Oct 6, 2009 | 0 comments

A Season of Changes

The summer flew by.  Cold weather is once again standing on our doorstep; this morning - horror of horrors! - I even wore a jacket to work.  Yesterday my son informed me with glee that it has officially been autumn for two whole weeks.  I still don't know how I managed to dredge up a grin to suit him.  It seems like we were only just throwing a fiesta in the back yard for my husband's birthday, enjoying a warm, sunny August day.  Now all of a sudden I'm trying to remember where we stashed the snow shovel. 

The last few weeks have been extremely eventful for the MCA team.  We've had installs in Illinois and New Jersey so far, with another in North Carolina this week.  One of my team is running in the Chicago Marathon this weekend, and next week our Sales & Marketing team will be heading out to Salt Lake City to explore the National Recreation and Park Association's Annual Congress.  At some point this month we're trying to plan for a volleyball tournament between MCA and Toll Bros., providing it doesn't snow too early this year.  Not to mention the scramble to get our e-newsletter out before the end of October, and then another round of installs in November - insanity!

On top of all of this, our office will be undergoing dramatic changes this month.  After much soul-searching and careful consideration of our needs as a company, I decided it was time to cull some of our office space.  Beside the obvious factor of cost, we just had too much room and too much stuff.  Years ago it was completely necessary to have a massive on-site materials library for the designers to use.  Tons of work space was needed to lay out all of the options, create presentation boards and view blueprints.  Now all of these things can be accomplished on a computer screen.  We go to our computers for style ideas, communication, and file information.  Our Director of Design created a fabulous online vendor directory for us to use for vendor information and new product specs.  We keep AutoCAD plans that can be emailed and opened from anywhere in the world - no tabletop needed.  Presentations and spec books can be created using online sources and desktop programs.  The extra space only lent to the mindless accumulation of more stuff and a waste of electricity; my conscience would not allow for the ridiculously-sized carbon footprint that would be our legacy without some cutbacks. 

These are very exciting times for the MCA team, and we're all jumping in with two feet.  This time last year we introduced a streamlined new website, and now we're working on a streamlined new office.  I believe that these changes are greatly going to affect not only the way we work individually, but also how we work as a team and the way we think as a company.  Recently I read an article about ethical consumerism in which the author said, "We are starting to put our money where our ideals are."  I can't agree more, and it is my greatest hope that as my team follows this plan to be more ecologically sound, we can use our resulting experiences to understand more about this ever-changing world we design in.