“I love the work of helping a client in court.” says Arlington attorney and counselor at law William P. Robinson III.
That’s a good thing, for himself and his clients, because Robinson is very often in front of a judge, trying cases for his areas of practice, which include criminal and traffic offenses, family law and contract disputes.
“I’m in the ‘people problem’ business,” he says. “Since I’m a solo practice law firm, I’m the one who always handles the case directly — and the client deals only with me. My business number is my cell number so I’m easy to get a hold of.”
Robinson, a Ballston resident who has been practicing for almost a decade in Northern Virginia and D.C. and knows the lay of the land like the back of his hand, comes from a family of attorneys. And one major bit of wisdom he took to heart early was to be accessible, to put clients at ease with what they are going through.
When asked what he likes best about his chosen career, Robinson takes a moment to consider his answer. Finally he concludes, “On one hand I enjoy negotiation with the opposite party, and on the other I’m determined to win at trial.”
“But ultimately, I’m lucky to be able to work with people from all different backgrounds and problems in a fast-paced region, working to help them get the relief they are looking for.”
Robinson’s law practice includes criminal and traffic defense, family law, contract and lease negotiations, and civil litigation.
See William P. Robinson III’s website here. His phone number is 703-789-4800. His email address is [email protected].
The preceding sponsored post was written by Buzz McClain.
The “mystery” of who will be honored as the Arlington County law enforcement officer of the year will be solved Thursday, May 4, during the annual award presentation luncheon sponsored Arlington County Crime Solvers.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony at the Salsa Room, 2619 Columbia Pike, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) will deliver the keynote speech. Arlington Sheriff Chief Deputy Paul Larson, Police Chief Jay Farr and other county officials will speak on community-police relations and the effort to join forces in fighting crime.
Chief Deputy Larson and Chief Farr will present the two Law Enforcement Recognition Awards to the Arlington County law enforcement officers chosen by the Crime Solvers as those who have made significant contributions to making Arlingtonians safe.
“I believe the ACCS can foster a strong relationship with the local community and law enforcement by bringing us together each year and saying ‘thank you’ to those who risk their lives everyday to protect our safety,” said Andres Tobar, ACCS president and executive director of the Shirlington Employment & Education Center.
This is the fifth time the Crime Solvers have honored Arlington’s law enforcement with a ceremony and lunch. This year is the first time for the presentation of a new award, given to the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, to a community organization that best represents community-law enforcement relations.
In addition, Richard V. Doud, Jr., the founding president of the Arlington County Crime Solvers chapter, will also be recognized with a special award.
Arlington County Crime Solvers maintains a volunteer-operated, 24-hour tips line for anonymous callers to report crimes and wanted persons. Cash rewards of up to $1,000 are offered to those who provide information leading to arrest or the recovery of drugs or stolen property. The number is 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
As far as contests go, this is a unique one: All Arlington personal in-home fitness trainer Joe Tryon wants is for you to guess how long it was between the taking of the “before” photo and the “after” picture.
The photos are of him.
“This is something I wanted to do since before I started the business,” says Tryon.
His company is called Kinematics; the former Army captain offers in-home and mobile personal training and nutrition services, and he’s offering up his own body as proof that he’s on to something with his methods.
Your fitness goals are met using his personalized exercise plans designed to meet those goals. Your experience with fitness training and schedule are all taken into account to insure success at your own pace.
Tryon knows what you’re going through: Once he left the Army and began working a desk job his discipline and fitness routines that got him through Airborne and Ranger schools took a beating, as did his body when he attempted to get back in shape. A skilled physical therapist put him back together and that’s when he gained the motivation to acquire the certifications needed to help others.
And now he’s having a contest.
In each photo he’s holding a copy of that day’s newspaper. The person who comes closest to guessing how many days elapsed between the photos wins a nifty TRX GO Suspension Trainer system, a $129.95 value, and if you don’t know what it is, you might want to sign up for a free assessment from Kinematics.
When we checked in on Ouli a year ago, the new mobile personal concierge app, developed in North Arlington, impressed early adopters with its groundbreaking two-way engagement abilities and it’s ability to learn your likes.
Now meet Ouli 2.0, released in March. Not only does it deliver consumer-choices for you based on your location and previous interaction–and the more you use it, the more it learns about you–the new home page brings you “the best thing to do right now” when you open the app, says Pierre Malko, CEO of Dante Inc., the Arlington-based software company that’s been building technological innovation since 1998.
