Is it really just stuff?
When we made the decision to work from home in mid-March, we expected we’d be back to the office by summer. On June 1, we did go back to the office, until there was a spike in reported positive COVID-19 cases in the neighboring restaurants and businesses. So back to our home offices we went, anticipating a return around Labor Day.
Then the “Great Flood of 2020” occurred, when the air conditioning in the building took out four suites in the building, ours included. In the couple months that our office was in a state of flux – what furniture could be salvaged, will the computers still work, do we want to paint the walls the same or change the color, there was one really big question to answer – do we really need to have the office anymore?
After all, we’ve been pretty great working remotely. With Monday morning and Thursday afternoon staff gatherings on TEAMS, we have been able to stay connected with each other. Our clients have all adjusted to their own versions of remote working and our meetings with them have moved to one of the many video conferencing platforms that are available. We’ve pitched (and secured) new business. So maybe having a physical address isn’t necessary.
Colleagues around the world have been working remotely for years. Many more are making similar decisions as the pandemic has given us a new perspective on what the office needs to look like.
So, we have sold our space. A space that we have been in for nearly 28 years. A space that has held countless staff meetings, birthday celebrations, baby showers, wedding showers, agency milestone events, client news conferences, photo shoots and about 10,000 days of just doing what it is we do.
And stuff. This space that we’ve been in for nearly 28 years has a lot of stuff. The stuff of an agency that’s been in business for 40 years. Awards won, creative new business proposals, client files, tchotchkes, photos…and memories.
We can recycle the files, box and put into storage the awards, files, tchotchkes and photos, and sell the furniture (see our Facebook page if you’re interested in any of the furniture).
And the memories? Well, they’re tucked away in our collective brains to be taken out now and again as we reminisce about the “time when we had our Whitton Place office.”
As HMA marks its 40th year in business and looking ahead to the future, we do so with continued pride in all the work we have done for our many clients, the years-long relationships we’ve built, and the many, MANY great memories.
