Hello and welcome back!

If you’re tuning into Paperwork for the very first time, I’m your host, Ivan Ruiz-Knott. Myself, my wife Livvy, and our dear friend Norton comprise Management here at The Company, which we lovingly describe as a failing business and a thriving hobby.

Like any company, we gotta file paperwork, which for us primarily involves listing upcoming happenings, compiling the week’s latest batch of nostalgia, and making mention of relevant bureaucratic minutiae. We also toss in some photos, and I attempt to make some meaningful opening remarks.

I’m thinking, in this introduction, about introductions because every once in a while the questions come up of What Is The Company? Or, more often for those of us who are a part of it, How Do I Describe The Company?

We regularly hear from some of you that when talking to your parents about The Company they get very confused, and you sound to them like you have a really unhealthy work/life balance. Some of you, to describe this place to your friends, have taken to saying this is an adult clubhouse (which, again, I think is way more confusing). Of the readily available terms, I lean toward community center—though we’re a center for one community and not a center that any community can make use of (not to mention that community is a frustratingly imprecise term). Of all of the quick definitions, “definitely not a cult, haha” is maybe the most accurate.

I was most recently thinking about this question because we were contacted this past week by a woman named Daliah Singer, a journalist who’s writing a piece for 5280 Magazine about Third Places and had some questions about us, which got me thinking about that term again.

Third Places were originally defined by Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book The Great Good Place as places that aren’t home (the first place) or work (the second place)—with a few additional qualifications. (The Wikipedia article gives a good summary if you’d like to learn more).

It’s a term that’s been around for a couple of decades already (and one that we’ve known of since long before we started The Company), and of all the terms that are out there it may in fact be the closest to what we’re attempting here. But the point of language is communicating, and I think most people are not that familiar with either the term or its full definition.

In our very earliest descriptions of The Company we mentioned the idea of being a third place but we dropped it after thinking about it some, for two reasons: The first is that we feel it’s become a little misused and coopted by businesses trying to sell the promise of community in ways that seem extractive to us. The second is that we’re really not as accessible and public as third places should be.

We attempted to acknowledge this on our About page:

We’re an aspiring third place—but not quite so public, and instead more focused on our members. We’re kind of a member club—but not so exclusive or cost-prohibitive. Legally, we are a for-profit LLC—not a non-profit or a co-op—a benevolent dictatorship where decisions are ultimately made by The Management. But we’re more compelled by ideas of cooperatives than by startups and scaling.

Sometime back we were trying to articulate with one of our dearest friends and regulars what it is that’s going on here, and they asked if The Company promises friendship or community. We said no. We said that The Company provides a space and structures that allow for friendships to form. Are we friendly? Are our members and regulars friendly people? They happen to be! But the reason that friendships and community are possible here has to do with people repeatedly showing up at things, and people contributing to those repeated events. The Company, Limited Liability Company (which is actually our legal name, all spelled out like that (LLC was taken)), is a business/hobby that involves us using this space (funded by our members) to facilitate these regular events. The goal is friendship and connection, but it’s not a thing we can promise.

It’s not pithy enough, we know, but after all this wondering and thinking and pondering we still feel like our long-running description for The Company captures this well:

The Company is an indie, member-supported gathering place for a close and porous group of people, organized around curiosity and creativity. We host regular events where we create, move, discuss, tell stories, present about fascinations, and share what we’ve been making.

That‘s it. That’s all we Officially do.

This other beautiful thing that keeps happening, where we actually become friends and collaborators and helpers and carers of each other—

Case helping Jessica P. with judging high schoolers at a speech and debate tournament, Andrew helping Lauren T. work through financial questions, Ryan sharpening knives for Jessica (all of those in this past week alone), introductions being made, people sharing advice and recommendations with each other, crowds of us showing up to support and cheer for each other—

This thing that emerges out of all this time spent together—

We don’t sell that here. You can’t buy it. We don’t promise it. But we’re so grateful for it.

—Ivan

Happenings

This week:

Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, January 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, free for Company and Moonlight members

Work together →

In The Making, Thursday, January 22

A show and tell for original, amateur, creative works in progress. Each presenter has 10 minutes to spend however they choose (any mix of presenting, Q&A, workshopping, getting feedback).

Come hear from Earl, me, Madeleine A., Gabby, Allyson, Lauren T., Livvy, Christof, and Dan.

$10, or free for members and presenters

Make an appearance →

Future Weeks:

Mary Ann’s Book Club: Atmosphere, Monday, January 26

Mary Ann’s Book Club is back after a long pause caused by a sentient gorilla! Her book club rotates monthly between fiction and nonfiction, and the first book in this new season is Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Atmosphere was a #1 New York Times bestseller, and has something to do with love and space. (As in outer space). Early reviews from Company readers are positive.

Snacks and drinks will be provided to fuel our conversation.