“It could be where to have happy hour or what show is available at a local theater,” he says. “Ouli comes to you with recommendations for experiences that are pertinent at that point in time based on where you are.”
Other added enhancements include an integration with Uber — you can book your ride through the app — and OpenTable, to make reservations based on Ouli’s recommendation. One of the benefits of Ouli is that it only suggests viable selections, so sold-out restaurants and performances won’t be recommended.
A year ago there were about 100 merchants in the Ouli database, mostly in Arlington because that’s where the app launched. But now, Malko says, Ouli’s reach goes beyond Northern Virginia into Washington and Maryland and the programming has expanded into the arts, nonprofits, farmer’s markets and volunteer opportunities.
“Ouli is all about connecting you with the local community,” says Malko. “Usually we gravitate to well-known places like the Shakespeare Theatre and the Kennedy Center, and that’s fine, but there are tons of local performers and artists who are doing great shows in nearby establishments that you would not have heard of otherwise.”
Malko is proud of the improvement to add nonprofit organizations and volunteer opportunities to the mix, which he hopes will enrich not just the Ouli user but the community at large.
“As a person with a family in Arlington who is also very involved in the community, I always like to know about the things that are going on,” he says. “But it’s not always easy to find. You have to search a million different places.”
Community engagement with Ouli, he says, “is helping us all enjoy and support local causes that are important to us, or local establishments that we love to have around. And the more we engage, the higher the chances that they’ll stick around for a long time.”
The new Ouli release offers an improvement on the personalization and two-way engagement attributes of the app. In short, they’ve made it less intrusive, and thus more welcome, all the while still giving you notifications of sales, events and other specials in the neighborhood you happen to be in, “but only if there’s a high likelihood that you’ll care about it,” he says.
“We didn’t want this to be one other thing that bothers our users, so we spend a lot of time and energy on taming it,” Malko says. “Honing those personalization skills was not easy, but we’re giving the user what they want and also not bothering them with things they don’t care about…We want to make this a service that helps them enjoy their life and do so economically.”
Yes, there’s an app for that. It’s called Ouli.
Ouli can be downloaded herefor immediate use. See what the best thing going on around you is right now.
The preceding post was written by Buzz McClain and sponsored by Ouli.
Every Thursday morning, rain or shine, the folks enjoying breakfast and coffee at the tables outside the Lee Harrison Shopping Center Starbucks get to see the delivery of two to three tons of birdseed hauled into the Wild Birds Unlimited store next door.
That’s two to three TONS of bags of wild birdseed.
“That’s how fresh it is,” says owner Michael Zuiker. “And we go through that mountain every week.”
During special promotions that mountain has been known to grow to seven tons, and it flies off the shelves as if on eagle wings.
Wild Birds Unlimited has been at the same perch at Lee Harrison for 26 years, ever since Zuiker gave up designing Roy Rogers restaurants for Marriott in the 1980s and decided to do something that connected him as well as others with the outdoors.
“I’ve always loved outdoors, always loved nature,” Zuiker says. “I always loved the concept of doing something all natural. So for 26 years we’ve been bringing people and nature together.”
Over the years Zuiker has established a loyal clientele of bird lovers in Arlington, Falls Church and McLean, and he’s heartened by the growing number of new customers who come to the store perhaps for the first time. But some of them aren’t clear on the concept when they first come in.
“Maybe twice a week people come in looking to buy birds,” he says. “I tell them, I have no clue how to sell a bird. And the other misconception they have is when they ask, Can you make a living doing this? That’s when I politely tell them feeding wild birds is the second-most popular hobby in America, next to gardening.”
Zuiker says some 60 million Americans actively feed birds all four seasons. “It’s a beautiful hobby,” he says.
Zuiker is careful not to run down the competition, but those inexpensive bags of birdseed at grocery and hardware stores are not the stock he’s carrying.
“They sell it so cheaply, I don’t see how they can make a profit on it,” he says. “But it won’t be fresh, it won’t be good quality seed. A 20-pound bag might have 70 percent cereal grain in it which the birds don’t actually eat. They’ll kick it to the ground.
“And it’s very possible it’s been sitting on the shelf for months, which, because there is larvae in it, it could produce bugs.
“Or it could have very few seeds that only a few species will eat and not the kind people are trying to attract to their backyards.”
In Arlington, that would be cardinals, chickadees, titmice, winter wrens, English sparrows, goldfinches, blue jays, doves — “a lot of color, a lot of songs in your backyard,” he says–or any of the six species of woodpeckers that inhabit the area.
