We’ve all heard it. Some of us have even said it before coming to work here. Because when someone mentions Dixon Schwabl to someone who doesn’t know anything about it, they somehow know at least one thing:
“Oh, yeah … that place with the slide!”
If our reputation at Dixon Schwabl precedes us, The Slide precedes our reputation. It’s a symbol that says infinitely more about who we are than what we do, and that is so us. It’s our crest, our flag, our Bat Signal and our jersey all at once. It tells someone a LOT, yet entices them to learn more. And once that person digs deeper and sees the three decades of innovation, success and growth, they realize that not only does Dixon Schwabl have a slide—we do some stellar work.
The Slide is the ultimate conversation piece. Legend has it that the architects didn’t take the fiercely fun-loving Lauren Dixon seriously when she said to put a slide in the lobby. After three versions of blueprints that featured no slide, she had to call the builder and insist it was no joke. She didn’t see it as a gimmick or a lame attempt to look cool. This was pre-Google. Dixon Schwabl did it before it was cool.
Recently, it was decided that our blog needed a name (something more creative than Blog), and we spent days throwing ideas around. Pages were devoted to brainstorm sessions, resulting in the recurring question of “How does this place have a slide but not a single giant whiteboard?”
Maybe something with the initials D-S: Do Stuff? Doing Stuff? Don’t Stop? No, just stop.
Something with Brand: Raisin’ Brand? Brand [New], Wry & Brandy? To be honest, all three of those were Top 10 material, but a bit too punny.
What if we repurpose an industry term: Reach? Impressions? The High Level? Not bad, but these can come from anyone. How would anyone know it’s us?
Something ridiculous: The DS BS? Dixon Bloggl? Really let it get away from us for a bit there.
We stressed over it, held extremely unscientific polls and returned to the metaphorical drawing board frustrated, asking, yet again, “How does this place have a slide but not a single giant whiteboard?!”
And that’s when we realized we didn’t need the whiteboard, because we already had The Slide.
Now, The Slide is how we tell our story. As a blog, it’s how we let people in to see not just who we are, but what we do. It can be traditional and innovative, consistent and spontaneous, strategic and creative, buttoned up and untucked all at the same time. Most of all, it’s a reminder to ourselves and to anyone who reads it: If you’re not having fun, all you’re doing is work.
Paul Gangarossa and Pete Wayner are curators of and regular contributors to The Slide. That said, the bright, talented members of the DS team across all departments are the stars of this space.