Life at the Labs

Dec 14, 2011 Posted by: Paige Thelen
A Very Merry Holiday at Inner Circle Labs
While the holidays snuck up on us all, nobody was more prepared than the team at Inner Circle Labs. Just after Thanksgiving passed, desk décor began to appear, holiday music magically sprung from the in-house jukebox and the office was suddenly abound with cookies, chocolates and homemade brownies.

Before the chaos of traveling began and everyone fled San Francisco for the holidays at home, Inner Circle Labs celebrated the season with a holiday dinner at Salt House, a restaurant in the SOMA district replete with savory gourmet menu items and specialty cocktails that are sure to warm you up on these chilly nights. Games were played, gifts were given and a white elephant exchange was the highlight of the evening (just behind the last-minute lemon drop shooters – oy!). The most sought after gift? A melting clock reminiscent of Dali’s famed piece, The Persistence of Memory. Julie was the lucky and ruthless recipient (she had to steal it twice to seal the deal).

After the success of the holiday party, the team was in full merry mode, and settled down the next day with eggnog, cookies and holiday music in the building’s lobby. And before we could blink, ICL-ers began to make their journeys, one by one, to home towns far, far away to spend time with families and old friends.

As 2011 comes to a close, we love looking back at another successful year at Inner Circle Labs, a year full of changes, new faces, and many improvements to the office we love to call home. What would we change? What will we look forward to in 2012? Can’t wait to tell you what we’ve got in store…

Nov 22, 2011 Posted by: Maclay Coldren
Wheel! Of! Prizes!
The Inner Circle Labs team was recently introduced to a new, and very welcomed, office activity. Say it with us, Wheel! Of! Prizes! How does one earn the opportunity to take a spin, you ask? The wheel only makes an appearance for special occasions, such as employee anniversaries, milestones, or a kick-butt accomplishment in the office. This wheel is a beauty, full of gift cards from some of our favorite places including Osha, Noah’s Bagels, iTunes and The Coffee Bar, and, of course, a mysterious “surprise” tile. Talk about incentive! ICL-er, Melissa Roxas, was the envy of the office, taking the first spin in celebration of her one year anniversary. We asked Melissa to describe her experience:

“I felt like I was on a game show especially when I landed on the “surprise” tile which indicated an extra vacation day this time around. I guess it means I need to take my lucky streak to Vegas to see how I really do!”

Congratulations, Melissa – you deserve it! Wonder which team member will take the next spin

Sep 12, 2011 Posted by: Maclay Coldren
The Real World: Inner Circle Labs
Sun, surf, sand and a week away with the best crew around – that’s just part of the job here at Inner Circle Labs. The ICL-ers were whisked away to beautiful Oceanside, Calif. for our annual WorkAway week. From the second we landed at San Diego International airport, we booked it straight to Sea World and had a whale of time catching up with Shamu, who greeted us with a high five and a few love “splashes” (greeting card below). We got to live out our very own Real World-esque scenario (minus the 24/7 drama) and find out what happens when nine coworkers are under the same roof for a week. Not to our surprise, hilarity and, yes, hard work ensued. From hardcore pitching to heated games of Apples to Apples and a new team member in between (welcome to Inner Circle Labs, Jess!), there was never a dull moment. And that’s just some of it, there was plenty more fun, and some hair-raising (literally) hijinks, along the way. Here are some photos and a ‘by the numbers’ look at the 2011 WorkAway.

Aug 10, 2011 Posted by: Meredith Klee
August Dom & Digital Party
There’s nothing like a little Dom Pérignon to kick off your Wednesday night. We helped host the second of our digital discussion series, Dom & Digital, on August 10th at 620 Jones and we must say, it was the best yet. The limited edition Dom was glowing all night while guests mingled, ate and toasted the night away. From media to digital experts to some of our dear friends, everyone came out to make the event a great time. We have a lot to live up to next time around…

Jun 7, 2011 Posted by: Meredith Klee
Mobclix+Groupon WWDC Mashup Party
The ICL team attended (VIP style we might add) the Mobclix+Groupon WWDC Mashup party to celebrate the latest iOS achievements and demo one of our own app partners, Zite. Zite had a table in the heart of the action, near the dance floor, which allowed us to check out some sweet moves amidst showing off Zite to hundreds of interested invitees. We were even asked to do an interview for a tech broadcast OOBLY and our own broadcast pro, Meredith Klee, was happy to step up to the plate for her five minutes of fame. We mixed, we mingled and we met a lot of great media and developers fresh off the heels of WWDC Day 2. ICL topped the night off by taking a shot (well, shot glass) from the ice luge sculpture that doubled as Steve Jobs.