A different bag of bird food, when used strategically, will bring in the migrating birds. Zuiker says there are some 10 to 20 species of those who swoop in for a snack before headed home.
Zuiker and his staff make sure customers have the seed and the feeders they need to accomplish their goals, and in Arlington and Falls Church, which are famously leafy neighborhoods, it’s not hard to do. But it has to be done right.
“You can put a feeder out and have birds on it within an hour,” he says. “But we tell our customers to give it a couple of weeks to really get going because the birds don’t recognize it as a food source right off the bat.”
Then there’s the squirrel challenge. “Everybody has a squirrel challenge,” he says, “but we can make any feeder in our store 100 percent squirrel-proof if you set it up correctly.”
Unsure about squirrels, feeders, seeds and the difference between a tufted titmouse and a white-breasted nuthatch? Just ask.
“I train my staff really hard to be real educators,” says Zuiker. “We want people to walk out the door with their solution for what they want in their backyards, and we try to educate them on the different ways they can do that. And it’s fun!”
Still fun, after 26 years?
“I never get tired of listening to the birds, I never get tired of feeding the birds and I never get tired of going out into the woods and exploring,” Zuiker says.
“But what really motivates me is, I don’t think I’ve maxed out [the customer base]. I don’t think it’s reached its potential. And I’m not interested in growing just to grow, but to help the staff and help other people–I’m still motivated by that.”
And not to mention helping the wild birds.
Wild Birds Unlimited is in the Lee Harrison Shopping Center at 2437 N. Harrison Street, Arlington. Call 703-241-3988 or email at [email protected].
The preceding business profile was written by Buzz McClain for our sponsor, Wild Birds Unlimited.
There is a lot going on in and around Bistro 360. It’s a restaurant, yes, but it’s also an elegant wine bar, a neighborhood wine and food market, and a source of fresh-made prepared entrees and sides to go.
The theme? A little of everything, from everywhere.
The name of the restaurant, Art Hauptman explains, reflects the global intentions of the offerings. “We have food and drink from around the world,” he said. “We want to give people a sense of what’s possible, but right here in Arlington.”
So you don’t have to go to Armenia to get Armenian string cheese. It’s right there in the case, next to the peanuts and garlic chips from the Philippines. Not far from the trio of tasty dips from New Zealand. Near the Asian-inspired lemongrass pork chops with kimchi puree.
“We’re trying to do interesting things you don’t see all the time,” says Hauptman, a well-traveled and long-time Arlingtonian who has owned the restaurant since it opened in 2014.
Located on a corner between Rosslyn and Courthouse, convenient to both neighborhoods, Bistro 360’s dining room boasts a menu ranging from lamb ragu with Thai basil to pan-roasted Asian duck breast to murg makhani, an original take on Indian butter chicken.
The daring menu lives up to its name: It’s not every restaurant that has shrimp and grits, potato gnocchi and Indonesian nasi goring with shrimp and chicken side by side.
In the wine bar, which also serves cocktails and beer, a menu of exotic nibbles and fresh house-made bread, along with a wide assortment of wines by the glass, keep the international conversation going during happy hour (daily from 4:30 to 7). Free wine tastings take place each Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30. (Many wines are half-price on Wednesdays in the bar and the dining room.)
Small plates available in the bar or dining room include deviled eggs with candied bacon, tuna tempura, Spanish garlic lemon chili shrimp, lamb sliders and PEI mussels, among other savory offerings.
Bistro 360’s chef, Travis Obertach, came to Arlington from North Carolina (which explains the shrimp and grits, we imagine). He says he enjoys the diversity of the clientele in Arlington and the challenge of keeping things seasonal and surprising. Surprising? How about a wonderfully complex fried green tomato with caraway tomato jam, goat cheese, and a morsel of house-cured pork belly?
Obertach also helps with the menu and operation at Hauptman’s other Arlington restaurant, the New Zealand-themed Cassatt’s Kiwi Café and Gallery. Cassatt’s is a casual dining bistro that opened in 2002 for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch in Lee Heights remains the home of the best flat white in Arlington.
In addition to preparing cuisines of the world for two restaurants, Obertach is overseeing the cooking for Hauptman’s newest venture, an events catering service called World’s Fare Catering. For information call 703-577-4124 or email [email protected].
As a convenient neighborhood market, Bistro 360 has some 200 wines, most of them imported, about two dozen cheeses and a refrigerator case that requires some asking for information, for example, do those sweet chili drops (plump berries, actually) go well with miso-glazed salmon?
