2006: Office Space and a B & E

The push from the Edward Fuels intranet project and having recently been hired to develop the Flash front-end and CMS for Kawasaki.ca required additional programming muscle. I wasn't terribly keen on having another geek working in my basement (Brendan had been there since the fall of 2005) so we decided to hunt for office space. Though out of our budget range and a little bigger than planned, we settled on 850 sq. ft. at 560 Wellington St in March 2006.

We had the entire space painted orange and outfitted with the latest and greatest (read: cheapest) office furniture from IKEA. Things were pretty spartan when Owain Johnson came in for an interview in response to a web development job posting we put out in early 2006. Owain was a young programmer from Northern Ontario who was respectful enough to wear a tie (albeit a black one with a white short sleeve button-down shirt) to the interview. The tie must have worked, Owain became employee number one on March 6th 2006.

Shortly after we got things up and running I decided it'd be a good time for my wife and I to spend a month in Europe. The trip was fantastic but the after glow was short lived.

On July 7th 2006 my wife and I paid a visit to the office on a Sunday afternoon -- I was going to tidy some things up while she enjoyed Sunfest. As soon as I entered the office through the back I noticed an opening in the door and some damage around the frame. I approached the door, opened it, and surveyed a studio that had been ripped apart and was devoid of computer equipment and a digital camera.

Five months in and nearly everything was gone.

To my surprise, the greedy perpetrators returned to grab the server they forgot...while I was in the office! I pursued the three crooks on foot as they fled through the back door and into the parking lot. As luck would have it I managed to catch and briefly confront the 'big guy' (probably 6'3" or so). He continued running so I followed him through Sunfest and a crowd of Italian soccer fans celebrating their World Cup win in front of City Hall. A friendly bystander handed me his phone and I called 911 while in pursuit. The chase continued behind London Central Secondary School before a police cruiser officer ended the ordeal on the hood of his car.

Turns out the guy I caught was the weak link in a larger ring -- he 'named names' and brought a number of his counterparts down. I had to attend court on several occasions but remain proud of my somewhat risky decision.

2007 - Present: Growth and More Geeks

Things really started to roll in late 2007. After landing a contract with the Government of Alberta we were awarded another job in early 2008, this time with Trent University. We had the talent and were starting to acquire clients with larger budgets and broader vision.

It's amazing what can happen with a little confidence. In 2008 we added Cambrian College and Nipissing University to our client family and signed Window Film Systems to our first retainer relationship -- something we still hold (and value) today.

In 2008 our threesome expanded to include Jon Rundle, a Fanshawe intern who we decided we couldn't do without. It was really cute when Jon's parents showed up with a custom engraved business card holder but somewhat embarrassing that it took us nearly a year to order cards for him. Since '08 we've added three additional Fanshawe MMDP students in Andrew Procter, Geoff Villeneuve, and Mike Almond. We also have a process for creating new business cards. That's progress my friends.

A significant point in our recent history is the acquisition of our first national consumer brand client. Samsonite Canada found us through a Google search and after recognizing the quality of our portfolio called to get the ball rolling. Things went a little quiet following what I thought was a well-received pitch but the day before we closed for Christmas last year I got a call from the GM asking if we'd still like to work with them. I believe my response was something along the lines of 'um, ya.'

It's rewarding to look back at the last five years and relive some of the events and stories that have shaped the very essence of ResIM. There have been both high and low points in our evolution but none that I'd ever change.

I'm excited about the next five and can't wait to see what our amazing team does over that time.