vol. 2, no. 1 | Anniversary
To the many of you who misunderstood my creative writing exercise last week, I am so sorry! And also, it was kind of funny that you did! But, also, I am very sorry about that! Your kind messages expressing your sadness at the loss of The Company were so sweet, and I’m so sorry for the confusion—especially to our dear landlords who found it an alarming way to get the news.
Anyway, we’re back. Never left. Because of so many of you—people who presented or attended or gave us advice or helped with events or who became a member—this experiment is going on for another year. This past Thursday began the next year of our lease, the start of volume 2.
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, May 21
The Company is about combining creative work with good friendships. Make an appointment with your side project this (or any) Wednesday at a Worknight, where we oscillate between enforced, focused, quiet time and optional chatty social time.
$5, or free for Company and Moonlight members.
In the Making, Thursday, May 22
In the Making is a showcase of original, amateur, creative works in progress. Are you interested in sharing about a passion project, and what you’ve been learning through it? We might have a spot left. Are you interested in just attending and learning about people’s creative work? We’ve got roughly forty spots left.
For our fifth, hear from Norton, Mike, Carly, Mason, Jim, and Ivan.
$10, or free for members and presenters.
Future Weeks:
Mary Ann’s Book Club: Belong, Monday, May 26
A book club switching between fiction and non-fiction. This month’s book is Belong: Find Your People, Create Community, and Live a More Connected Life by Radha Agrawal.
A practical and inspiring guide for anyone seeking to build meaningful connections and foster a sense of community in today's often isolating world. Through self-reflection exercises and actionable strategies, Agrawal helps readers identify their core values, understand the importance of shared rituals, and take intentional steps toward creating authentic relationships that lead to a deeper sense of belonging.
Snacks and drinks will be provided to fuel our conversation.
$0–$10
You belong at this book club →
Survival Scouts: Mending Class, Thursday, May 29
Survival Scouts is proud to present their first mending workshop. Learn how to mend just about anything! Bring an article of your clothing that needs some TLC, a backpack that needs repairs, or use the scrap fabric provided to learn beginner hand sewing and patchwork. Needle, thread, and scrap fabric for patches will be provided.
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Also coming up: Survival Scouts: Stop the Bleed Course (June 3), PowerPoint Party No. 27 (June 7).
Nostalgia
Do you remember that Sunday of Company tasks?
How the next morning we fielded so many concerned messages about the confusion I had caused? Or how we sat, briefly, in the back of each other’s video meetings that we were having with each other and Aly? The brief walk in the heat?
Or the speedy lunch run to Ohana, and our efficient lunch? The discussion about fridge management, or the walk to search for that one dog?
The appearance, yet again, of Mike, meaning that it was sandwich time? How Justin then spent time putting together a manually-updatable clock with sandwiches for hands? How Jessica, Assistant Director of Time, briefly worked her best to keep it up-to-date?
Or the lucky shipping timing and convenient inconvenience that led to Atniel finessing our Wi-Fi?
The rounds of congratulations to Beth for her new job? How nice it was to repeat the repeating?
Or the stories, at that Last Glint, when the melancholy hung heavier than usual? How there were tears in so many of our eyes? And how there was also, at parts, a certain kind of brightness that could cause a person from the north to burn pretty badly? How that afternoon, and that evening, there were just so many feelings?
That we lingered, and reset? That we caught up about the challenges, and talked about culture and conflict, and the stages of a dream?
Do you remember the hours writing and revising and editing?
Or the last worknight? How so many of us got “a star on a technicality!”? How it was Sam’s first time at a star ceremony, and it was a great one?
That afterward, we did one final closing shift, and tidied the room, tucked the chairs in, restocked the bathroom, took out the trash, turned off the lights, and punched out? That we locked the doors and posted “Out” in The Discord? But that we were far too tired to hug for very long, and instead just drifted away, happily knowing that there was a tomorrow?
And do you remember that tomorrow? The day of our first anniversary? How we had a good cycle of people in the workday? How Mike again came in with a sandwich, and we laughed about it, and he said “This is why I don’t like chess, because I always do the same moves.”?
