Habitat for Humanity Build

This holiday season, the GFM'ers pitched in to help build a Habitat for Humanity duplex home in Denver. The weather was gorgeous (this was pre-blizzard) and it was a great way to spend the day with colleagues while doing something good for two deserving families.

After selecting our stylish hard hats and safety goggles, Team GFM set right to work framing windows and walls, shuttling gravel from place to place and tamping down dirt to prepare the porches for cement. We soon learned that while using a hammer may look simple, it is actually quite challenging (and a bit aggravating)! In the first three hours, I removed more botched nails than I put in. There is definitely a learning curve to work with here but Lee (one of the site supervisors) was so cute, I mean, patient and helpful. We made great progress and it was time for a lunch break before we knew it.

Right after lunch we erected one of the exterior walls - ah, instant gratification! It was truly amazing to see such a tangible result of our hard work, and we were only just beginning. We continued framing, tamping, sawing and shoveling throughout the afternoon and many laughs were had by all. By the end of the day, we raised two more walls and this place was starting to look like a real duplex! We were all so proud of our hard work... and completely exhausted! The following day, I could barely use my "hammerin' hand" and my shoulders were so sore. It was worth every ache and pain though to spend the day laughing in the sun with friends and doing something truly worthwhile.

Some highlights of the day:

• Lee referring to “KP” as “Kip” all day



• Jim helping the girls remove their botched nails



• Wendy working the tamper like a professional



• Laura framing in her very adoreable, very expensive jeans



• That german chocolate cake... YUM!



• The general instant gratification of seeing those walls go up

Thanks to everyone who made it out for our Habitat for Humanity build. To learn more about how you can help out, visit http://www.habitat.org/

Feliz Navidad!
Sarah

Let it snow!

The weather outside is frightful...

When I woke up this morning and witnessed the blustery scene outside my bedroom window, I never thought I'd be photographing holiday carolers at 9 a.m. To the contrary, I assumed after a few phone calls I'd be safe pouring myself a cup of coffee and quietly watching the wall-to-wall coverage of the blizzard on TV. I admit it: The Grinch in me was itching to come out.

Fortunately, our Starbucks friends never let us forget the true meaning of giving, lest GroundFloor Media be visited by three spirits in the night. Thus I was off at 8 a.m. -- at the birth of the biggest blizzard to hit Denver in years -- to help Phil Smith, Oren McNulty and at least a dozen other Starbucks superstars surprise and delight the good residents of Heritage Club of Denver retirement community with some holiday cheer. Santa was on hand for photos as Phil, Oren and company served cake, coffee, tea and orange juice. And in the end Heritage Club residents, staff and Starbucks folks joined together for Christmas carols as the storm raged outside.

I actually think my heart grew three times its normal size.

So when we call this thing we do every day "work" I'm not certain we're using the correct word. And as I near the end of my third week with GroundFloor Media, I'm quite certain I'm becoming enamored.

My deepest gratitude to the great people of Starbucks and Heritage Club for providing a delightful way to spend a snowy December morning. Merry Christmas to all -- and let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

-- Jim

The Best Place to Work

I don't want to rub this in to anyone who doesn't work at GroundFloor Media, but I do feel compelled to share the fact that GFM is THE best place to work (although the Denver Business Journal only ranked us as number two)! There are countless reasons each and every day - from our great clients and talented team members to our fearless leader. And the latter is the reason I'm typing today. Laura arranged for a "mandatory" meeting/cultural assessment last week, during which she told us we could not use our phones or BlackBerries. Imagine the sighs that announcement caused! Wendy even emailed us from Washington, D.C. that morning to let us know how "boring" the guy running the assessment was and that we were in for a long afternoon. Moments before the meeting was to commence, Laura called us into her office and presented us with early Christmas presents - gift certificates to our favorite spa, where she sent us for the afternoon for a few hours of total pampering. With the workload everyone has been experiencing lately, this was a much needed respite and SO appreciated. So when things get tough, we can all look back to our relaxing afternoon and remember why GFM truly is the best place to work in Denver - heck, probably in the world!
~Ramonna