We are big TED and TEDx fans at Rule29. And we are excited to share Justin’s first TEDx talk – See Different, Do Different. As people who wonder, we are built to see the world differently than most. It’s one of our unique, innovative traits. We all say we want to be a part of changing the world, but how do you actually accomplish this? Watch his TEDx Naperville talk and the other great speakers too.

Here at Rule29 we’ve had a house guest of late and while he’s been working away on his own project he graciously accepted our offer of covering the blog this week (Granted it was in exchange for desk space)

From the desk of Victor:

Have you ever driven by an office building, business, or home and wondered what happens inside?

Rule29 is one of those inconspicuous spaces. Residing in Geneva IL, their office is nothing more than a remodeled, two story, Georgian home with a nifty number sign in the lawn. You would never guess that within it’s walls, people light things on fire, break appendages, become basketball stars and change the world for the better.

But that’s precisely what happens (well…kinda).

You see, I was one of those random people that used to be on the outside looking in. I’m not a designer, I’m not a client, and my education puts me nowhere near this highly talented team. However, my passion for business, design, and social change made me curious about this little home with the nifty number sign in Geneva, Illinois.

So, roughly one year ago, I ventured into this place to see what it was all about. I was met by the man with the ever present grin. They call him Justin. Actually, that’s what I call him too. He’s also referred to as J, Uncle Justin, and a slew of other names that I can’t mention here. Justin is a busy man with a vibrant family, a book deal, and countless world-changing commitments so I was nervous to ‘steal’ any time with him on that fall day. We chatted about our dreams, our heroes, our faith, and our frustrations. His heart for good design and doing good kicked the dreamer right into me, and a friendship was quickly formed.
Since then, we’ve shared countless conversations and have even worked together on various projects; but, that’s not all.

You see, throughout that time, I’ve gotten to know the steallar team behind Rule29.

They’re even graciously allowing me  to share an office space while I work on a project. This means that, I get a front row seat into Tim’s sneaker brilliance, Kerri’s inability to pronounce Chihuahua, Susan’s love for heels, Andy’s marriage proposal techniques, Dawn’s noise making skills, Katrina’s whip-cracking abilities, Brian and Cheech’s looming iChat presence, and the fact that Bob is just always well Bob. Not to mention that Sarah (Justin’s wife), is the invisible powerhouse for the firm — and far more honest than Justin…

More importantly, I can now say that I have met some of the most inviting people on the planet. They’re quick to bring me ‘inside’ the Rule29 world. Whether it’s lunch dates or random brainstorming conversations, I’ve come to feel right at home walking through that finicky door and up those oddly narrow stairs.  Even though they may not totally understand why I’m around or what I’m doing, they have kindly invited me into their space.

Perhaps, this is my biggest learning from the Rule29 team thus far. They work and live in such a way that there is no ‘outside looking in’ or ‘inside looking out.’ The way they setup their work space, joke around with the UPS guy, hold outings with fellow firms (Grip & Faust), and the way they treat this random desk-occuyping-Egyptian…all of it is about an invitation. An invitation to wonder, attempt, struggle, fail, celebrate, and to do so openly with those around you.

So, thanks Rule29 for that invitation and the inside view — and for the lesson that good work and good life is not about being on the inside or the outside, it’s about being on the side with good people.

LEO,
v

Victor Saad is one of the founders of The Prop and is currently embarking on an 18 month adventure called The Leap Year Project We highly suggest you check out both a give him a follow @victorsaad He’s a pretty awesome guy.

Andy, our newest intern started this week. As is tradition, the R29 staff bombarded him with a bunch of questions in the interview process and his first couple of days at the Rule29 office. We also figured that some of our R29 friends might have a few questions for him as well so we opened up the floor and asked “What do you want to know about Andy?” on Facebook and Twitter. We’ve compiled some of the best questions and answers to give you a better idea of who is this mystery intern. Read the rest of the entry >

I’ll admit it. This post might come a in a bit over over the top, but I’m completely enamored with my new iPad. I think it was love at first site watching the Keynote presentation on March 2nd. Don’t get me wrong, the 1st iPad was amazing as well but feeling of “must have” didn’t become overwhelming until the announcement of the 2nd.

I saw that beautiful sleek design of the tablet accessorized by the glorious smart case, coupled with so many delightful features and capabilities and quickly realized – it had to be mine. (Might have been channeling a little Gollum and let slip a “my precious” but don’t quote me on that.)

If I were to describe a typical week day with the iPad, it would go like this. There’s access to Google Docs for the morning production meeting. I’m using it to log onto the different 37 signals applications throughout the day in order to follow up on projects and clients. And, I’m able to walk to and from meetings with all my notes organized and easy access to my email.

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This past weekend I saw Michael Bublé live for the second time. It was an amazing concert full of talent and wonderful crowd interaction for such a large venue, the Allstate Arena. (Normally you’d think of Bublé in a more concert hall or jazz club type of place.) It definitely captured the heart of what a great performance should be through musicality and stage presence.

One of the highlights of the evening, outside of Bublé himself, was the opening act, Naturally 7. At first glance you might have thought this was a standard A Cappella group – seven guys standing on stage singing and wooing all the ladies – but then you realized that everything you were hearing was all them. What I mean by this is that sounds you would normally picture coming from a drum set or electric guitar were all coming out of those seven men. There were no physical instruments to be seen; there was no pre-recorded track playing in the background. They call it “vocal play,” and they’re using their voices as vocal instruments. What an incredibly refreshing change, when it seems like most new music coming out these days is full of auto-tune and electronic additions.

Their amazing talent and innovative approach had them featured on TED back in May of 2009 (as you know we’re big fans of TED here at Rule29 and posted their TED video back in June of 2009), and not to mention touring on Bublé’s ‘Crazy Love’ Tour around the world and many other gigs and performances.

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