It’s that time of year when people begin to reflect on the year that has passed, and resolve to make changes for the better in the year to come.  We here at Stream57 are very proud that we help companies go green, enabling them to reduce their contribution to the global carbon footprint.  Air and travel emissions are a major component of the global carbon footprint, and we’re happy to do our part in minimizing these emissions with our webcasts, web conferencing tools, and virtual events!

With that being said, we know there’s always more that can be done to make this world a better, and greener, place.  We’re taking a cue from the Beatles, who famously wrote in Abbey Road:  “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”  We’re all very thankful for the exciting and successful year we’ve had at Stream57, and now it’s our turn to give back… 

Take a look at our new year’s resolutions, and how individuals at Stream57 are taking steps to make this office an even greener place!

Heather Jessica, Director of Webcasting, ensures that when we have to dispose of broken or used electronics, we donate them to eco-friendly companies that make sure they don’t end up in U.S. landfills or landfills in third world countries.  You can do the same with your used electronics by visiting:

http://www.4thbin.com/.  Digital waste is an important and often overlooked environmental issue that we feel passionate about.  The 4^th BIN was started by 4 men who wanted to fix the problem of collecting e-waste responsibly when New York did not have the means to do so.  The company has partnered with local community and national nonprofit organizations such as City  Harvest, the March of Dimes, and others to help get the word out and to make  sure that some of the profits from this activity go to worthy causes. But, most of all, their mission is to make it easy for everyone-large organizations, small businesses, and individuals-to begin to responsibly recycle their e-waste.  The company is offering FREE e-waste pickups in Manhattan during the month of January!  So please visit their site and sign up if you have any e-waste you need to dispose of!

 Angelo Alduino, Director of Software Development, pledges “I’ll turn the thermostat down, and zip my Stream57 fleece up.”

Ivan Schlachter, Event Producer, went to Home Depot and weather treated the doors and windows to PREVENT drafts in our office-Thank you Ivan!

Patricia Martinez, Director of Business Development, will take advantage of the latest Stream57 environmentally friendly gear- she’ll be using her Stream57 customized SIGG water bottle, rather than bringing disposable bottled water to work. (http://mysigg.com/).

 

Michelle Sapoff, Client Services Manager, is taking STEPS towards reducing her carbon footprint, both literally and figuratively- She’ll be walking to work this year!

Jordan Srulevich, Project Manager, is proud to incorporate greener practices into Stream57’s leisure activities; Rather than buying 6 packs of beer that waste cans and add to pollution and recycling costs, he helped Stream57 invest in a fully reusable keg (RIP).

Caroline Rubin, College Senior, will do her part in making the office greener by opting for coffee in a Stream57 mug over coffee-to-go, and can boast that she’s never contributed to the air pollution caused by driving/car exhaust.

The Project Management Team will save electricity and forgo fluorescent lighting in exchange for the natural sunlight that beams brightly through our windows (and the view isn’t too bad either!).

 

Well the results are in and it is official!

In the recent issue of Inc. Magazine, announcing the 5000 fastest growing companies, Stream57 leaped over 100 spots forward from last year and up to #637 of the fastest growing and revenue generating companies in the US.

Yep, that's right over 100 spots in one year!! Look at the excitement on Ben's face!!!!

 

Communication. It's the cornerstone of business AND pleasure. How does the dev team communicate to get down to business AND time wasting pleasure? Jabber? AIM? Yahoo messenger? "net send <text>"? None of these quite have the character and seniority of our old friend IRC.

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat and has been around since 1988. It's a very simple protocol that allows for multiple servers to network together and share messages between potentially thousands of users. It's still around today, although it's mostly used by oldschool internet veterans or sometimes as the backbone for janky java-based web browser chat plugins. I've personally been using it since the mid 90's and stuck with it ever since. It's actually what got me in to programming since the IRC client I've always used, mIRC, has a very extensive scripting language.

As the company started growing we needed a way to be able to communicate effictively in groups. IRC is a great choice for this and also includes other important things such as a whopping 16 text color choices (including background colors, whoa!), an easily sniffable plaintext protocol that screams "security", and the ability to belittle others through the use of kicking, banning and demoting from op status. There are other technologies out there that allow for group chat, but I figured since I grew up on IRC and learned to develop lots of scripts in mIRC it should be a part of the professional lives of myself and my colleagues.

It also allows for the occasional ASCII art spamfest. If you're not familiar with oldschool ASCII art here are some fine examples.

A blowfish!

                                     _
                                    (_)
              |    .
          .   |L  /|   .          _
      _ . |\ _| \--+._/| .       (_)
     / ||\| Y J  )   / |/| ./
    J  |)'( |        ` F`.'/        _
  -<|  F         __     .-<        (_)
    | /       .-'. `.  /-. L___       
    J \      <    \  | | O\|.-'  _   
  _J \  .-    \/ O | | \  |F    (_)
 '-F  -<_.     \   .-'  `-' L__    
__J  _   _.     >-'  )._.   |-'  
`-|.'   /_.           \_|   F    
  /.-   .                _.<     
 /'    /.'             .'  `\    
  /L  /'   |/      _.-'-\
 /'J       ___.---'\|
   |\  .--' V  | `. `
   |/`. `-.     `._)
      / .-.\
VK    \ (  `\
       `.\

       
How about a marionette?

