Last night Leftbank’s doors opened for a special panel discussion and gathering focused on the progressive edge of the coffee growing world.    Organized and hosted by  Stumptown Coffee Roasters (who else?), the night was a growers ’summit’ of sorts, dedicated to addressing the opportunities and base realities of an emerging and rather inspired model of trade - pioneered in part by Stumptown, themselves…      several hundred of portland’s finest took the opportunity to meet the source of their coffee, and engage in this ongoing discussion of what ‘fair’ really looks like.      In honor of the occasion, Stumptown set up a melitta bar serving the freshest brewed coffee from those very farms, the Leftbank cafe provided some wonderfully tasty snacks, and Upright Brewing opened up their tasting room downstairs to offer up a nightcap…  all told, a fine, fine time.

all photos by karen pride.
slideshow created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Mimas is the name of the fiddle-leaf fig (or, officially called Ficus lyrata) tree that resides on the first floor, next to the Hive. I gave it its first ’shower’ yesterday, and i saw it do “I’m so excited!” dance afterwards. Mimas likes sunlight and absorbs it through its big fiddle-like leaves. It likes to have its leaves cleaned occasionally (oh, pets!) to get the dust off and to get some moisture on.

So say hi to Mimas next time you are having lunch at the Cafe or swinging by the Hive. It is very friendly, and likes people and company :).

We are four years old.

So here’s the deal.

And here is the deal in graphical-poster-based format.

And here are some Deals.

Well, I mean, why not? Let’s get on this bandwagon.

We at OTC have actually been playing with/installing/testing these for a while now, and we can officially say they get the OTC stamp of approval. We installed 5 of them inside Backspace for Internet kiosks, and they have yet to have a single problem with them (and those machines get beat on in ways you don’t even want to know about). We even are using one in suite 102. And with 90% less power consumption than your average desktop, that’s some pretty sweet energy savings.

Also, John has been playing with this as well, which is pretty cool. Unless you’re as geeky as us, the “About Moblin” section will probably read like greek to you, as it’s written by Linux nerds that work at Intel, who if they happen to either belong to a World of Warcraft guild or play D&D, will have the best geek trifecta of all time. But anyway it is really cool to see large companies like Intel both embracing open-source software and also the whole netbook/nettop idea of more affordable, lower power consumption hardware that relies more on the power of the Internet to provide storage and resources.

a slideshow from my favorite co-working space, the Hive..    

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

think about it:

your very own desk handcrafted from salvaged tropical hardwood + loads of common work space + print room + Leftbank cafe + conference rooms + a really cool locker + showers + leftbank community (inspired people) + 24/7 access.       If you’d like to know more, click here!

suite 115 is home to Leftbank Development.

Leftbank Development takes on a single adaptive reuse project at a time.

Add one more line to the list of benefits to biking….  50 cent coffee.

In honor of the BTA’s bike commute challenge, the cafe is offering deliriously fresh stumptown coffee for only 50cents to bike commuters all month!     Leftbank has super-ample bike parking and if you’ve yet to see it, the Leftbank cafe is a fine, fine place to take a pause before rolling down the road…    If you already come by regularly, consider this a little pat on the back for living well and treading lightly!

Special thanks to Stumptown for partnering up on this one.           Also, if you’re new to biking in the area, we’ve put together a map (extra thanks to Carl and Greg) to show you the most simple ways to roll in.     If you’re just getting into the commuter thing, the BTA is offering free bike commuter workshops, too.   So think about it - cheap coffee, free workshops, fresh air and bike fun?    Recipe for a fine September, no doubt.

…and in closing, here are a few shots of my coffee getting down with my bike.

see you out there~

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  The best part of my work at Leftbank is crossing paths with innovative, inspired and inspiring people.  Everyday.  The Leftbank community is a steadily growing and delightful assembly of Portlanders, and August brought us a bumper crop. more

A while back I wrote about our friends at Tropical Salvage and their good work in this post.  I’m so happy to report that after many weeks at sea, the Tropical Salvage shipping container arrived bearing loads of beautiful furniture for Leftbank (including desks for the Hive).

Going above and beyond the call seems to be standard practice for these people.  In addition to partnering with Leftbank to bring the project incredible, ecologically and ethically sound furniture, Kevin Havice then spent 2 days helping us get it moved in and teaching us to care for it.  Now we’re armed with the knowledge we need to keep these pieces gorgeous and functional far longer than any of us will be.  Thank you so much, Kevin and Tim!

dc202 are excited to be designing a sensory dining “room” environment for the first annual “Serving Up Style - Designers Fighting Lupus”, event that will be held at the Fall 2009 Home & Garden Show.

We are one of six, local, design-related companies that are participating.   All proceeds from the closing-night gala will go to benefit Molly’s Fund Fighting Lupus, which is affiliated with the Lupus Foundation of America. This is a great opportunity for broadening awareness about a disease that affects over 5 million people worldwide.

I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise by divulging too many details, but you can be sure that our space will transcend any of the usual expectations.  It’ll be cool.