the blog

Our fearless leaders and co-founders, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, recently came back from a trip out to the White House (it was Adam’s second invitation to DC this year!) where they received an exclusive invitation to speak among other young entrepreneurs about the future of US economic growth. We asked Adam what the experience was like…

Early last week Eric and I got a call from the White House.  They were gathering a group of about 30 young entrepreneurs (including Mark Ecko from Ecko Unlimited, Evan Williams from Twitter, Aaron Patzer of Mint.com, Tony Hsieh from Zappos), to what we first thought were to put together thoughts on policy, but as we later learned, that was more to get the juices flowing than to actually be what we would discuss. The real reason, we soon discovered, was that they wanted to establish a relationship with us that we could mutually benefit from in the future.

Michael Strautmanis (Chief of Staff to Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President on Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison) and David Washington (Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison), who we then soon met, explained they had lots of ideas, and they knew exactly which policies were staid or ineffective, and what new policies should replace them.  The problem, they explained, was that the Administration knew what to do, but couldn’t overcome the entrenched interests in Washington (the lobbyists and such).  What they needed was the leaders of New Economy Business, us, to help them.  They wanted to be able to make an example of us to build a groundswell of public opinion that getting behind businesses creating social equity and environmental good while they create economic growth was the way to use one solution to get out of our dual problems of economic collapse and environmental disaster.  Cool. 

They asked us to do a couple things:

•    Act as a filter for the best ideas from our communities, and to cycle those back to the Administration

•    Send examples and case studies of business doing things right, and the Stimulus package at work, so we could improve upon it

•    Give them ideas on how to make government more open and transparent.

On the last of those, I sent in ideas about how to publish policy debates and decisions on “transparency.gov”, to use us and others in the Administration to get out and use the news media to tell the transparency story in order to get more people engaged in what they are doing, and to integrate the transparency message across all the everyday ways we interact with government.  Everything from tax bills to the DMV.

I am still figuring out how, but I will be finding ways to be that community liaison out here in San Francisco.  Now is our time to create change, and I’m not going to let the opportunity pass me by.  If you have an idea, let me know.  I want to hear it….

With tears in our eyes and many, many pints of Guinness in our system we’re saying goodbye today to Gunther Lie, our truly beloved first employee. It’s impossible to capture on this blog (which, by the way, Gunther created) his incredible contributions to method’s success over these past seven years, but it would be a crime not to try.
 

A childhood friend of our founders, Gunther (also known as Thunder) was first brought into the method family as a part-time helper, and spent his first months here driving from store to store making sure our products looked perfect on shelf. In the years since, there is virtually no job Gunther hasn’t done, from IT Director to Director of Business Development; from Brand Manager to his current role as Director of Interactive. He’s created products, molded brands, brought us into new markets and, of course, built this beautiful website (if you have any complaints we’ll be sure to keep forwarding them to his personal email address). He’s touched on every part of our business, and has shown incredible MacGyverism in every role.
 

And as much as he’s been a vital part of our business these past seven years, he’s been even more influential in creating the method culture that we all love. Gunther was the guy who hosted the after-parties in his hotel room after our annual party. He began the highly competitive “Who wore it best?” battles within the office. He sent Drummond, our Canadian Greenskeeper, a mock deportation letter from the US Government. He soaked, folded and froze a coworker's entire wardrobe on a company trip to Lake Tahoe. He was always the first person to invite a new employee to lunch, and one of the last people standing at parties. His smile is infectious and his cheer inspiring, and we've been so blessed to have him here for these seven incredible years.

 
So we bid a fond farewell to Gunther, and wish him luck in wherever he goes next. His beautiful wife Nancy and their adorable daughter Amstel will surely keep him busy, but hopefully not so busy that he can't pay a visit to the method family every once in a while.

 
We're forever indebted to you, and will miss you immensely Thunder. And if you can't find any of your clothes tonight, check the freezer...
 
  
 
Top 10 things we will miss most about Gunther:

 
1)       Written “fashion citations,” mostly noting questionable mixing of color and pattern
2)       A steady stream of witty quips steeped in sarcasm
3)       Asian jokes
4)       Daily Amstel updates and photos
5)       Regular availability to run out for lunch, snack, coffee, fro yo, steamed hazelnut milk
6)       His feminine taste in beverages
7)       He’s a really good friend
8)       Complete and unabashed rejection of denim
9)       Good sport – we do rip on the guy pretty harshly
10)     He has embodied the method spirit since the earliest days of the company, and has inspired so many of us throughout the years. G, you will be missed terribly!