How before the party, we got to sit quietly for a few moments? While rounds of people visited the liquor store tasting?
And that the anniversary party began? A rare unstructured event? That it was perfect?
That we again got Domino’s, and you played games and forgot about work, and we looked at photos, and had heavy conversations, and beautiful ones too? How you reenacted your first kiss in the room you renamed? That we brought out the Company shapes, and you made a snake?
How the whiteboard filled up? And we took some photos? That we had one of the best business handshakes yet?
How as we left, you said “I’m so happy you’re part of The Company?”
Do you remember that Friday, with the sneaky return of Patrick, and the visit of Justin’s boss?
Or the Saturday, with the long-awaited return of the Creative Coding Demo Day? While elsewhere a birthday was celebrated, and elsewhere some watched a movie about friendship?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
I had a note in here last week adding some reassurance that we weren’t actually closing down, but it was a little bit of a stretch to think people would read this far, and also I could have used dates to make it clearer. To try again: In case you’re just joining us, or skimmed, we renewed our lease for another year quite a while ago, to May of 2026. You can read more about that in vol. 1, no. 36.
After one final tweak, our WiFI is fully awesome now. Thanks to Atniel for donating so much equipment, and volunteering his time and expertise!
We’ve been having conversations with a lot of our members over the past few weeks about formalizing some things around our community culture, and on the very last day of our very first year, we shared a working draft of our new Culture and Commitments document. It’s still in progress, but we’ll be finalizing it and making it public on June 1. Thanks to Michelle for her early review and edits.
We’ve added content warnings to the event pages for PowerPoint Parties, Glints, and In The Making. While it might still be shocking to learn about someone getting a large iron rod shot through their head, it hopefully won’t be, like, upsetting shocking, because you can now be more aware of the risks.
At Glint: Last: Allyson shared about the last professional athlete she dated, Tes talked about being a last girlfriend, Chris told us about a dear friend with a lasting impact on him, Josh imagined his final closing shift, Brynn taught us about a condition for victory, José wondered about a last look, Halie described a final meeting, and Mark recounted a moment of clarity. Thanks to Jessica P., Mark, José, Rebeca, and Drew for helping with the event.
At Worknight: Jessica scanned a timecard in under a minute, Norton rendered descendant Things, Ivan got the policy reviewable by membership, Lexi did important life administration tasks, Atniel worked on some beats, Alex read 2 chapters, Ian fixed a layout, Livvy worked on (legitimately) moving three tickets, Will prototyped a modularity framework, Mary Ann B. readied Ridwell retrieval, Sam worked on prework for a leadership project, and Chris finished about page edits (desktop only).
At the Anniversary Party: we just hung around. Thanks to everyone who showed up. It was perfect.
At Creative Coding Demo Day No. 11: Norton demoed an in-progress p5 app for generating SVGs for rounded pixel fonts, Mason showed us camera controls inside portals, animating joints via MIDI, and his Steam Deck’s projector attachment, Troy walked us through his OSC-controlled TouchDesigner visuals for live shows, Will scrolled through ScrollyPage, his un-boring website builder for creative chaos, and Patrick let us play through his platform fighting game Rock Paper SMASH.
To everyone who has ever come to The Company, who has read this newsletter, who has presented or attended or been a member or helped, thank you so much for making this a great year.
Finally, a reminder that The Company is a member-supported gathering place, and if you know any of us, you’re welcome to pop in any time for free (outside of events). If you know that one of us is here and you’d like to come by, reach out and we can let you in.
Photos
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This issue of Paperwork was written by Ivan, and shot by Ivan, Lizzie, Michelle, and Alex. Photo selection and editing by Ivan and Norton. Editorial support was provided by Norton. This issue, and The Company itself, was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew, Justin, Mason, Lexi, José, Mary Ann B., Trevr, Allyson, Lizzie, Madison, Melissa, Elijah, Michelle, Jim, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Brynn, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Mary Ann T., Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Ashley, Mike, Ben T., and our newest member, Sam.
Do you know anyone in the Denver area who might be looking for creative community? Feel free to forward this email along to them. Everyone loves Paperwork.
😘