Working Day

Last Friday was a big day for the office move. Though we still have items at our old place that need to be moved, we asked staff instead to help us set up our new office. And boy, did we have help. At times it has been hard to recruit staff and friends to help us move our office, but last Friday was not one of those days. To give proper credit to those that came, I want to thank you all for giving so willingly of your time and talent to help us see this vision fulfilled.

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Holly painting in fear of the ever-watchful eye--me.

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Josh doing what he does best--smilling.

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Joe took his work very seriously.

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Cas and Leslie trying to get a grasp on the concept of work.

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Making good use of the receptionist area.

That's What She Said

This week Cas took some time to put her feelings and thoughts on the office move into writing. I want to invite you to check out her blog and hear how she is experiencing God in this process.

http://cascache.blogspot.com/2006/07/high-wire.html

Moving Days

The process of moving our Regional Office has been complex and generated many tasks for me and those that are helping. There are businesses that need to be contacted, services that need to be changed, communication that needs to happen, furniture that needs to be moved, a design that needs to be created, people that need to be gathered, money that needs to be raised; on and on the list goes. Even though all of these tasks need to be done, many of them don't make you feel like you're actually moving--neither ahead nor physically.

But there have been a few tasks that have made me feel like this office move is really going to happen. One of these is moving our furniture, equipment and supplies from our old location to our new one. Last Friday and today we had a chance to take some big steps forward by moving furniture, equipment and supplies. It was a lot of hard work and there weren't as many helping hands as I had hoped for, but it feels good to have cleared out our current space and moved into our new one. It's like getting ready to go on a trip and then actually getting into the car and traveling. We are on our way there.

The Industrial Look

Bob & Cas have a friend named Sandy, who is an office layout advisor--just the person we need to help us design this office. She flew into Portland last weekend and spent two days with me going through our new office, figuring out how best to arrange the space we have available. Together we came up with what I think is a good layout and design for our new place.

One thing we decided on was the look and feel of the place. This was important to establish, since it determines what our final office design will look like. We thought about going with a fancy office look or a casual one or an........industrial one. This last style was the one that both her and the Office Design Team thought would look best and give us the most possibilities to work with in the future. It also gives us the best run for our money and is appealing to college students.

More, more, more...

As I mentioned in my post on July 21st, we have changed some of our expectations and goals for getting the office setup and finished. Here are the three main areas we discussed while talking about the new office. We need more time, more help and more money!

Timeline: After re-evaluating our goals and vision for the new office, we are now looking at having the office set up by September with the understanding that it might take until December to really design the place the way we envision it.

Help: We need to recruit more helping hands to get this job done. The problem of sticking with our timeline is complicated by the fact that nearly all office staff are gone for the summer, leaving us with little resources to finish the job. Another benefit of involving others is that it will create a sense of ownership among all office staff, not just the Design Team.

Finances: Originally we were hoping to renovate our office to the tune of $5,000. Once Anita and I started looking at used office furniture, it became apparent that we were grossly underestimating our costs. Now we are shooting for a budget of over $10,000 but under $15,000. Where will this money come from? Don't know yet, but I have a feeling it will be God that supplies it.

Curbing Our Expectations

Whenever there is change that is welcomed, it is easy to get excited and ambitious about all the things that need to happen in light of it. Such was the case with our Regional Office move. Back in May when Bob, Cas, Matt and I talked about the changes that needed to happen, our goal was to finish by August 1st--our official move-in day. Since then we have realized that many things we set out to do cannot be accomplished in the alloted timeframe.

As I met with the newly established Office Design Team last week, there was a common theme in our discussions--"we don't have enough"--time, man-power or money. In light of this realization, we needed to backtrack a bit, re-evalute our vision and goals for the office move and set some new timelines for our work to be finished. We had to curb our expectations.

Whose Calling the Shots?

As I took on the challenge of moving our Regional Office to its new location, there was one thing that concerned me above all others--that I would be making most of the decisions on how to plan, arrange, organize and design the our new space. It is an honor to setup a new office for a region that has close to 150 staff. So, I didn't take this responsibility lightly, and yet, I thought it would be good to share some of this responsibilty with others.

1. In a given situation, I'm not always sure what the best thing to do is. It helps to have input.
2. By adding more people to the mix, you avoid mistakes, have better ideas, and better solutions to problems.
3. When poor decisions, which are inevitable, are made, the responsibilty rests on all, not just one.

And so I birthed the Office Design Team, a decision-making body that can evaluate how our new office should be planned, arranged, organized and designed. It consists of Bob, Cas, Jennifer, Keith and myself. Together we will try and decide how best to use the new office space and what it should look like. If you have any concerns or suggestions regarding the design or the layout of the new office, please let one of us know and we can bring the issue to the table. In this way we can receive valuable input and also move ahead with certain decisions.

