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our thinking about Inspiration…

  1. May 13th, 2009

    The challenges of the 1500′s, the challenges of tomorrow

    “To him, architecture existed to solve problems, and he seems to have given equal weight to elevating the image of his clients, making their lives function more smoothly, and creating beautiful objects for the world.” – from “All He Surveyed,” by Paul Goldberger in the New Yorker (about the architect Andrea Palladio) From the 1500′s to today and the future, from…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Brand Strategy, Inspiration

  2. April 20th, 2009

    Two years late…

    “Once again, AdWeek is right on time, two years late” – David Lowe-Rogstad (via Twitter) For the last week we’ve been talking around the long table about this article on AdWeek titled “Digital Shops Embrace Cheap Chic.” This quote from the article really jumped out at me,”…the approach has to do with clients wanting more of an emphasis on igniting conversation…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Inspiration, The Way We Work

  3. April 1st, 2009

    David Lowe-Rogstad talks Long Table at Refresh Portland

    Unless you’re David’s wife or kids, chances are you don’t often get to spend an evening with him. But last week (March 26th to be exact), David spent the evening presenting and engaging with the packed house at Refresh Portland, talking about the idea of culture shift. More specifically, he was talking about how we work here at Substance, the…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Events, Inspiration, News, The Way We Work

  4. March 20th, 2009

    Lessons from SXSW: SXSWLesson.com

    We have been incredibly inspired by the presentations at South by Southwest (SXSW). More than each individual panel and presentation we attended, we had the opportunity to meet so many smart, thoughtful people to continue our discussions with outside the lecture halls. One of the most interesting aspects of SXSW is the luck, or some might say fate, of meeting…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Experimentation, Inspiration, Solutions

  5. March 20th, 2009

    David Lowe-Rogstad at RefreshPDX, March 26th

    We’re really excited to be sending David out into the wilds of Portland to present at RefreshPDX. What is he going to be talking about? Good question. Culture Shift – A Place at the Long Table How companies are changing structure to create better problem solving environments. from RefreshPDX: The creative and business problems of tomorrow will not be solved by the same…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Inspiration, News, The Way We Work

  6. March 18th, 2009

    Thank you Austin!

    Wow, my body hates me. Between the lack of sleep, TexMex, BBQ, late-night cheesesteaks, beer, and walking from one end of Austin to the other, my muscles, bones and joints ache. But my mind… blown away. This being the first South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference we’ve attended, we had unknown expectations. Would the panels rock? Would the keynotes inspire?…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Events, Inspiration, News

  7. March 9th, 2009

    Show and Tell PDX – the Videos

    We’ve posted a bunch of videos from Show and Tell PDX on Vimeo for those that couldn’t make it in person (and for those that want to relive the evening – make sure to drink a beer while watching). Unfortunately we ran out of tape for the Bac’n folks, and we need to hold off posting the Cinco one until…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Events, Inspiration

  8. March 4th, 2009

    Show and Tell — The Recap

    We want to thank everyone, presenters and attendees alike for joining us at the first Show and Tell PDX. It was more successful than we could have hoped, and we’ve already had requests for more. Before we get to the next one, I want to call out to certain people who made the night what it was. Thanks to… Thank you to…

    posted by David Lowe-Rogstad

    thinking about… Events, Inspiration, News

  9. January 19th, 2009

    Mistakes, MLK Day and Substance Year Two

    “Energy that’s being poured into trying to duplicate past successes can’t be applied to the search for new ones.” – Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins Over my holiday vacation I read Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins. (Anyone who’s been following me on Twitter can tell you I’m on a “mistakes” kick lately, up to…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Inspiration, News

  10. December 10th, 2008

    Alone with a Paintbrush

    “In Liége, Belgium, [Santiago] Calatrava was one of seven contestants in an architectural competition to design a highspeed-train station. His rivals came in teams armed with examples of their past work; Calatrava showed up alone, with his paintbrush, and won the commission.” – from “Winged Victories” by Rebecca Mead in the New Yorker, Sept. 1, 2008 It not about the past;…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Inspiration