You will recall that Kriss job description includes a little bit of everything. This month it has included dancing around in downtown traffic to keep parking areas clear for moving trucks when QiSOFT relocated its offices to the top of the tallest building in Savannah.
For the past eight years company headquarters have been in fourth floor offices on Drayton Street, but now TaDah - QiSOFT is located on the 15th floor of the Johnson Square Business Center (2 East Bryan Street) in historic downtown Savannah.
Savannahians frown on anything new, especially tall tacky skyscraper-type buildings like they have in NYC or Atlanta (or even Jacksonville, Florida, just down the road), so somewhere in its long history the City Council put a height limit on all new construction.
Our new office building all 69 vertical meters of it - was actually built in 1911. Then, in 1912, Savannahs 41-meters Manger Building was built. There must have been a huge flap about those Gawdawful tall new buildings downtown, because there hasnt been anything nearly that tall built here since.
Kevin, being very cosmopolitan and British and all that, couldnt care less about local height sentiments. He was tickled pink to acquire the new space and loves nothing better than leaning out the windows to drop water balloons on the tourists below. In fact, the whole staff enjoys this activity, and Oh
Sorry. Ive just been told Im not to talk about this.
On to safer topics - our new office space is picture perfect. Painted in soft London Fog gray (naturally), with white accents and lots of glass interior-and-exterior windows, each outer one with a view more breathtaking than the next, the change in workspace has moved the company up in more ways than the obvious.
Visitors are offered a panoramic view of the city and its surrounds by simply standing just inside the vestibule in the reception area and looking, from left to right, through the glass surrounding each office to the exterior windows beyond.
The Savannah River meanders throughout the view, from the Container docks many miles to the west, passing directly below to the north, and on to the Atlantic Ocean some 20 miles downriver to the east.
Kriss new office has downriver views, Melody and Vincents space overlooks the docks of Moran Towing to the east and Crescent Towing across the river in South Carolina, a moving picture show around the clock when the powerful harbor tugs meet and assist Savannahs ship traffic in the nations 4th largest containerport.
Melody and Vincent, and Margaret one-office-space over, can also look down on Savannahs city hall dome, gilded with gold mined in the north Georgia mountains, site of this nations first gold rush in 1828.
Kevins office overlooks the same downtown view, and the South Carolina low country beyond, but also adds upriver views which includes the lovely span of the Talmadge Bridge to South Carolina - plus an overview of Savannahs newly restored Ellis Square.
One of historys first examples of good urban planning, Savannah was designed and built along a grid system during its Colonial infancy in 1733. The city eventually grew to have 24 squares (known as Savannahs jewels), open green spaces around which the traffic flowed.
Three of those original squares were lost to urban development in the 20th century, but very early in the 21st century the city began knocking down the towering parking garage that had swallowed Ellis Square. They replaced it with the restored square itself, which - planted in youthful greenery and sparkling with water features - adds to the spectacular views now enjoyed by everyone at QiSOFT.
Melody keeps windows open in the office she shares with Vincent, letting in a city-top breeze along with the muted city traffic and river traffic noises below. While I like the breeze and sounds, I admit to a queasy feeling about an open window at that height but no one else seemed bothered so I didnt scream or anything.
Al and Franklin also have spectacular upriver views, plus overviews of rooftop gardens, as does a tiny office space further along that stretch of the building that I not so secretly covet for myself.
The building has other nice amenities, including Jenkins, the welcoming doorman who makes it feel even more like a NYC building, security guards who make physical checks on all the facilities after hours, and on the 6th floor a blind gentleman named Ernest who has operated a snack bar called Ernests Place for many years.
Everyone has been hard at work in the new office from day one after the smooth move (per Al) from one building to the other. On my first day there I found the large central conference room already in use as Gilson Adorno from Brazil received local language training on our Portuguese program. He will, in turn, teach the program to others when he returns home.
The office sweat shop (gym) is being set up even as I type and pictures are being hung, but the business itself didnt miss a beat from old space to new and all the busy bees in their new digs are as focused on their computer screens as ever. I suggested to Franklin that he set a timer to look up and out the windows for at least two minutes every hour. I hope he does; I hope they all do!
Kris said she can see her outside views reflected in the inside glass panels, so theres a sense of the outdoors even at the subconscious level while shes working.
We love our view, she said, happily.
Actually, We love our new place, could be the company theme song for
April. Al even had a dream right after the move, That we got ousted out of the 15th floor and had to go back to our old place.
(Thats no dream, Al; thats a nightmare!)
So come to Savannah if you can and talk to us about our software. We promise when you visit youll like what you see - both in our products, and out our windows.