Making a Move to Downtown Raleigh

LinkedIn just sent a notice to my network that I am celebrating eight years with Liaison Design Group. I tend to be more focused on other things like clients, staff and new business opportunities, so had forgotten all about my anniversary. I've got to say it was really nice to get a number of emails and calls from folks I have connected with over the years.

This milestone forced me to think about these last eight years, which include a number of great memories, but it also made me think about what's ahead for us at Liaison Design Group. Not to sound too cliche, or overly optimistic, but from my chair the future looks quite bright. Our team continues to grow, and we're adding folks with different strengths and styles of creativity. Our collective experience is expanding and we're working with a wide range of clients that really challenge us to think about how we can use our creativity and design theory to strengthen a message or better communicate the value of a product. Please excuse the inadvertent sales pitch...

In the summer of 2010 Liaison Design Group made a move into the office space we currently occupy. Even though we moved within the same office condominium development, it was a move to larger space to accommodate our growing staff. We were three people at that point. Today we're five and it's time for the next move. This time, rather than staying in our nice, comfortable North Raleigh office condo development, we're going to move to a much more exciting location—Downtown Raleigh.

I have no scientific studies to back this next bit up, but I think most designers would agree—creative people are happier in creative spaces. And if happiness has anything to do with productivity, then I'd expect creative people are more productive when they're in creative places. If that's true, then we've got even more reason to be excited about the future. That's because downtown Raleigh has really become an exciting place with tons of interesting things happening all the time.

As a Raleigh native, I remember when downtown wasn't much of a destination unless you worked for the state or local government. My, how things have changed. Technology firms like Red Hat and Citrix are joining the longtime roster of banks, lawyers, CPAs. And organizations like HQ Raleigh are making a huge impact in the start-up space. In fact, HQ Raleigh is having so much success it's expanding yet again. Construction cranes are out in full force building new office buildings and highrise apartments. New hotels are on the way to handle to growing number of people that want to visit the area. And then there is the real fun stuff. Our dining options have exploded, as has our craft beer scene. And Raleigh has tons of events and festivals like Hopscotch, SPARKcon, the International Bluegrass Music Festival and the list goes on. It really is a great time to be downtown.

While I won't pretend that our move has the same impact as some of the other items mentioned, we will have an impact on downtown Raleigh. And we're excited to know that downtown Raleigh will have an impact on us.

I'll be sure to update the site once we're in the new place on St. Mary's Street. But for right now, it's Friday afternoon during the NCAA tournament, so I think I'll go make a toast to the next eight years!