In any case, it will be an adventure, just the way Art Hauptman intended.
Bistro 360 is located at 1800 Wilson Boulevard; call 703-522-3600 or use OpenTable to make a reservation. Cassatt’s Kiwi Café is at 4536 Lee Highway; call 703-527-3330.
The preceding was a business profile written by Buzz McClain and sponsored by Bistro 360.
Buying your first car or home? Refinancing or retiring? Lafayette Federal Credit Union will be your financial partner for all of these milestones.
Since 1935, Lafayette Federal has been catering to families and businesses worldwide, offering a wide range of financial products and services that prove the difference between a community-oriented credit union and a traditional multi-branch bank.
“We are member-owned, not-for-profit and community minded,” said Marilyn Wagner, Vice President, Marketing for Lafayette Federal. “Every decision made, every new product and every service introduced is based on what is best for our community. Being a not-for-profit organization allows us to pass savings along to you, which in turn is good for your wallet.”
Those new to the credit union concept are welcome to talk to a Lafayette Federal representative at any time to discuss the benefits of membership. One major benefit is lower rates on residential mortgages, credit cards, and auto and boat loans. There are other advantages, as well as free cutting-edge mobile banking, free rewards credit cards and eight locations, including three in Northern Virginia.
For those living and working in Arlington, the road to achieving your financial goals begins with a visit to the new Crystal City branch, located on the ground floor of the 2231 Crystal Drive building.
The Crystal City location is a full-service branch and can assist members with all of Lafayette Federal’s products and services. The branch also has an ATM on-site and across the street.
Start your Lafayette Credit relationship by visiting the Crystal City branch or by contacting Branch Manager, Veronika Memetova at 240-485-9312 or [email protected].
The preceding post was sponsored by Lafayette Federal Credit Union and written by Buzz McClain.
Dryer lint on a light switch two floors above the dryer
Standing water in flexible pipe
Lint in dryer vent
Excessive mulch
English ivy
Debris under a gutter screen
Carriage bolts on deck footer
When we profiled Ed Snope’s Atlas Home Inspection company last year, we spoke with busy, all-business Realtors who count on Snope’s all-important reports to be thorough, accurate and on time in order to process Arlington real estate transactions.
Not only did he exceed his reputation for experience and knowledge of how a house is put together, the Realtors also praised his ability to communicate clearly exactly what the buyers and sellers were dealing with.
So we asked Snope to share with us some of his 30 years of experience in home and landscape construction and his four years as the sole proprietor of the bustling Atlas Home Inspection. We wondered what were 10 common findings in Arlington dwellings that he could share with us, explain why they are concerns and offer advice for improvement.
His answers may surprise you.
Outside
1. Mushroom-capped carriage bolts are popular as fasteners in deck construction as they are long enough to penetrate 4×4 footers and easy to use. However, holding up thousands of pounds of people and furniture on a deck is not what they should be used for. “Carriage bolts were developed to secure metal plates to wood beams,” he says. “The heads do not accept a washer. Lag bolts with washers, timber bolts and specialty fasteners and prefabricated metal connectors are available.”
2. Those flexible drainpipes taking water away from your house have ripples to increase flexibility. “But each one of those corrugations can hold enough water to breed tiger mosquitos,” Snope says. “And they tend to curl up at the end–creating a negative slope and holding water.” Smooth-walled pipe is not much more expensive but may require “a bit more labor to install.”
3. Mulch is often contaminated before it reaches the home. It can hide poor grading underneath, leading to water problems with the dwelling. “Mulch volcanoes” at the base of trees can damage plants if the mulch is excessive, and if you haven’t been hauling away the old stuff when topping off, you probably have too much. “It can cause bark rot and other moisture-related diseases,” he says.
4. That English ivy took a while to climb the side of the house, and it sure makes those Maywood bungalows look pleasingly vintage. But. “This is an invasive species,” warns Snope. “It offers little ecological value and is difficult to eradicate. It strangles native plants and trees, retains moisture (not good), harbors pests and mosquitoes and requires diligent maintenance.” It also damages siding and trim. Better choices are periwinkle or pachysandra.
5. When your neighborhood in invariably described as “leafy,” as most Arlington communities are, gutter covers sound like a reasonable solution to keeping leaves and sticks from clogging exterior drainage. Think again. “They are not maintenance-free and they typically increase roof runoff, especially on medium- to steep-pitched roofs,” Snope says. That increases the moisture around the house, leaving basements vulnerable. And debris still builds up under those gutter guards. Keep an eye on them, or upgrade to a far more expensive brand $25 a foot — that works slightly better.
