The heart of the new office space is a nice surprise. People will notice and remark on the number of seats and the story spreads.

I recently posted on the mystery 37signals created around their new offices. Well, blog posts revealing the floor plan, construction details and a video showing construction progress have solved the mystery.

A pleasant surprise to many 37signals blog readers was what lay at the heart of the new office space: a classroom-like theater!

A classroom-like theater dominates the south side of the office, right off the entrance. This is a 37-seat theatre (diagram currently shows 38, but we went with 37 for cheesy reasons) where we can hold workshops and master classes.

Having 37 seats to match the company name seems an insider joke of no real importance. Look deeper, however, and we discover a remarkable (clever, easy and inexpensive) story crying out to spread.

38 seats? Who cares? 36 seats? Again, who cares? But, 37 seats in a theatre at 37signals? Now that’s remarkable! It’s a sure bet people attending events will notice and remark on it. And so, another story about 37signals spreads.

Remarkable stories don’t need be grandiose. What makes a story spread is that people notice it, and then remark on it to friends and colleagues. Look for every opportunity to craft stories to spread. Sometimes a story is as simple as the number of chairs in a room.

Tags

37signals, Crafting, Design, Expectations, Office, Remarkable, Spreadable, Stories, Video

My new blog for technical presenters

Our success as technical presenters depends on our ability to get audiences to take action. After all, without action it’s just entertainment!

I’ve given hundreds of technical presentations at all levels in the software industry and have learned that although creating action’s hard, it’s not impossible. I share my experience by curating the best tips and tricks, examples and resources from the web at Tech Presenting. Please join me.