Jun 1, 2011 Posted by: Meredith Klee
Mobclix Dom & Digital Party
ICL rang in the month of June luxuriously at the Mobclix Dom & Digital party. For those of who you may not know, Mobclix, recently acquired by Velti, is a complete mobile application platform that uses real-time application analytics, media advertising and social media to give you insight into your business application.
ICL arranged the party at the posh 25 Lusk lounge in SOMA and invited friends, media and experts in the digital space to come eat, network and drink Dom. The night was a huge success, measured primarily by the fact that we killed 12 bottles of Dom Pérignon. Not too shabby, eh? Thanks for all those who came out and supported our fabulous partners at Mobclix!

Stay tuned for the next Dom & Digital in July…

May 17, 2011 Posted by: Melissa Roxas
XConomy’s Beyond Mobile: Computing in 2021
On Tuesday, ICL braved the rain and 101 traffic to attend XConomy’s Beyond Mobile: Computing in 2021 event at SRI in Menlo Park. Was it worth the trek? Yes! Not only did we hear mobile predictions from SRI, Microsoft and Calit22, we also saw our favorite robot, Anybots, grace the stage with their “tele-presence”. So will we see a Windows Phone 15 in the near future? We shall see…in the meantime, we leave you with some takeaways from the program:

• Unfortunately, most advancements don’t get picked up due to cultural reasons, not because of technical limitations
• Over time, the questions we ask don’t change, just the answers do
• Reason is overvalued by the minds of the tech space. The majority of the population is not up to speed with what we find to be easy and reasonable

Mar 17, 2011 Posted by: Meredith Klee
Happy Hour: In Green
In true Irish spirit, ICL had a festive St. Patrick’s Day happy hour to celebrate all things green. As the clock struck 4 p.m., Inner O’Circle McLabs was o’rocking as friends and colleagues stopped by for the happy hour / holiday extravaganza. Green dye, shamrocks and attempts at Irish accents were all the rage as was our secret “juice.” Thanks to everyone for stopping by and for your endless support. Cheers!

March 9 – 11, 2011 Posted by: Emily Joffrion
ICL Does Sx Right
Every year, SxSW redefines guerilla marketing as companies come up with zany ways to stand out. Most companies spend eleven months prepping for SxSW – getting reservations, food trucks, bands, swag – so they can blow away the competition. But part of the Sx fun is not just showing up but getting creative by offering people something they want or need (no, no…not strippers), so this year, team Inner Circle brought our A-game with two hot tech startups: Zite and BO.LT.

Give Zite a Shot!
Alcohol is a great social lubricant and most Sx attendees are looking to strike up conversations with influential strangers. So, we set up the “Give Zite a Shot” campaign for Zite, a personalized iPad magazine (which climbed the app store rankings to #1 the day it launched). With a cherry red adult tricycle tricked out with an AM/FM radio the Zite team set out carrying ice, mixers and an endless supply of Pocket Shots to encourage iPad owners and others to literally try out the app (give it a shot!). People were eager to snag a free drink, learn about Zite and take pictures with their Zite tumblers – and we caught a few people drinking from their cups at parties throughout the show. The reaction was incredible: CNN called us the cleverest thing they’ve seen at SxSW and one marketing gal even offered to buy the Zite Bike from us on the spot.

BO.LT Around Austin
When the sun set over Austin each night, SxSWers started hustling through myriad parties around the city. Bloated cab lines leave everyone looking not just for where to go but for a way to get there. Fortunately for them, the BO.LTMobile was at their service – offering not only a free ride but a chill after party in the BO.LT loft. BO.LT, a page-sharing service launching in April, bought a 1973 Swiss army truck from Arkansas down to Austin. We used Twitter to gather people’s locations so the BO.LTMobile could shuttle post-last call party-goers to a late-night party at the BO.LT loft in true military fashion. BO.LT also had a hot off the presses iPad 2 up for grabs – but winning it wasn’t based on luck alone. Any person willing to get a tattoo of BO.LT’s logo, an elephant named Bo, would immediately receive one of the two iPad 2. And we’re not talking henna, or press on, this was a permanent tattoo. And, we had a taker! Check out the video here (WARNING..contains adult language that may not be suitable for young persons) and take a look below.

