We also screened more than 700 kids in the vision clinic. If the child required glasses, we measured the refraction of their eyes and assembled prescription glasses immediately, on a no-fee basis. How did we do this on the spot? The fabulous Foco-Meter. The Foco-Meter is an amazing instrument, the size of a soda can, and does not use electricity. Once we measure the refraction of the child’s eyes, we can create a pair of prescription glasses by using generic frames and interchangeable lenses. Additionally, when a child has more than a refractive correction and needs a lens specifically ground, the team would e-mail the prescription to Delhi. The prescription lenses are then ground and put on the plane and flown up to Ladakh within the week. The glasses are distributed to the child by dZi’s in-country staff and then the child is re-tested to make sure the glasses are perfect.

People often ask if I had training in either field. Truth is, I have an incredible fear of dentists and I am blinder than a bat. Fortunately, the program directors were wonderful and worked with each one of us so we felt confident in our respective roles prior to ‘suiting up’ the first day of the clinic. I was given the role of registering each child as they entered the clinic as well as teaching them about dental hygiene while they waited to see the doctors. My new friend, Patti Cogswell, and I spent hours singing songs (quite comical given the language barrier) and holding a giant plastic mouth and enormous toothbrush as we demonstrated the best way to properly brush their teeth.


If you ever have the opportunity to get away and volunteer, be sure to consider the dZi Foundation. The organization was founded nearly a decade ago with the desire to give back to the people of Nepal, a society which had so openly accepted the dZi founders into their culture. In 1997, founders Kim Reynolds and Jim Nowak, on one of their many trekking and climbing trips to Nepal, were inspired to support a small Kathmandu safe house for girls at risk, called The Friendship House. Following successful fundraising for the safe house, and several more climbing and trekking trips in Nepal, the decision was made to expand the foundations efforts.

When I started GroundFloor Media nearly six and a half years ago, I told myself I would take some time off after I hit the five-year mark. As you can imagine, time off while growing a business is hard to come by. Fortunately, I am now surrounded by an incredible team who I trust with my life. I feel blessed by all that we have and wanted to give back to those who have not been as fortunate. My time in India is really difficult to describe. Suffice it to say, the friendships I developed and the children I was privileged enough to work with, changed my life.

Namaste - Laura

The Best Place to Work!

What an awesome honor to have our employees exclaim that GroundFloor Media is the best small company in Denver to work for! That’s what happened this morning when GroundFloor Media accepted the #1 Best Place to Work honor (small company category) at the Denver Business Journal’s annual awards breakfast.

The award is based on a confidential “Employee Engagement” survey that measures items across 10 different themes including team effectiveness, people practices and trust. And the survey was conducted during September 2007 – the busiest month yet in our growing company’s history!

We’re proud to have survived five new baby boys, the media relations surrounding the move of one of the nation’s most prestigious children’s hospitals, the launch of a reality competition for the State of Colorado and several new product and service launches throughout the past year. Our team members are truly amazing, and their hard work, dedication and penchant for laughter really do make GroundFloor Media the best place to work!

~Ramonna

GFM’s Beltway Connection

It was a big day in Washington, D.C., for GroundFloor Media’s very own Wendy Artman and the Artman family as Wendy’s husband, Carl Artman, was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs on April 18. Although he was supposed to be the focus of the day, the Artman rabble rousers (otherwise known as Wendy and Carl’s children) stole the show as they posed for cameras and entertained a large crowd of Tribal leaders and government employees by jumping off the stage and doing their best impressions of Superman!!

Their Dad gave a motivating speech on his goals for Indian country in the coming years – fighting meth problems on reservations, providing better educations for Indian children, and relieving the bottleneck processes that plague the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But somehow, that speech managed to put the boys to sleep. This made Wendy very happy since both refused to stop moving or talking during the formal event.

Congratulations, Carl! And a big thanks and congratulations to Wendy, who just celebrated her third anniversary at GroundFloor Media!

-- Jim

“Forty Under 40”

GroundFloor Media was surrounded by a few of our client stars at the recent Denver Business Journal presentation of their annual “Forty under 40” honorees March 16.

The winners? Drum roll please… Nick Agro of Whirled Peas Catering, Phil Smith of Starbucks Coffee Company and Karl Maier of Market Force Information, Inc. – as well as past winners, Whirled Peas’ Marc DesRosiers and GFM’s own Laura Love. Thus, the GFM table was literally bristling like an entrepreneurial Energizer Bunny – though the Fantastic Five managed to quiet their Blackberrys just long enough to applaud the achievements of the other deserving honorees during the two-hour luncheon.



And no honoree seemed more deserving than Slavica Park. The Dean of the English as a Second Language Department at Emily Griffith Opportunity School, Ms. Park sparked a wave of humility throughout the capacity crowd when she stood to accept her place as one of the 2007 honorees. A 34-year-old refugee of the Bosnian civil war, Park arrived in Denver in 1997 after surviving sniper attacks and other horrors of war – not being able to speak a word of English. However, in 10 years she has not only mastered the English language but has presided over the school’s program, significantly enlarging the department and doubling its funding. Now that’s starting something from the Ground Floor!

