27 Oct Politis StealthCo Update: Buildout Notes and IACP 2014
I believe it was back in 1997 when I moved my Public Relations/Investor Relations/Marketing agency — Politis Communications — into brand new office space in Draper, Utah. We were on our way to passing $1 million in annual fee income, and it was a heady time for our shop as the crazy boom days of the exploding Internet were upon us.
Installation of new “Window Wall” for StealthCo finished.
To be honest, though, I had forgotten since then how much work goes into designing and implementing just the right “look & feel” for a new office. In reality, it can be exhausting. Then again, it’s also exhilarating to see your vision translated into reality.
Case in point, since our new StealthCo is a hardware company, we need to be able to support engineers and techs on-site at our new facilities — which means we need to operate within a mixed-use building. Fair enough.
But here’s the rub: How do you transform what is essentially a cement and cinder-block “tilt-up” facility into an inviting, sexy-looking space that will attract prospective employees, partners, customers and the like without going crazy budget-wise? (And yes, marketing folks like me do think about stuff like this.)
Anyway . . . one of our thoughts was to replace what had been a garage door with the “Window Wall” (shown above and below).
The view from the inside at StealthCo through our new “Window Wall.”
The sunlight perfusing through this Window Wall will provide both light and warmth to the inside of our primary office area at StealthCo. But more than this, even with the less than ideal exterior view — kind of hard to do better than this in an industrial park full of one-story buildings — the reality is this western exposure will also help provide a round-the-clock connection to the outside world for the entire company.
Another way we decided to polish-up the “look & feel” of our new StealthCo facilities was to actually polish the cement floors (as shown below).
Taking a break from grinding and polishing the cement floor at our new StealthCo.
But Window Walls and polished cement floors alone do not a new office make. You still have to do the basics. Like define what your space is going to look like.
For this, we turned to Interior Designer, Ashley Vaughn of ASH Studio. {She’s a wonderfully creative person, by the way. She’s also willing to adapt your concepts into practice, but not afraid to tell you that a specific idea is not going to work and why.}
For example, here’s an early sketch of her take on how to lay-out and design our front reception area.
Preliminary sketch of the reception area layout at our new StealthCo.
Beautiful drawings, polished floors and Window Walls notwithstanding, a lot of what goes on in turning an old shell into a new space is still mundane, yet necessary — like taping and painting sheetrocked walls.
Taping and painting sheetrock at the StealthCo facilities.
Which leads me to this . . .
Joining the IACP & My Trip to the IACP 2014 Trade Show
However . . . in spite of false impressions to the contrary, the fact of the matter is that as Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of StealthCo, I am NOT just focused on the design, demolition and buildout of our new facilities.
LOLOL
In fact, there have been a lot of other things going on behind the scenes, some of which I have previously mentioned, like
- identifying a new name (and securing the URLs) for StealthCo,
- selecting an ad agency to help us with our re-branding, and
- doing a LOT of studying and learning.
Case in point when it comes to some of those “other things,” the past few days found me in Orlando, Florida as one of the newest Associate Members of The International Association of Chiefs of Police. Really? Yup.
The reason for my trip was to attend the trade show portion of the IACP’s 120th annual conference; I figured there would be no better way to get a better handle on the sales and marketing messages being used by some of StealthCo’s competitors than by hitting IACP 2014. {Yes, the Law Enforcement market is just one of the industries we’ll be targeting initially at StealthCo.}
For the record, it was a honor to be in Orlando with more than 10,000 dedicated public safety professionals from around the world, and I tip my hat to each of their brothers and sisters serving, both active duty and retired (including my two nephews and my Uncle Carl).
And no question about it . . . I have never seen so many firearms in one place at one time before. {Then again, I’ve also probably never felt safer than I was at the Orange County Convention Center the last few days.}
Bottom line? I learned a ton, met several potential partners, and I’m looking forward to sharing some of my new insights about this vertical market with my StealthCo colleagues.
Here are just a few snapshots I snagged while at the IACP trade show:
Who knew the flashing lights on patrol cars could be SO bright? Wow!
Anyone in the market for a new helicopter? Bell was introducing its newest model at IACP 2014, and they let me test out the cockpit.
Huh?!?! A Velociraptor at IACP 2014? Yup, it was an extension of a marketing theme by exhibitor TASER about NOT being a technology dinosaur. I thought it was quite a clever idea and a very cool, one-person dinosaur getup/costume!
Many of you know that I believe that exhibiting at trade shows, conferences and exhibitions is one of the best marketing pathways to success for any company. This is true for many reasons, just one of which is that you get access to a LOT of people (and companies . . . and journalists, especially at the larger events) all in one location at the same time.
In addition, if you’re in Learning Mode (like I am right now at StealthCo), then attending such events is a great way to gather some firsthand, qualitative data while also having the chance to meet prospective partners, employees, investors and members of the media in a very short time frame.
Anyway . . . that’s it for now (as I’m whizzing back to Utah at 37,000 feet).
Look for more info about my unfolding StealthCo story in the days and weeks ahead.
P.S. The plan is to have StealthCo leave “stealth mode” before the end of 2014.
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