I had just joined Vignette after an extended web consulting gig at a fairly stodgy financial company. First day, really first hour, of being on board: proceed directly to the “room where big meetings happen” (aka, kind of a kitchen, game room, situation?) for the weekly “state of the union”. I don’t remember a word of what Greg said, I don’t remember anything about it all… except for the incessant, high-pitch sound of the dental drill emanating from the other side of the wall. After a few months, I suppose I got used to it (Narrator: he did not get used to it), but it was definitely a “you’re not in Kansas anymore” moment for 23 year old me who had just left “traditional corporate environment”.
In hindsight, those days of being able to essentially jam the entire company into the kitchen are missed!
Those particular meetings weren't in the kitchen, but in what some called the "bean bag room". It was a largish office space mostly dedicated to impromptu meetings. No chairs or tables, just some bean bags and a couple of the ever-present white boards. It was (if I can keep my sense of direction straight) the last office at the east end of the main hall, just past Neil's office and Con and Betsy's office. The kitchen was further west, past the "lobby" (all 14 sq ft of it), the server room, and a couple of other offices. The end-of-hall location of the bean bag room meant that it shared at least one, possibly two walls with the dentist office. The bean bag room eventually briefly held a pinball machine or two for a short time before we expanded at Far West and got some half finished-out room in the middle of the building (same floor) where the ping-pong table and pinball machine got relocated.
Adam interviewed 20 people across a year’s time, and I think I read about the dentist drill as the most common memory.
The sounds of dental drilling (and, if remember correctly, the occasional power fluctuations from the x-ray equipment) were very disconcerting! I very clearly remember your first day and your deer-in-headlights look!