February 9, 2011 Posted by: Paige Thelen
Inner Circle Labs and TinierMe organized Lunch 2.0 at TinierMe’s headquarters for an afternoon of eating, drinking and networking during San Francisco’s Social Media Week. Set up as a traditional Japanese street fair, TinierMe’s office was fully equipped with food stands featuring onigri, yakisoba and Japanese curry (“kari”). Sake tasting and Japanese beer made for a jovial crowd, and soon nobody could stay away from the cosplay photo booth and video game lounge. But alas, the party soon had to end and it was back to work for the crew. Until the next #lunch20…

January 18, 2011 Posted by: Meredith Klee
We took a break from our mid-week routine to stop by the Altimeter Group’s Open House on January 18. The place was filled with after work cheer as people congregated for good food, wine and conversation in San Mateo. The evening started off with a delicious, and much needed, refreshment at the wine bar. Next stop, the paper plane making station. Altimeter, named after the instrument used to measure altitude in planes, decided to break the ice by encouraging our competitive spirit with a paper plane making competition. With one sheet of paper, everyone was left racking their brains for childhood memories of how to build the best paper airplane. Apparently old habits die young because our attempts looked less like planes and more like origami gone wrong. After losing the competition, we moved on to the bevy of delicious treats and caught up with old friends and new. The team from Altimeter shared insights about the year to come and gave out copies of their latest reports in the social media space. Cheers and thanks to our friends at Altimeter for turning a typical Tuesday evening into a fabulous soirée!

January 5, 2011 Posted by: Julia Stemerman
For most people, as the new year starts, so do diets, workout routines and long days at the office. For those who work in consumer electronics, there is no time for anything other than the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. As the biggest consumer electronics tradeshow in the world, the 2011 show attracted 140,000 people, 30,000 overseas visitors, 2,700 technology companies, 22 keynote-participating CEOs and a whopping 158,000 tweets (according to the CEA). Now THAT’S the way to start the year off with a bang.

Together with Anybots and Oakley, the ICL team started 2011 with a splash – a VIP party splash. On Friday, various members of the Oakley team arrived at the Aria Hotel to celebrate the company’s 3D eyewear. Equipped with a 3D TV, a gaming console and pairs of black and white 3D glasses, the ambiance was complete. As soon as the party started, media start trickling in, chatting with Oakley and enjoying some tasty food and beverages. The Macallan was kind enough to bring some bottles to the party, including The Macallan 18, 21 and (yikes) 25. The Macallan also brought a special ice ball machine and demonstrated the craft of ice ball making to a group of excited onlookers. With 3D demos, great conversation and tasty scotch, the party ended on a high note. A big thanks to Jean Aw from NOTCOT for taking some of these amazing photos!

After roaming around Vegas all day on Saturday (and getting kicked out of a few casinos), the Anybots (and their human entourage) rolled into the Aria suite. They were ready to catch up with some of their media friends and get their robot party on. The Anybots crew came dressed to impress and ready to mingle. To add to the Vegas scene, we hired a showgirl and a blackjack dealer for the party. Both were a big hit and despite the bots stealing the showgirl’s feathers on several occasions, everyone left the party smiling.

December 2, 2010 Posted by: Julia Stemerman
Twas the start of the holiday party season. No parties had been thrown, no parties had been attended. The rainy season was upon us, the cold and fog had started to set. It was the perfect time for the grandest party of all, the Inner Circle Labs’ launch/one-year anniversary party.

A few months prior, the ICL team began preparations. A small task force was built, marching orders were in place and off we went into party planning land. The goal: leave guests filled with warmth and joy (and of course food and alcohol).

With wine donations secured (thanks Alpha Omega and Fourth Estate), the best raffle in all the land compiled (thanks Oakley, Mertado, PapayaMobile, Mobclix, Moxsie, Ticketfly), a DJ in tow (thanks Roy), a very jolly venue (thanks Cocoon), tasty morsels (thanks Local) and even cake on a stick (thanks Lauren), the ICL team walked into the party with a swagger. Here they were, celebrating a successful first year in business with their friends and partners. Let the good times roll!

After a night filled with schmoozing and boozing (and even a bot guy getting away with a spa robe), the guests started to trickle out of Cocoon. ICL’s months of planning paid off…the team was overwhelmed with compliments and party accolades. That good cheer continued for the next week via phone calls, emails and Facebook messages. All in all, the event could not have gone any better. Cheers!