Free

Prepare for reentry →

Offsite: Nerd Nite, Friday, January 30

Two PowerPoint Parties ago, Gus brought his friend Earl, who came partially for fun and partially because he was scouting for Nerd Nite, a “wickedly fun and informative presentation series held once a month in multiple cities across the world.” You, sharp thinker that you are, are probably wondering, What’s the big difference? Sure, PowerPoint Party would probably be better described as a virtuously fun informative presentation series held once a month in one city across the world, but why go to a different thing? Am I currently in a different city? Might I have the opportunity to see presenters that I can’t see at a PowerPoint Party? Will there be a smaller crowd (boy, how I hate big crowds!)? It is cheaper than a PowerPoint Party? Do I even know who Earl is?

To start with your last five questions: No, not really this time, definitely not, no (it’s actually more expensive for members), and I don’t know, maybe?

But to answer your first two, more open-ended questions: Unlike PowerPoint Party’s 12 presenters, with 7 minutes each, Nerd Nite is just 2–3 presenters, with 20 minutes each! That’s a quarter of the presenters each with 285% more time to share!

Oh, I see you’re thinking some more. Uhh, okay… well, why do you still seem incredibly excited ab—

BECAUSE LAUREN T. AND MADELEINE—COMPANY MEMBERS AND REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS TO COMPANY EVENTS—WILL BE TWO OF THE THREE PRESENTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$13, $10 for Company folk

Note: Regular tickets have already sold out! But Lauren T. was clutch and got Earl to be clutch and set aside tickets just for us Company folk. To get access to such a ticket: click on the Details button in the Sold Out box, find the Promo Code box and enter company . Be warned that this works only on the Eventbrite website. If you are someone who has the Eventbrite app, you will be thwarted from ever finding this option.

Get more (from fewer) for your (more) money →

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Also coming up: Offsite: Eve(Madeleine)’s Slam Poetry Feature (February 1) Creative Writing Workshop: Time (February 2) PowerPoint Party No. 35 (February 7), Glint: Rearview (February 17), Annual Performance Review (February 28)

Nostalgia

Do you remember the Monday with our staggered, two part, lengthy lunch? Our recess walk in the cool shade? That we were happy for the layers?

Or the day that Simon started his membership? How we had to take our recess walk without Livvy? How that was the day of the Glint that was also Dana F.’s birthday party? That it was the biggest Glint we’d ever had, flooded with so many friends of hers? How Ellie triggered her laughing attack?

Do you remember the last visit of Brien, before he moved away again? That we wondered around the table about how much brighter it seems in the winter? If there is more or less air? If it’s the angle of light? That Livvy popped over for a last goodbye?

How Adam said he had sent us an email, and we found it in our spam, and he became a member? Our recess at the river, that we sat in that nice little corner? That we attempted pistol squats?

The Worknight with Mary Grace? The Lamb Chop dog toy? How the crowd thinned so much that we only had a regular-shaped star for the ceremony?

Do you remember that day when Ryan sharpened Jessica S.’s knives? How over lunch we all talked through the design challenges of urinals?

The type meeting? The financial advice? The question of membership? The late lunch? The quiet afternoon?

And do you remember the first of our ice skating outings? How it felt like a field trip to watch Madeleine work? How we remembered the terms she had taught us in her presentation, and saw her wet-cut the ice and clean up the Zam after? That we dug up her instructions for flirting?

And the ice skating itself? Our shaky starts before we got different levels of more comfortable? Lauren S. attempts to teach us how to jump? How we glided and spun and worked on our technique, getting tired and feeling grateful for the on-rink seating?

Or the dumplings at Mason’s Dumplings? How it prompted us to wonder: Mason! Where the fuck have you been?!

Bureaucratic Minutiae

• At Glint: Search: Laura recounted a quest for someone’s digits, Ryan reviewed a rental property, Fer walked us through some text messages, Ivan revealed a hidden secret, Dana told us about joining a cult, Jenna described winging her way into a safari, Andrew shared the life of a van, Jim took us on a dangerous ride, Livvy talked about looking for connection, and Lauren related a lifelong search for a reason.

• At Worknight: Lizzie uploaded two issues of Paperwork photos to the website; Lauren T. read 150 pages; Drew A. got to draft #2; Mary Grace completed 3 onboarding chunks; Case worked on invoicing; Livvy worked on her adaptation outline; Ivan planned 2 ice skating outings, worked on In the Making follow-ups, and completed post-event website updates; Dan sent the menu to print and worked on screens for the radio project; Michelle worked on fixing the colors; And Will made 3 docs pages.

• Mason, by the way, has been very busy with work-work and music scene stuff. He misses us too and plans to come around again soonish.

• 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 with additional reporting from Jessica S., and was shot by Ivan, Madeleine, and Lizzie. Photo selection and editing by Ivan and Jessica S. Editorial support was provided by Livvy. This issue, and The Company itself, was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew J., Justin, Mason, José, Mary Ann, Trevr, Allyson, Lizzie, Elijah, Michelle, Jim, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Mike, Ben, Sam, Liz, Christof, Ryan, Lauren, Leah, Madeleine, and our newest members, Simon and Adam.

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.

😘