Onward!

As we move steadily through our first month in our new space - an office in the Rainier Square Atrium - we can slowly see our ideas and visions for CityClub forming before us and, in some cases, coming to fruition.

One of the many transitions we've made during this time period is to move our events from downtown hotels into a conference room here in Rainier Square. Leaving the hotels means leaving the in-house catering - no more arriving to find tables set and ready, no more simply asking the kitchen for more food if we need it, no more leaving the dishes on the table when we pack up and go back to our office at the end of the program!

But it's a small adjustment to make for the ability to offer lower ticket prices. We've had four or five events in the Atrium so far, and every time we host a program there, it becomes many times easier. We've adjusted to the room, learned what to ask for from our catering company. We've discovered all the little things we need that used to be provide by hotels - a coat rack, for example! A clock, so our moderator knows when it's time for audience questions! Our last program in the Atrium - late March's National Cover the Uninsured Week panel - was our first event in the space after moving in to the building, and it was amazing to just take our supplies up one flight of stairs (or up the elevator) rather than roll them across downtown!

(Have you been to one of our programs in the new Rainier Square Atrium space? What are your suggestions? Anything we're forgetting? Anything you love?)

As for our working office space, it's come a long way since we signed a lease! New carpets, new light switches, and lots of elbow grease - we're fully operational. We have distinct phases of improvement, and we're still solidly in Phase One. We're always preparing for Phase Two - one part of which is being able to hold small programs of about 40-50 attendees within our actual office.

Ideal for our Rapid Response Series, we have a large room that, though unfinished, will someday be a place where we can hold events on short notice. For things that are particularly timely, or that come together very quickly, this allows us to still hold a program even if it's too late to book a "proper" meeting space. We're nowhere near ready to host a program in there just yet, but we're ready to invite our members to be a part of it: this year we're combining our Annual Meeting with a CityClub Members Only tour of the new space - a preview of our progress and potential.

Aside from the wine, cheese, and chocolate, the exciting part is the opportunity to help us build. (Although the chocolate part is really exciting!) We're stealing an idea from Pike Place Market, but instead of named tiles, a donation gives our members the chance to name our chairs. (We certainly can't host 40-50 people without 40-50 chairs!) Imagine it! Your name on the back of a chair in the new CityClub office, assisting in our mission by allowing the show to go on in a comfortable manner.

(This program is Members Only, but CityClub membership is open to all and available at many levels. If you're interested in becoming a part of CityClub's history in the making, click here.)

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