Orange you blessed when you've got a great team?

I love this picture because it's a great metaphor for Team LoCo. Rory got things going, Curt's got his eye on the ball, and Deb is stoked to be in on the action!

This is one of the first publicly shared photos of The Orange Room, the conference space that Team LoCo built out over the last couple weeks. Some of our chapters will be meeting here this month and in months ahead, and soon we'll have it set up as a private conference space for rent - available for 2-hour, half-day, and full day rental for larger groups (can fit 8 socially-distanced attendees or 12 when things are more normal) - AND - as an affordable hourly rental ping-pong room for up to 4. We're working on our booking and access and health safety plans right now, with an aim toward a public opening later in June. We'll be especially looking for groups that wish to book recurring monthly meetings, and will offer special rates for those clients.

I've got to say, it's a pretty killer space, and the team put it together in a hurry and on a bootstrap. Competition-quality Stiga ping pong table was the first building block, on sale at Big 5 and sourced by Curt to build the room around his love of play. Rory found some amazing second-hand (and orange-cushioned!) stacking conference chairs on Facebook Marketplace, reflecting her strong eye for design and value, and Deb found a great set of sage green blackout curtains for the side windows, and sheer orange print curtains for the entry - she's the practical gitter-done player on the team. The Orange Room will also feature a projector and a white board, big chalkboard wall, a mini-fridge and a stand-alone webcam.

I'm proud of the space - but nowhere near as proud as I am of the team. Our team is stronger than the sum of its' parts, because of the different skills and capabilities that we all bring to it. I'm an idea-fountain, and a super-connector, and this team does and will always look to me to set the vision and be the final decider when we face tough questions. But when I was running this business by myself it was a wreck - with no real structure, no payment or other automation, and almost no marketing outreach. We've been building those systems for a couple years now, but have taken a big leap in the past year...because of the efforts of this team.

Rory is a unicorn, sporting remarkable talent in the creative digital realm, outstanding written and in-person communication ability, and a drive to develop organizational order and structure. And, it turns out she's quite the handywoman - figuring out a solution for the projector mounting that I was stuck on, and crafting up some hanging pots after rejecting the macrame plant hanger I'd picked up with a design veto. Marketing Manager was her early title but insufficient - she rocks the title Business Developer these days, reflecting both her involvement in finding new clients and in building out the infrastructure and systems, she's my strong right hand.

Deb is the mother hen of our office, a born nurturer with great attention to detail. She's killer with the database, an excellent follow-upper, and she carries a passion for the why of LoCo Think Tank that rivals my own. She started her journey with LoCo as the Member Experience Coordinator, but her strong support of our events and inclination toward inside sales and lead nurturing led us to shift her role and title to LoCo Experience Coordinator - if you're a member or a prospect, or anyone who's curious what we're up to over here - connect with Deb and she'll take care of you. And, she's amazing with a paint brush - her cut-ins are clean and tape-less, and she's the fastest and smoothest person with a roller that I've ever met!

Team LoCo, you rock! You live and love our LoCo values and mission, your talents and interests are so well-fitted to your roles, and I couldn't be more proud. Orange you blessed when you've got a great team?!