We know people who know people

On Friday, Frause had the opportunity to take a private tour of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation! We took an office fieldtrip to the foundation’s new campus, an exciting privilege considering the visitor center is not slated to open to the public until late 2011 or early 2012.

We disembarked from the Monorail in the shadow of the Space Needle and crossed the street to 500 Fifth Avenue North. The moment we were inside the lobby there were oohs and ahhs about the architecture, furnishings and art. After making it past security with a new visitor badge, you can’t help but feel like you are in a place where awesome things happen. Our tour started with a presentation about the Foundation’s work and how the new campus came to be from the desire to create a place that both showcases the foundation’s work around the globe and reflects the natural beauty and innovative culture of the Northwest.

We noticed the communal desk layout that far surpasses the den-like environment cubicles can foster, the use of natural light to reduce the need for electricity and the worldwide representation of museum-quality art from many of the foundation’s grantees. A favorite art piece was a wall instillation called “Seeds of Hope” by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. He visited during the construction and observed the open space of the campus’ central atrium. The piece was made specifically for the central atrium where it now hangs out of discarded metallic liquor labels and bottle tops held together with copper wire. The name “Seeds of Hope” was inspired by the foundation’s works.


In our admiration of the different facets of the campus, “We need to get that for Frause’s office!” echoed throughout our tour.

The Foundation’s new campus was recently awarded LEED-Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, one of the highest ratings for commercial building energy conservation and environmental design. Along with the flood of natural light, other environmentally-friendly and sustainable design highlights included living roofs and marshlands that mimicked the natural surroundings; a million gallon cistern tapped to water plants and toilets; and a heating system the works to heat “the individual” in the building rather than the entire building. There was even a happy family of ducks that had already made their home in one of the campus ponds.


After coming to the conclusion if we at Frause were ducks, we too would live at the Gates Foundation, it is a safe assumption that we really enjoyed the tour!

Frause Portland: Through the eyes of Krista Hildebrand

There are 174 miles, seven right-hand turns and three to the left between the Seattle and Portland Frause offices. A small distance when considering the exceptional collaboration that exists between the two offices. Because I am currently the only intern, the Portland office has received short shrift from the intern blog. A negligence that is at last being given attention via a Q&A with Krista Hildebrand, the Managing Director of Frause Portland.


1. What sorts of expertise do you (and your staff) have that is localized to the Portland office?
Matt Smedley, the Portland Account Supervisor and Social Media Practice Lead, and I both have areas of expertise, but they are not localized to just Portland. Matt’s deep knowledge of social media benefits the entire Frause team and our clients, whether they are in Portland or Seattle.

When I started at Frause almost five years ago, I brought more than six years of experience in economic development communications. This experience has grown into one of Frause’s knowledge centers, which now has several members both in Portland and Seattle.

Elana Silverman, the Portland Assistant Account Executive, brings the ability to successfully pitch just about any story to the media and has lent this skill to landing stories for clients in Oregon and Washington.

2. What is it like to collaborate with the Seattle office through mostly technological means?
Technology certainly helps us stay in touch on a regular basis, especially for our daily morning huddles when we actually “join” the Seattle office through Google+. It is a far cry from trying to sort out what is going on, and who is saying what, over a conference call, which is what we did for the last three years. GoToMeeting is another tool we have that allows us to see presentations real-time, making us feel like we’re in the same room.

However, there is no replacement for personal contact and interacting with the team on a one-on-one basis. So, I try to get to Seattle regularly. Matt is a frequent visitor as well, especially when he lends his social media expertise to client meetings and new business presentations. We love when the Seattle folks come work out of our office and lend their expertise to our clients. Matt, Elana and I always feel very connected and rarely out of the loop.

3. What do you most enjoy about your job?
It sounds corny, but I love working with my clients. I am blessed to work with smart people who understand the value of strategic communications and consider Frause an important part of their marketing teams.

4. What sort of growth and development do you predict for the Portland office?
I wish I had a crystal ball, but with the economy still struggling, it’s hard to predict. We were fortunate to weather the past three years and, in spite of the poor economy, brought on some significant long-term clients. I would hope to do the same in the next year or so.

5. Are the walls of the Portland office also bright green like they are in Seattle?
Yes, of course. Our office is just a mini-Seattle!

It Takes a Village to Raise an Intern

In 1996, then First Lady Hillary Clinton published It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us. The book highlights how influences outside of the family impact a child. Clinton puts forward her vision of a society, similar to that of a village, which supports the whole person as they grow-up. The title of Clinton’s book comes from the African proverb:“It takes a village to raise a child,” a saying that has also become integrated into Western culture.

To apply this proverb to Frause, it takes a village to raise an intern. I am being raised from an inexperienced student into a developing communications professional through the mentorship and support of the Frause villagers.

Here is a glimpse of the guidance and advice I have received so far.

• Develop workplace skills, like how to assert my knowledge and competence without being too pertinacious. One of the best ways to do this is through
observation.
• Reality check: there is no such thing as a home and work balance, but more of an ebb and flow.
• Provide impromptu status updates on projects because people appreciate it.
• Seek clarity when confused. Asking questions also assists the project lead in defining their needs for requirements and what needs to be done.
• Be on time and always have a notepad to write things down.
• “Work towards finding the no.” The translation: internships are as much about figuring out what your interests are, as discovering what you do not want to do with your career.

At Frause we are a village, a community of colleagues who raise each other up. I am more than happy to be the apprentice of such village chiefs.

Gourmet Group!

Last week some of the Frause team prepared freshly made pesto pasta for the office! The pasta was made from scratch by Chefs Bob Frause and Nathan Hambley by simply mixing flour and water until it morphed into a dough like consistency. Everyone involved had a chance to roll out rustic noodles between their hands from cut strips of dough. The noodles then were boiled to pasta perfection!



Brook Sorgen became the gourmet guru of the pesto sauce by combining handfuls of fresh basil (also grown by Bob) with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, pine nuts and Pecorino Romano cheese and then pureeing it until it was the consistency of, well, pesto. Finally, the meal came together with the help of Katy Harrison, kitchen connoisseur.



Once Katy clicked send on an all-office email with the subject line, “Come EAT!!” and the email body reading, “Pasta is ready!,” everyone flocked to the kitchen. The pasta was devoured with coos and compliments, and appreciative praise for a great lunch! Plus, one impressed intern sat hoping this type of gastronomic magic happens every week.



The only disappointments were that there was not enough for a second serving and learning these types of lunch happen only as occasional treats!