            \
        =+===\===+=
         |  | \  |
         |  | |  |
         |  |_|_ |
         |  %%%%%|
         |  % ''%|
         |  %\_/%|
         |\/    \|
          \/|  |\/
            (  \
             \ \\
             / //
             \_))

Even complex subjects such as wormholes!

 
       ________________________________         
      /                                "-_          
     /      .  |  .                       \          
    /      : \ | / :                       \         
   /        '-___-'                         \      
  /_________________________________________ \      
       _______| |________________________--""-L
      /       F J                              \
     /       F   J                              L
    /      :'     ':                            F
   /        '-___-'                            /
  /_________________________________________--"  


Pasting art such as this in the channel is a great way to break up the humdrum of your standard "shop talk" that pollutes so many businesses today. It's great to shoot out a poor ASCII representation of what is being discussed in the channel and hear the chuckles and chortles from my fellow developers.

Another great thing about IRC is the vast amount of scripting possibilities that can be used to facilitate the management of channels and allow for channel bots that can randomly spew out fun facts and respond to text in countless ways. We're talking about bots to help you decide between two choices, bots that aggregate and dish out memorable quotes, hell, even bots that mimic notable traits of coworkers. Anything is possible in IRC. Anything.

In summary, sometimes the best tool for the job is a really old and crappy one. It may not be the prettiest and most feature rich but it definitely facilitates getting the job done and creates the occasional lolfest.

I've known Jim a long time.  Probably too long.  But one constant theme in Jim's life has always been a quest for the ideal working environment.

Every apartment he's ever looked at, every new office space we've ever considered, every new bar or public space we've ever visited, he has one immediate thought: 

"Could we fit a ball pit in here?"

Turns out, we were able to squeeze one into Jim's office for his birthday.  Yep, that's 1000 balls of fun, right at the base of Jim's desk. 

And not just a rental either...meetings, interviews, conference calls, etc...all conducted from the comfort of the ball pit from now on...

Happy birthday buddy!

When we were first getting ready to move into our new office space over at 601 W 26th, we tasked beloved Stream57 artist Kat with the creation of a mural for the entrance way. She did an amazing job - check out this timelapse video of her starting from white walls and transforming the space.

If you've ever worked with us, you've probably talked to Steve.  The VP of Project Management, Steve is the brains and the brawn behind a lot of what Stream57 can do.

Steve's a helluva guy all around. A former studio musician (he can wail on a trumpet and shred on a guitar...possibly at the same time), Steve is well-respected around here for his cooking skills, penchant for cycling, love of live music, and for geeking out over cheesy reality dancing shows with his wife Amy.  The last part may have been a secret before now.

Past interviewee Francisco Javier Rodriguez LaSanta sat down with Steve for a few rapidfire questions:

Frankie: Okay we are going to start this off with a quick and easy question, I know you have a bit of a sweet tooth: what's your ice cream flavor of choice?

I recently discovered, and have been smitten with, the chocolate hazelnut flavor from Chelsea Market. Tasty.

Frankie: Oh that does sound tasty. If you were to cheat on your regular ice cream choice, what is your risque flavor?

One flavor that I do really enjoy but don't like to admit is the bubblegum flavor. I have a soft spot for the bubblegum flavor in the mall ice cream shop.

Frankie: Good one. I was a fan of the screwball treat from the neighborhood ice cream truck – the bubblegum ice cream on top with the gumball at the bottom, so delicious.

The one I am talking about is the blue ice cream with the bubble gum balls embedded in it... that’s what I’m talking about... Mmm, she's my guilty pleasure.

Frankie: Okay, sure Steve.  Twitter, Facebook, MySpace. What is your stance on the social networking explosion of today?

It’s my business, not yours.

Frankie: Wow.  Okay then... let’s just move right along.  So with your extensive music background, would you consider instituting a comprehensive music appreciation week at Stream57 and would it involve harmonized kazoos?

Well first off, the harmonized kazoos are certainly Jim's territory, so I'll lay off that, but I think a musical week should definitely be mandatory sometime in the very near future. Especially because we have people like Jeanne around, who, although a bright girl, lacks ANY musical knowledge. I mean, you don't know Queen? ... Those sorts of things need to be rectified, mainly for the sake of my confidence in the human race. So yeah, I think the institution of Music Week would be a good idea.

Frankie: So you are saying basically that we shouldn't institute musical appreciation week as much as musical appreciation punishment for those who are not knowledgeable on what would be considered standard and mandatory musical things?

I mean, not punishment per se… just catching the morons up with the rest of the pack.

Frankie: So a firing spree is what we are leaning at here...

It's strong language, certainly. But what I mean is that we need to level the musical playing field and brings those with very little to no knowledge up to a semi-acceptable level.

Frankie: So grace them with the beauty that is good music.... Makes sense. Okay so let's move on to another one of your passions. We all know that you are a bit of a culinary wizard, so what is the most exciting thing you have ever cooked?

