The downstairs area was just as Ivan had planned as well. He had an open cubicle area in the dining room, with several smaller desks, computer stations for laptops, a printer and copy machine, and several office phones. In the living room, he created a meet-and-greet lounge area, with a receptionist desk and a floor-model television set, surrounded by comfortable sofas, a coffee table, and plenty of magazines. Inside the kitchen area, he ordered a bench table, an easy-to-use microwave, a large refrigerator, and a few vending machines.

Ivan explained in his first full staff meeting of twelve, “IDPromotions.com is a great vehicle for us all to get our feet wet in the computer industry. And although I can’t assume that we all will remain with the company, with some of you guys still students here, I would love for all of us to be able to look back and consider this a start-up unit that we can all be proud of.”

He said, “Now, only five of us are gonna have keys, and I want us all to raise our hands: Paul, Jeff, Eddie, Ivan, and Daphne.” He explained, “Now, Jeff and Paul are always going to be around campus somewhere, doing homework, projects, reports, or whatever. But just like they did at their on-campus home, they will spend a lot of their time here now.”

“Yeah,” Jeff agreed eagerly.

“You bet. This is officially our new favorite place to be,” Paul commented, adjusting his glasses.

Ivan said, “So, in the afternoons and evenings, you can always find one or both of them here to let you in. But Eddie, our ad sales manager, does a lot of outside meetings, so sometimes he’s here, sometimes he’s not. The sales staff will definitely need to lock in his number.”

He said, “Now, Daphne, this lovely young woman to my left, who also works the doors at the parties we throw, will always be here to open up no later than nine in the morning. She seems to stay up late and still get up early, like I do,” he commented. “She lives on campus and can be called for emergency or lockout situations. And me…don’t ever call me for a lockout,” he told them, “because it’s not gonna happen.”

They all laughed, but Ivan was serious. He told them, “I will only be here on a need-to-be basis. However, I will stop by on occasion to check in on everything and to bring potential clients over to see what we do. So if anyone doesn’t know who I am when I walk into the room, somebody needs to inform them fast, because I don’t want any embarrassing situations for us.”

Jeff joked, “Ah, who are you again? How the hell did you get a key? You can’t just walk up in here. This is a business.”