Making our home in Portland
Taylor Dewey on
A few months ago, as 10up’s Portland contingent continued to grow, we decided that it was time to put down roots in the city and set up our first brick-and-mortar office. To celebrate our new space, we hosted an open house on the eve of this year’s WordCamp Portland. We invited the Portland and WordPress community to come check out our new office, and meet some of our team.
Senior Designer Megan Gray (visiting from Orange Country) and I spent the week preparing the office for the open house. Located in the former Oregon Cracker Building, our space was very much a blank canvas. With a nod to the history of the space – and the work ahead of us – we set out give the office an industrial vibe.
In just one week’s time, we transformed the office into a warm, welcoming atmosphere for Portland 10uppers (and their guests) to collaborate and host community events. By the end of the week, the office was full of 10uppers – both local and out-of-town – enjoying the space and the opportunity to collaborate under one roof.
On Friday afternoon, we opened the doors for our first open house, greeting WordCamp Portland speakers on their way to the speakers dinner, along with a mix of friends and local guests, including a few Automatticians and WP Engine employees. Guests enjoyed custom 10up sugar cookies and, true to Portland tradition, a selection of craft beer.
The open house set the stage for 10up’s participation in the WordCamp, beginning with our top-level sponsorship. Featured speakers included Senior Engineer Eric Mann on the future of WordPress, Senior Strategist Grant Landram on administrative customization, and Director of Systems Engineer Zach Brown on sys admin for WordPress. During the “unconference”, I had the opportunity to share my experiences with an enterprise publishing implementation, and our President, Jake Goldman, facilitated a conversation about the state of the plugin repository.
If you missed the open house, but would like to check out our new home in Portland, ping us on Twitter or Facebook, and let’s pick a time!