Inside
6. If the dryer is in the basement what is dryer lint doing collecting on light switches two floors up? “Leaky ducts release lint into the home, often pulled into the HVAC system. Dryer lint can build up inside the clothes dryer, in the exhaust duct, in the exhaust vent or inside the building,” says Snope. “Flexible foil duct is easily compressed and tends to trap lint.” And this is bad why? “Lint buildup increases drying time, uses extra electricity, can damage equipment, and can become a fire hazard.”
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
Like a lot of college students, Michael Meyers was strapped for cash. Like, really strapped for cash, even gas money. He was not, however, short on ambition, ingeniousness or energy. Put those together — the need for funds plus the determination to earn it — and you get a new business.
In this case, it’s the Arlington-based sharing economy platform called Tradeversity.
“The problem I had wasn’t revolutionary by any means,” Meyers admitted. “As a student covering my college expenses I was just trying to sell items around my apartment.”
At the time, in 2013, Meyers was studying marketing and finance at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The Northern Virginia native was unfamiliar with neighborhoods off campus so he eschewed posting on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace which might have him delivering to sketchy or distant neighborhoods, and Marketplace listings tend to get buried quickly. He also learned that shipping costs incurred with a sale on eBay posts were prohibitive.
His inventory at the time included textbooks, furniture and especially backpacks — his father is a rep for Jansport. In short, he needed an efficient way to list his merchandise to a specific market, ideally those nearby with an SC.edu address.
“I discovered there was no simple, effective, safe way to sell my stuff,” he said.
And when you find a niche, what’s an ambitious marketing and finance major to do but to fill it?
Things moved fast for Meyers, who credits a superb support system for innovators and entrepreneurs at his university: Incubators, mentors and others who “helped me embrace the idea of starting a business in school. You have so many resources surrounding you.”
A beta test at USC was a strong indicator that he was onto something. Not only did it catch on with his own cohort, suddenly students at other universities were asking, When is Tradeversity coming to our school?
The timeline: Inception in 2013; developing the concept immediately after graduating in December 2014; launching the platform in 2015.
He is finding similar entrepreneurial support at his new offices at Crystal City’s 1776 startup incubator. In the last month or so since signing on, Meyers said he’s found new mentors “who have been very generous with their time. They have a strong understanding of how to build a technology company.”
The experience has been similar at Crystal City’s WeLive/WeWork innovation hub. Those are the locations, in addition to an office at the USC/Cola Technology Incubator, where the staff of three full-time employees and the various part-time and contract employees work on perfecting the platform.
The Arlington locations, he said, “have been extremely supportive and helpful and opened us up to a vast network of mentors, educational opportunities and talent. We’ve also been working with Tara Silver and her [marketing] group SilverStrategy as well.”
Meyers said he developed the idea on a bootstrap basis. “I put everything I had into the company,” he said. “You can imagine that if I was trying to sell backpacks to cover the cost of college, my [investment] wasn’t very much.”
A huge financial and inspirational windfall arrived when Tradeversity won the Proving Ground 2014 “big pitch” competition at USC, with a $20,000 prize. That and a few grants got them through and recently Meyers closed his first angel round, raising, he said, more than $400,000.
That funding will go into all the elements of the business, from design and coding to marketing and hiring more staff. He hopes to fill five to eight full-time spots in the next 12 months.
The service is live and open at 20 universities — an .edu address is required to open an account — but he said there are clients at “more than 200 additional schools” who have opened accounts. “That’s our roadmap for future launches,” he said. “We launch based on where the orders are coming from anyway.”
Tradeversity avoids the cumbersome paperwork involved in becoming an official school vendor — the school usually wants a cut of sales — but some university officials have expressed branding Tradeversity’s service in their own name, a private label as it were, and Meyers is in talks with representatives about that concept.
Licensing may be a viable revenue stream in the future. Meyers is exploring other monetization opportunities that take advantage of cash sales going down in college residence halls. “It’s very difficult when you have a hyper-localized marketplace unless you control the transaction from start to finish,” he said.
But he’ll figure it out. He did it once, he can do it again.
It’s been barely a year of business for the Arlington-based family tour firm TripUSAFrance, but in that time, dozens of travelers have experienced the South of France with Julia Girard-Gervois and her Montpellier-based father Stephane, and the rave reviews are pouring in.