Okay. So I am going to reach back to when I was in high school so it is a little bit of a stretch and my memory is not perfect, but it was a seven or eight course meal. I don't remember every course but I believe we started with a warm mushroom salad, followed by something involving a flaky pastry -- a filo dough, spinach and cheese item. Some of the other details of the meal escape me at the moment but one thing I do remember is the crowning moment of the whole meal which was of course, dessert. There were two, might I say impressive delectables for my guests –one was a baked Alaska which I flambéed at the table and the other was a flourless chocolate cake with a raspberry drizzle that I did at the table as well.

Frankie: Now the personal question is, did Steve become a dessert at any point in this?

Did I become a dessert in this? No, no haha I was not on the table. But I am always a treat to be around.

Frankie: Oh that's terrible... hypothetical question –– You are playing basketball with a crowd watching, possibly a girl of interest, and half way through the game you totally get dunked on.

Well you have to press on. I mean if you get schooled, you have to school in turn. Perseverance is the game. If you just got totally schooled by someone you'd better hustle you down the court and stuff that *CENSORED* when he gets to the end of the court.

So make up for your past mistakes.

You have to. One can't always guard against the wrongs that may be done but as long as you seek retribution in turn then you’re fine.

Frankie: As head of project management, you probably deal with the most stress in the company. Do you use a disposable or electric razor?

Straight razors, my uncle who lives outside of Vegas collects antique straight razors and he got me into them at one point. And I don’t have any right now but at one time I was strictly a disposable razor guy, the electric is out. There has to be a blade.

Frankie: Okay one last question... puppies or kittens?

Puppies. Definitely puppies all the way.

Frankie: Oh really? And what does Aloysius think about this?

Um… Aloysius is probably a little jealous, but he is a fish, so who cares. A fish just sits in a tank. Puppies can frolic in a field and can actually play with you. And just a tip, if you give a puppy a plastic bottle that is just bigger than them to play with, it is the cutest thing watching them being so excited chasing around the bouncing bottle.

Frankie: Ha, I totally thought you were going to say put them in the bottle and make a bonsai puppy like they do with kittens in Japan... hmm maybe I should end it on that note.

Well folks this is Steve Geiger, like him or love him, whatever, he is the man.

We here at Stream57 are all about friendly competition, so when Aaron dropped the beard gauntlet we were all apt and ready to heed the call.  The rules were simple; grow the best beard you could within the sixty-day time frame and the winner would be crowned the most manly-faced man amongst men.  No length requirements or stringent rules for judgment, instead Kevin, our beard leader and esteemed judge, stated the winner would be the man whose beard “struck him” the most.

The beard-off was originally conceived in the middle of summer, but that is not the climate to grow a manly woodsman beard in. It was postponed until the winter months where the beard can serve both the purpose of male status symbol, and as a nice fuzzy shield against the bitterly mild New York winters.  The dates were set in stone, the first day of January through the end of February, when most of the development group and a handful of brave others would compete to the death in Stream57’s first ever beard-off.  

Luckily we put some forethought into this event and decided to fully document the beard growth.  A time-lapse station was set up in Jim’s office and the bearded members sat once a day to take a picture of their progress.  This was expertly put together by Brandon into an amazingly fun video for your consumption:

It was unanimously decided that Jesse was the winner of the beard-off.  This statement has been punctuated by the fact that he is the only competing member to still have the beard.  Either spouses or the threat of never finding one has pushed the rest of us into finally trimming the beards back to their pre-competition states—or in the case of Kevin, manscaping it into a more diminutive shape.    I find myself being both fearful and in awe of Jesse now, waiting for either a manifesto or a brilliant piece of insight to slip out from the seat next to me.  This speaks volumes of the change a beard can bring. Maybe one day a beard will make me look this cool too.

We're in the process of getting things set up with our new (awesome) office and we thought we'd give you a sneak peak before it's all configurated. Check out the video tour by Angelo below to get a feel for how it's laid out. I apologize in advance for my shaky camera work - all shot on my not very professional Canon HG21.

Just as we creatives started reconsidering all of the Stream57 branding (in anticipation of needing new addresses on freakin' errrvvvvrythang), the typeface that we've called "ours" for the past few years gets a little blast of courage from link-mecca and design-nerd supersite Coudal Partners.

Man, check out that Trade Gothic Bold Condensed 20.  Hot stuff, that font.

And if you've never visited their lovely home on the Internets before, definitely check out a match of Layer Tennis and take a stroll through the Museum of Online Museums.

 

 

We've been working with PR Newswire for a while now, droppin' press releases and company news tidbits all over the internets and trade journals.  We recently gave them a logo to play with, and they blew it up to epic proportions.  And by epic I mean the size of a flashy billboard in Times Square and the glitzy and glamour-y screen high above the Las Vegas Strip.

Imagine that...tourists and gamblers, east coast and west, ogling the beautiful gradient of the S57 element logo, over and over and over, all day long.

Pretty ridiculous, but totally awesome all at once.