November 18, 2010 Posted by: Julia Stemerman
Jump, jump, jump around! That’s what the team did on November 18, not only to get a trampoline workout and beat the little kids at a mean game of dodgeball, but also to celebrate the founder and CEO’s birthday. After a full day of work, the whole crew headed through the presidio and landed at the House of Air, a place filled with trampolines, from the floor to the walls. As the team started jumping, each person found herself/himself tired within minutes, but carried on jumping nonetheless, often times collapsing mid-trampoline. By the end, red and exhausted, the team assembled for pictures and high fived a fun team bonding event. The celebration continued at The Tipsy Pig on Chestnut St., where the team ate macaroni and cheese while sipping on cocktails. Good times, good times indeed.

November 3, 2010 Posted by: Melissa Roxas
ICL couldn’t help but celebrate the Giants World Series win – the parade took place in front of our offices! We had the perfect spot to watch and cheer on the players that visitors stopped by to chill at our pad. It was awesome to take part in SF history that day. GO GIANTS!!

October 5, 2010 Posted by: Julie Crabill
Another reason it is great to pick the best partners and only work on stuff you love? Turns out you get invited to some pretty cool events. On a recent trip out to NYC, I worked out of Ticketfly’s Manhattan office and got to go to the Roger Waters The Wall concert at Madison Square Gardens with Ticketfly’s CEO, Andrew Dreskin. A great dinner was followed by my first ever concert at “The Garden” and an amazing evening of drinks at NYC hot spots like the Soho House. Wow, Dreskin sure knows how to show a lady a good time!

September 30, 2010 Posted by: Jonathan Neri
The team put on a show of their own at VatorSplash this year. We had a table setup, complete with Jello-shots and cake pops. The show was awesome, great competition and speakers. The fine folks from Cannonball and San Franola Co. were fun neighbors on the second floor.

September 9, 2010 Posted by: Julie Crabill
Nothing is more amazing than expanding your horizon by working with partners from around the globe – except when those partners come over and cook delicious food from their home country for you. Ever tried Okonomiyaki from Japan? No, well you should. Our buddy, Ohnogi “Nogi” Masaru, CEO of TinierMe, came by with his colleague, Ken, and taught us all a thing or two about Okonomiyaki. As luck would have it, our friend Amara Poolswasdi from The Rainmaker Network was also in town and joined in the fun. Key lessons from the night:

• Love is the best spice
• Fish flakes move like they are alive when heated
• You should never take shots with Nogi

September 1, 2010 Posted by: Emily Joffrion
Life at the Labs is all about passion and – lucky for us – sharing laughs and good times with new friends and old buddies is part of our job (yeah, we know how lucky we are). This week, we celebrated the arrival of Wade Roush, the newest addition to San Francisco’s Xconomy team of writers. He is taking the helm as Chief Correspondent and Editor for the publication and passed by the Labs for fizzy bubbly and luscious wines brought in by our founders (who happen to have amazing taste in wine). For those of you who missed it, here are the highlights:

• The (hopeful) re-invention of Detroit’s economy
• Ben Parr’s master diving with tiger sharks
• A history lesson on photography (Magnum to Flickr) from our friend Terry Chay
• Crowdsourced art projects and the future of digital culture
• Pop Chips, Cheesu and Buddy Christ

August 3, 2010 Posted by: Julie Crabill
QB, the Anybots telepresence robot traveled the U.S. in style. Whether it was a one-week media trip to the East Coast, or a skip via Virgin America to LAX, that robot knows how to travel.

June 15, 2010 Posted by: Jonathan Neri
Inner Circle Labs finds a home…. the office at 601 Montgomery Suite 688 is open for business. It was fun and challenging to open up the doors. Read more about it on Julie’s blog at Needling the Haystack

May/June 2010 Posted by: Jonathan Neri
Our first ever Workaway took place in May/June on the North Shore of O’ahu. Check out the videos to learn more about what the team thinks about them.

April 17, 2010 Posted by: Emily Joffrion
Another fun day with the gang from Ticketfly at Coachella. Amazing music, good friends…a good time by all.

April 14, 2010 Posted by: Jonathan Neri
Inner Circle Labs takes a break and goes….zip-lining? Urban zip-lining brought to Justin Herman Plaza by the folks from British Columbia Experience…it was the perfect way to get your blood pumping for a successful afternoon.

April 13, 2010 Posted by: Emily Joffrion
Hanging out in San Francisco with our friends at Ticketfly and the company attorney, Andre of Silicon Legal Strategy