Red, Yellow & Blue

If you have come into the Regional Office lately, you may have noticed that every item in the house seems to be labeled with one of three stickers: a red, a yellow or a blue one. On the labels are numbers. This is the way in which Keith and I inventoried everything and are trying to make sense out of the mess created by our move.

I just wanted to ask if you could refrain from removing the stickers, unless you are taking an item out of the office. In that case, let me know what the color and number of the sticker is, so we can scratch it off our inventory list.

Help Wanted!

Keith and I spent a good portion of last week inventorying everything in our office. Would you have guessed that there are 28 desks, 41 office chairs and 15 filing cabinets in this place? Not to mention credenzas, book cases, folding tables, folding chairs and a myriad of office supplies. I think the most random thing we found was a sombrero and a picture of the Three Stooges.

A lot of this furniture is old, worn out and in disrepair. There are only a few items worth keeping and the challenge now is getting rid of it. When we move into our new office later on this month, we will buy different furniture to give it a new look and feel.

What I need are some people willing to help me by posting some of this furniture on Craigslist. We have about 130 items we are trying to sell and only a few hands to get it all done. If you live in the area and could come by the office for a half day sometime in the next two weeks, we could use the help.

The Office Layout

Here is a picture of the office layout. Spaces in blue are designated for a specific purpose (Conference, Kitchen, Tech, Copy). Spaces in white are for general office use. The space infront of the conference room is for a receptionist.The open area in between the general offices will be used for a lounge with nice couches, chairs and tables.

It's Official!

Today is a big day: the contract has finally been signed by both parties! It's been a good month and a half since we first decided to lease this place. Unbeknownst to me or anyone else, the process is quite lengthy. Not just on the landlord's end, but on Crusade's end. And rightly so; it's a big deal to commit to a 5-year contract in a place that will stretch our budget and our potential. But in faith we are trusting God to come through with surprising results, seeing our capacity and influence grow exponentially. Praise God we have a place for our new regional office.

Things You Might Want to Know

After talking with many of you, it seemed like there is an interest in knowing more about our future office location. Where we're moving to? When we're moving? What we're doing? Why we're moving? Here are some things you might want to know.

Where? Sellwood--a fun, eclectic and up-and-coming neighborhood on the eastside of Portland. It's about a 10 minute drive from our current office on SW Kelly. Not only is it in a prime location, it is located above a Columbia Outlet store--one of my favorite places to shop for clothes.

When? August 1st is the official day that we begin our lease contract with our new landlord, though I and a team of staff will be moving furniture, equipment, supplies and other items before then.

What? There is still a lot that needs to happen for us to move. Not only do we need to move some furniture, equipment and files, but we also need to get rid of much of what we currently own. I consider them two different phases: Shedding Our Old Skin and Establishing Our New Home.

Why? There are many reasons for our Regional Office moving. Let me just mention a few here.
Size--we are growing and increasing the labor force on the field and the office needs to be able to support these new ministries across the Northwest.
Productivity--our old office with all its charm and appeal was hard to organize in a way that helped us get our work done.
Appeal--though this may seem a minor issue to some, I consider it very important. Our ministry is of utmost importance to the fulfilling of the Great Commission. In light of this, our office needs to be an attractive place and reflect a professional attitude.
Motivation--Though our region has been through some rough waters recently, I believe we are experiencing fresh wind in the sails of our ministries. With this new fervor and passion comes a need to leave the old behind and start anew.

Pictures of the New Office

After going up the elevator to the 2nd floor,

there is a receptionist area for our new office.


After walking around the receptionist area,

you find an open space for a potential lounge.


This is one of 5 office rooms that are

off of the main open space (lounge).


This is what a nice and cleaned up

printer/copy room looks like.

We're Finally Moving

There has been a lot of talk over the past two months about a potential office move. And though the documents are not signed yet, we have them in hand and are preparing on moving this summer. The place we have found is very appealing and attractive, and I'm looking forward to officing out of our new location soon. In the meantime I have been asked by the Regional Team to take on the challenge of moving this office from our current location to our new one.

In light of this, I want to communicate often with staff in our region about the changes that will occur because of this transition. I thought a blog would be the best way for you to stay on top of this unfolding story. I want to welcome and encourage all Staff to leave feedback on this blog, but my focus with this communication will be on Office Associates and Regional Directors.

Check back here often for new announcements, updates and pictures. I'm looking forward to helping move the office and serving you through it. I pray you will reap the benefits of this change for years to come. May the Lord bless our efforts in reaching the Northwest for Christ!