“I loved eating at places frequented by the locals and the picnic lunch catered by Julia’s mom at the beach was beautiful and delicious,” said Katie L. “We saw so much — from walled cities to Medieval castles to rides on Montpellier’s trolleys. Much better than fighting tourists in Paris!”
“We have traveled extensively throughout Europe and France, but had never been to Montpellier and its environs,” said Tim S. “TripUsaFrance put together a wonderful tour of Medieval cities, castles, cathedrals and country sides. Of particular note were the sound and light show of Chagall paintings and the cooking school. And hosts Julia and Stephane couldn’t have been nicer. They went out of their way to make sure everyone in our group — ages 35 to 92 — had a great time.”
The common theme to these comments is the personal touch Julia brings to each adventure. It’s part of the company’s purpose.
With the motto “Travel like a local,” TripUSAFrance crafts culturally interactive tours so you can actually experience the culture, not just see it.
“We want the travelers to experience France like a local would by sharing our culture and traditions, showing them our secret spots, teaching them our language and habits, introducing them to as many local French people as possible such as the owner of the hotel, friends, and neighbors. When these locals recognize our travelers and say hello to them it makes them feel like they are part of the community and even more welcome. This is only possible because we are a small group, no more than 14 people, and because they are staying in the same hotel and city for a week, which we consider more like a village. This is what makes our tour unique and special,” Julia said.
Upon arrival, Julia and Stephane drive you to your beautifully renovated beach hotel, just steps away from the Mediterranean Sea. Each morning you are treated to a French Breakfast at the hotel before they pick you up for the day’s activities. With most of the sites within 1 hour of driving and departure times around 9:00am every day, you get plenty of rest and still have enough time to see everything on the tour without feeling rushed.
Inclusive pricing provides you with daily breakfast, lunch and snacks, three dinners, local transportation and accommodations, admission to wine tastings and other activities.
According to clients, highlights include homemade picnics of regional dishes, learning to play Petanque, interacting with locals, attending cooking classes, wine-tastings, learning French, and, said Julia, “simply realizing that we are becoming friends by the end of the week.”
Julia and Stephane’s tour is a perfect combination of historical sites and experiencing the French lifestyle with two passionate local tour guides. No lines, no tourist traps, no hassle. It is a one-of-a-kind insider tour of Southern France that those who partake in the journey will never forget.
Act fast and book before Dec 31, 2016 to save $300 off the regular tour price with their early bird discount!
To learn more about the tour and book a trip, check out www.TripUSAFrance.com. For more information call 703-485-6894 or email Julia at [email protected].
The preceding post was sponsored by TripUSAFrance and written by Buzz McClain
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
Jessica Guzik creates communities. She guides strangers into friendships. She develops business partnerships. She improves regional spirit and helps hone municipal reputations. She provides the missing link between virtual reality and… well, reality.
“Cross pollinating socially, that’s harder and harder to do the older you get,” she said, explaining the inspiration for her incipient upstart, Curated Table. “Your big group of friends start families, people get busy with businesses…”
She doesn’t have to finish the thought: Time is short, everyone’s busy, we all are consumed by our screens and taking care of our spiritual and cultural well-being is an after thought, and our professional lives can suffer for it.
But when those companionship needs are met, nourished by a community-wide shared spirit, good things happen, not just to the individual but to those around them, not to mention their businesses.
Okay, so what does Jessica Guzik do? She’s not a politician, not a psychotherapist, not a health and wellness consultant and she’s not Martha Stewart although that may be who she has the most in common with. But with a twist.
“I design creative events that connect communities,” Guzik said. “That’s the simple explanation of it.”
Guzik organizes small dinner parties or lunches that bring together six to 10 guests — generally community-starved millennials, but other ages have opted in–who perhaps never would have met otherwise and to see what happens. It’s not a singles dating thing or a corporate networking event, although singles and corporations are welcome to ask for her services.
Afterward Guzik takes key learnings from these conversations and turns them into content in the form of white papers, reports and infographics that can be shared with other stakeholders or potential customers.
Guzik got the idea in 2012 when she put together a team-building lunch for her employer. She was living in Washington at the time and while the event and subsequent events were professional successful and inspirational, she personally was “feeling socially isolated in D.C.,” she said.
A move to WeLive in Crystal City crystalized for her not only her own lifestyle but also what could be done with the Curated Table concept and her other communal event idea, Crystal City Supper Club, in a ready-made, built-in neighborhood that was ripe for connecting.
“I love the work of helping a client in court.” says Arlington attorney and counselor at law William P. Robinson III.