Being one of the (just slightly) older members of the GFM table, Jim Dissett applauded loudly when DBJ Publisher Scott Bemis jokingly remarked that – since honorees seemed to get younger every year – perhaps the paper should start at “Fifty Under 50” program in the near future. Jim’s all for that, Mr. Bemis. After all, some folks don’t hit their stride until middle life – just ask Whistler’s Mother.


Here’s to next year and to another round of Denver’s up-and-coming leaders taking their places beside a proud “Forty Under 40” alumni group. Let’s just hope none of them have to face down sniper fire to make it to the podium.

Habitat for Humanity Build

This holiday season, the GFM'ers pitched in to help build a Habitat for Humanity duplex home in Denver. The weather was gorgeous (this was pre-blizzard) and it was a great way to spend the day with colleagues while doing something good for two deserving families.

After selecting our stylish hard hats and safety goggles, Team GFM set right to work framing windows and walls, shuttling gravel from place to place and tamping down dirt to prepare the porches for cement. We soon learned that while using a hammer may look simple, it is actually quite challenging (and a bit aggravating)! In the first three hours, I removed more botched nails than I put in. There is definitely a learning curve to work with here but Lee (one of the site supervisors) was so cute, I mean, patient and helpful. We made great progress and it was time for a lunch break before we knew it.

Right after lunch we erected one of the exterior walls - ah, instant gratification! It was truly amazing to see such a tangible result of our hard work, and we were only just beginning. We continued framing, tamping, sawing and shoveling throughout the afternoon and many laughs were had by all. By the end of the day, we raised two more walls and this place was starting to look like a real duplex! We were all so proud of our hard work... and completely exhausted! The following day, I could barely use my "hammerin' hand" and my shoulders were so sore. It was worth every ache and pain though to spend the day laughing in the sun with friends and doing something truly worthwhile.

Some highlights of the day:

• Lee referring to “KP” as “Kip” all day



• Jim helping the girls remove their botched nails



• Wendy working the tamper like a professional



• Laura framing in her very adoreable, very expensive jeans



• That german chocolate cake... YUM!



• The general instant gratification of seeing those walls go up

Thanks to everyone who made it out for our Habitat for Humanity build. To learn more about how you can help out, visit http://www.habitat.org/

Feliz Navidad!
Sarah

Let it snow!

The weather outside is frightful...

When I woke up this morning and witnessed the blustery scene outside my bedroom window, I never thought I'd be photographing holiday carolers at 9 a.m. To the contrary, I assumed after a few phone calls I'd be safe pouring myself a cup of coffee and quietly watching the wall-to-wall coverage of the blizzard on TV. I admit it: The Grinch in me was itching to come out.

Fortunately, our Starbucks friends never let us forget the true meaning of giving, lest GroundFloor Media be visited by three spirits in the night. Thus I was off at 8 a.m. -- at the birth of the biggest blizzard to hit Denver in years -- to help Phil Smith, Oren McNulty and at least a dozen other Starbucks superstars surprise and delight the good residents of Heritage Club of Denver retirement community with some holiday cheer. Santa was on hand for photos as Phil, Oren and company served cake, coffee, tea and orange juice. And in the end Heritage Club residents, staff and Starbucks folks joined together for Christmas carols as the storm raged outside.

I actually think my heart grew three times its normal size.

So when we call this thing we do every day "work" I'm not certain we're using the correct word. And as I near the end of my third week with GroundFloor Media, I'm quite certain I'm becoming enamored.

My deepest gratitude to the great people of Starbucks and Heritage Club for providing a delightful way to spend a snowy December morning. Merry Christmas to all -- and let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

-- Jim

The Best Place to Work

I don't want to rub this in to anyone who doesn't work at GroundFloor Media, but I do feel compelled to share the fact that GFM is THE best place to work (although the Denver Business Journal only ranked us as number two)! There are countless reasons each and every day - from our great clients and talented team members to our fearless leader. And the latter is the reason I'm typing today. Laura arranged for a "mandatory" meeting/cultural assessment last week, during which she told us we could not use our phones or BlackBerries. Imagine the sighs that announcement caused! Wendy even emailed us from Washington, D.C. that morning to let us know how "boring" the guy running the assessment was and that we were in for a long afternoon. Moments before the meeting was to commence, Laura called us into her office and presented us with early Christmas presents - gift certificates to our favorite spa, where she sent us for the afternoon for a few hours of total pampering. With the workload everyone has been experiencing lately, this was a much needed respite and SO appreciated. So when things get tough, we can all look back to our relaxing afternoon and remember why GFM truly is the best place to work in Denver - heck, probably in the world!
~Ramonna