The Big Move Part 2 of 4: Iams & Eukanuba Find a New Home!
(The Big Move Part 1 of 4: Iams & Eukanuba Pack Up!)
We were out of our Poe offices by noon on Friday, October 23, and scheduled to resume business at our new location in Mason on Monday October 26.
Could we really pack up and leave one office at noon, and resume working at a brand new location the next business day? Think about it: All our packed boxes (approximately 2,000) were loaded that day by a moving company and trucked south and we wouldn’t see them until Monday morning when we needed to start doing business again. Doesn’t this seem like a situation ripe for problems?
Coming in to work that Monday, I wasn’t sure what kind of day it would be.
- I was greeted by the sign marking the entrance to our new home, the Mason Business Center.
The Mason Business Center.
Pulling into the parking lot, I got a good view of our new dog park!
Our new dog park.
On our first day in the new office, the dog park is not quite done yet. But very soon it will be!
I knew I was in the right place when I saw this sign at the door!
The dog elevator.
Because there are so many people working at the MBC (the Mason Business Center), we wanted to be considerate of people with allergies and people who would (I know you’ll find this hard to believe!) rather not be around dogs. So there is a specially designated elevator specifically for people bringing their dogs to work. You can see by how it’s decorated that it’s very dog-friendly! Our dogs also have their own stairwell—for pooches who’d rather have the exercise of walking up stairs instead of the ease and comfort of an elevator ride.
The walls inside of the elevator are also decorated.
This is a huge facility, so it’s helpful to have directions to Pet Care.
This is the entry into the Pet Care section of the facility.
A touch of our old home!
This dog statue used to sit outside of one of our larger meeting rooms in our old home. It’s one of the first things you see when you come into our new office area!
Kersee, our first VP for Canine Communications
Kersee was our official door greeter up until 2002. I had not ever seen this portrait of her, but I recognized her instantly! She was a great dog, and it’s fitting that her portrait be at the gateway to our office.
The plaque beneath Kersee’s portrait.
Claudia, our first VP for Feline Communications is also remembered.
Clawdia's Plaque
When I walked into the Pet Care office area, I was amazed at the order! Boxes were where they were supposed to be, everybody was unpacking (and having a great time), and by 10 AM we were all back to work as if we had lived in this new office for years!
The clutter of unpacking in Consumer Relations.
Getting everything put away
Almost done!
A few boxes left to unpack.
What a beautiful facility, and a great place to work! I am amazed at the attention and care given to make our area look so pet-oriented! There are dog and cat murals painted on all the walls!
All the walls have dogs and cats on them!
The style of this mural is very retro for us
The style of portrait of the dogs and cats which make up our wall murals has a lot of sentimental value for me. When I first joined Iams in the ‘90s this was the style that had been used on many of our marketing materials.
A Terrier tilts her head with interest.
Another touch from our old home—the little statue of the puppies in their bed that sits between these two desks.
A version of our Mission Statement runs through each mural: “P&G Pet Care exists to enhance the health and well being of more dogs and cats.”
Back at our old home, we named our conference rooms after breeds of dog and cat. The Mason Business Center is big enough that room numbers matter. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from giving each of our new meeting rooms over to a specific breed of dog or cat and putting up the art work that “flavored” our meeting spaces in our old home!
The plaque that named the Siberian Husky room came south with us and now marks a new meeting space.
Our new version of the Retriever room.
The ceiling of the meeting room directly outside of Consumer Relations has paw prints on it!
Here’s a quirky whimsical welcome at the entry to a Pet Care area.
One of our new break rooms.
Within a couple of hours, Jen is moved in and focused on work!
At the start of this post I posed a question: Could we really pack up our 2,000 boxes, our artwork, and all the bits and pieces that make an office a home and resume working at a brand new location on the next business day?
Oh yeah! No problem!
Next: An Iams & Eukanuba Celebration!
