This morning we received a pre-recorded phone call from Com Ed letting us know that due to a severe problem and an emergency on their end, that we would be losing power from 12:30 pm – 2pm. Ug… In the middle of the work day without power. In a matter of a few hours, we were going to lose our voicemail, server, and computers. All business as we know it would have to stop for the hour and a half. What a perfect opportunity for a team event!

On the bright side: At least they let us know in advance and we were able to shut down our machines and our data so there wasn’t any danger in corrupt files or fried machines. And this will force us to take a leisurely lunch break and relax as many of us tend to work straight through the day.

So off we went, after shutting down the office, we piled into a few cars and had a GREAT lunch at Riverview Tavern on Damen. Complete with a toast to Com Ed for reminding us that when you can turn a curve ball into a home run. What could have been a stressful, annoying and frustrating afternoon became a memory of fun, laughter and much needed play time. I’m so sorry for those that missed it because they were out of the office today. Thanks Com Ed! Cheers. :)

Are you as comfortable on the web as you are on the phone? Then we should talk.

Sandstorm Design is looking for a personable and tech-savvy pro to run our office. “Why do I need to be tech-savvy to run an office,” you ask? Because a big chunk of the work we do is web-based, and there are A LOT of moving pieces that go into making a web site go live.

Your office admin responsibilities will be your typical, run of the mill administrative tasks: answering phones, managing the office on a day-to-day, ordering supplies and snacks, scheduling events and travel, etc. To do this well, you need to be detail-oriented, and have advanced knowledge of MS Office and excellent communication skills (both written and verbal).

Web responsibilities will be pretty basic, so you don’t need a degree in computer science or anything, and we can train you on most of it if need be. You’ll be a support (not a lead) on any project you’re part of, so you’ll always be able to ask for help. If you do have any knowledge of HTML or CSS, or familiarity with content management systems, we’ll likely give you some preferential treatment in the selection process.

If you think you’d be a great addition to our team, please send your cover letter and resume to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Or check out our listing: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/ofc/1927398121.html

Welcome Michael Hartman, Technology and Usability Director - We are so thrilled to have Michael join us and lead our technology and usability team! In addition to being a Drupal powerhouse, he’s a stellar project manager and usability expert. And he’s got your back – he’s a black belt in Tae Kwon Do!

Welcome Michael. We are so looking forward to working with you.

Welcome Trish Steber, Relationship Manager for Sandstorm Design! Trish is our most recent rainmaker for our marketing firm drumming up new opportunities and finding great people to work with. If you happen to get a lucky call from Trish, be prepared to smile – she’s impossible not to like. She comes to Sandstorm with incredible agency expertise and marketing insight – and offered to help with our employee manual as she on-boards herself.

Thanks Trish! Looking forward to a great year :)

Welcome David Powers, Senior Interactive Web Developer - the newest addition to the Sandstorm Design user experience and technology team! We are so excited to have David driving our interactive web development with his unique skill set of flash and flex application development, database development, php, ajax and his X factor – SEO optimization! And even better than that – David is a professional piano player and musical genius.

Welcome David. We can’t wait to work with you.

Hello world! Sandstorm Design is starting the year off right and our Chicago office is hiring! Our ideal candidate is a senior level interactive web developer with flash, flex, php, jquery, ajax, and database skills. After you have all that, we want to hear about what else you have up your sleeve? Do you dabble in facebook applications? Mobile apps? Are you interested in what Adobe is doing with Cold Fusion? Or do you prefer to edit video in your spare time?

At Sandstorm, you have the job you are hired for, and then you have your X factor.Whatever your X factor is, we want to hear about it! The senior interactive web developer we are looking for must be brilliant, innovative and fearless. I know it may seem like we’re asking for the world, but we’re asking the world to find us our senior developer.

Interested in applying? Contact us and send us your resume, sample urls, and your X factor.

We are starting 2010 with a bang by being featured in the business section of today’s Chicago Tribune. The article, “Small Businesses See Good Omens for 2010,” talks to small business owners anticipating new opportunities and significant growth in the coming year. In addition to a few key quotes, the Tribune also took a photo of us in the office during construction. I love that during this “economic time,” the news is printing stories of hope, optimism, and growth. And I am honored to be a part of that story. Thank you Ann Meyer for such a great article!

It was a fun morning waking up to a series of emails from friends and family that had seen the paper before I did. And the best phone call was from my grandparents (ages 87 and 88) who not only had a copy for themselves, but asked all their neighbors for theirs so now they have a collection of their “famous granddaughter.” I have an incredible family, and am so grateful that my grandparents have not only seen the birth of my two children, but the growth of Sandstorm as well. My grandma asked me today what we do at Sandstorm, so I explained that we build web sites and interactive web applications, then gave her an example of what an interactive web application is. After a few silent moments, she finally said “so you work on computers?”

Sometimes at Sandstorm your day at the office is nothing like your job description. Here’s a few people that have contributed in big ways this week. I really appreciate that all of these things got done without a hitch. (deep sigh of pure appreciation for your random talents and strengths)

- Thank you Alma for stuffing, sorting, organizing our mailing list, buying stamps and mailing all of our holiday cards. And an extra thanks for going to IKEA with a fever and cold so we could get our furniture delivered this week!
- Thank you Zachary for building all of our IKEA furniture.
- Thank you Jon for moving all of the heavy bookshelves across the office floor.

I am positive that I miss opportunities to thank people every day, but I will work on that as a new year’s resolution :)

Our big reveal – Sandstorm Design has officially expanded. We took down the plastic barrier to reveal our new addition. IKEA delivered all of our furniture, so I can imagine we’ll have small teams building out the desks, tables, and chairs all day. Our current space is still cluttered, but we’ll work all week on organizing our chaos. It’s a proud day here at Sandstorm as our interactive/user experience/marketing/web design agency expands our footprint! (Clearly we’re still working out what adjective best describes us. We struggle just like our clients.)

The blue huddle room that you can see lit up is what we call our ‘fish bowl’ because of the large amount of windows and the deep blue interior. By tomorrow we should have our table and chairs in there ready for some official Sandstorming (i.e. our marketing term for brainstorming)! If Zachary is around, I am sure he’ll take more photos. He has been our photo journalist on this rehab adventure.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a half day! The Chicago Tribune was here to shoot some photos of the office for an upcoming story in January, and the painters are finishing up some of the trim. They got some great shots of our sweeping plastic drape and cluttered space. We’ve got the holiday shopping spirit and are doing some group online shopping at IKEA to get new desks, conference room tables, and chairs. Our plan is to take down the curtain on Monday to do our formal unveil of the new addition, and of course we’ll have photos!

We’re taking a half day today to start the holiday weekend early, so Merry Christmas everyone!