Like Working at TGI Fridays Without All the TGI Fridays

August 13, 2014 by Guest User

Even though our space might be a little crammed in the Launchpad office, the Art of Living building in which HLK lives offers many other places to be productive.

Let's take a little tour.

Author before moving around to write this post

Kitchen Booth

Conveniently located next to the kitchen, the appropriately-named kitchen booths offer a little nook, perfect for working in an environment that feels like a TGI Friday’s without all of the TGI Friday’s-ness of a TGI Friday’s. Although some mozzarella sticks would be nice, they would probably just make my keyboard greasy.

Kitchen Couch

Situated near a massive window overlooking the overflow parking lot, the kitchen couch area is where I go when I want to spread out. The couch is comfortable enough to sit on for long periods of time, but not comfortable enough for naps. (Not that I’ve tried to nap on that couch before. I would never do that.)

Mezzanine

Author attempting to (and failing at) taking a picture outside

On the top floor of the Art of Living building exists a small strip of office space occupied by a couch that might be too comfortable, a long table and a pretty incredible view of the STL skyline. For those who watch a lot of Mad Men and think that great ideas come from staring out of windows, that’s kind of true up on the mezzanine. Except there is a significant lack of drinking, smoking and suits.

Basement

There’s a ping-pong table, a veritable labyrinth of old office supplies and the snack vending machine. Who am I kidding? This is not a suitable place to get work done. But I will grab a Diet Coke.

Underneath My Desk

Crouching underneath where I usually work seemed like a good way to shake things up without having to actually move that much. But then my back hurt and sitting curled up in a ball just wasn’t really worth it anymore.

Author hitting his head on the bottom of the desk

In the Bathroom

I thought this would be a good idea for some reason. It wasn’t. I don’t really want to explain.

If you’re one of those people who is afraid to join the real world because you’re afraid that it’s going to require planting yourself at a cubicle from 9-5 everyday, working at HLK couldn’t be further from the truth. No one really cares where you work (except for the bathroom because that was weird) as long as you get your work done and get it done well.

The Importance of Having a Homemade Sangria Contest in the Office on a Tuesday Afternoon

August 12, 2014 by Guest User

Very important.

The Importance of Getting a Taco Bar Catered to the Office

August 12, 2014 by Guest User

Very important.

I Still Have Sand in My Shorts

July 31, 2014 by Guest User

Before joining the HLK sanctioned sand volleyball team, I made it very clear to Programmer/Designer and Team Captain Elise Hecht that volleyball was not really my sport. The last time I had ever tried to play volleyball was my junior year of high school in a class aptly named “Volleyball, Tennis & Badminton.” But once Elise explained that this volleyball was more “drink beer and trash talk” than “play volleyball,” I was committed.

At Trueman’s Place in Soulard, there’s a single beach-like battleground tucked behind a pretty standard bar and patio. I quickly realize that whoever decided to put 30 foot tall nets around the court was a genius volleyballs are quick to come flying towards those more intent on enjoying a beverage than playing the game. I arrived shortly before the 9PM game time and the team was warming up with a couple buckets of AnheuserBusch products. So far, Elise was right about the “drink beer” part of the HLK volleyball.

After a few brews, we make our way to the court to actually warm up. Our opponent for the night? A slightly less ragtag looking group with a few tall, muscular dudes in headbands. Things were looking grim. Then things started looking even more grim when the first serve came flying over the net — a scorching line drive headed straight for a spot in the sand completely void of HLK players.

One nothing.

Two nothing.

Seven nothing.

I think it was eight nothing before we earned a point, I can’t really remember. It was a blur.

We lost the first game, somehow managing to scrounge up at least a double digit amount of points before finally succumbing to an impressive opposing squad. As was the postgame custom at Trueman’s, we came together for some “good game” highfives and made our way back to the buckets full of AnheuserBusch products to refuel. It was much needed.

Our plan for game two, as dictated by Senior Art Director Rob Hutti, was simple: “get the ball over the net.” Miraculously, it worked. We won the game by slim margin, forcing a third game in the best of three series. Winning a game was a big deal — it wasn’t something that happened too often. But there’s something to be said about teams that can stick together despite a lack of victories. Without losing, winning would never really feel that good. And to this team, winning really felt good. The only thing keeping me from really getting excited was the excessive amount of sand that was already stuck in my shorts and would be sure to fall out in the drivers seat of my car later.

Game three went much like game one, which was disappointing after what looked like a glimmer of hope only a few minutes earlier. A few more “good game” high fives later we were back surrounding the buckets of AnheuserBusch products. It wasn’t a bad place to be. Fellow intern Lauren and I chatted with some real life HLKers about everything from grocery stores to how interns should have to win at volleyball to earn a full time job. (Hopefully that’s not the case for me. I might be unemployed forever.)

The chance to talk to our newfound coworkers felt easier here than it did in the office. No longer were there desks or walls or fluorescent lights, but some ramshackle patio furniture and the shared experience of losing. I had an actual conversation with people that I passed in the kitchen. I laughed with people I only saw in the parking lot. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m hypercompetitive, even when it comes to friendly volleyball games. But even with the loss, I still left Trueman’s Place satisfied.

Eliminating the Enigma of Agency Roles One Meme at a Time: Copywriter

July 30, 2014 by Guest User

Our Team Name Was Almost "Turbopump"

July 16, 2014 by Guest User

One of our first tasks on the job as Launchpad interns was to develop a team name. After deciding to stick with the celestial theme developed by Nebula in Cycle 1, the brainstorming started. Highlights included:

Googling “space words”
Desperately trying to comprehend the meaning of these “space words”
Struggling to pronounce these “space words” correctly
Briefly considering the name “Turbopump”
...and finally, settling on our name for the next six weeks:

Quasar [kwey-zahr, -zer, -sahr, -ser]

After watching most of the reboot of Cosmos from the DVR at my parents house and clicking through some Wikipedia pages, I feel like I’m at least a little bit qualified to explain what a quasar is.

They’re unique. Existing somewhere in the realm of celestial bodies between a star and a galaxy, quasars have become their own type of celestial body: they’re quasi-stellar.

They’re bright. Even though quasars exist millions of light years away from us, here on puny old Earth, they’re still some of the brightest objects in the night sky.

They’re strong. Nestled into the center of galaxies, quasars typically surround supermassive black holes. But even in the company of objects with incredible gravitational pull, quasars still manage to shine bright.

They’re young and active. Quasars are usually found around young and active galaxies. Sure, they’re still probably billions of years old, but compared to the rest of the universe, they aren’t a day over 23.

If you haven’t already noticed the obvious comparison I’ve tried to outline, us interns can be described in the same way. We’re unique. We’re bright. We’re strong. And we’re definitely young and active. Just as quasars found their own place in the expansive universe, we’re in the process of finding ours. And HLK is a good place to start.

P.S. - Rumor has it we might have picked Quasar as the team name strictly because it’s kind of a cool word. We’ll neither confirm nor deny that rumor.