We’re not virtual anymore!

If you’ve ever visited the About page on our website in the past, you may have read:

This is as close as you’re going to come to visiting our “facilities”. Laridian is a virtual corporation where employees work from their homes. Currently we’re spread out over three states. We rely heavily on electronic means of communication, though those of us working in our hometown of Cedar Rapids, IA frequently meet in person just to keep from going crazy, if nothing else.

Well, times have changed and we’d like to officially announce that we have left our home-based, coffee shop, Skype’ing days behind us for a physical location where we all work together in one office in Cedar Rapids, IA. Yes, there are a few unhappy coffee shop owners in the area but for Laridian it has been a great move. We all loved the perks of working from home (i.e. optional showering, work in your pj’s) but now, having tried the alternative, we have to admit that there are some definite advantages to working together in the same building. We’ve already seen improvements in productivity in every area of the company. And as far as communication goes, we only have to get up and take a short walk to find out what is going on with a co-worker. We’ve replaced our “virtual” reality with a “new” reality that isn’t half bad and might just be worth having to take a daily shower.

Why the change? Until this summer we had used a number of outside contractors and companies to create the books and Bibles that go into PocketBible. When this process was working, it worked well. But recently, two of our best outside contractors had changes in their situations that robbed them of the free time they were devoting to tagging books. As a result it was taking longer and longer to get finished books. So we decided to bring this operation in-house. In addition to having more control over the schedule, we thought it would be easier to manage.

When putting together the budget for the new employees, we decided to include office space, office furniture, computers, internet connections, and everything else we’d need to operate a “real” office. It turned out the cost wasn’t really that bad, and the benefit of having the new people sitting right next to seasoned veterans made training a breeze. So we rented some office space close to Craig and Jeff’s house, then hired the editors. The result is that you saw more new titles from us in the last quarter of 2011 than in some previous entire years.

Just this month, the last of our home-based employees moved into the office with us. Yesterday, we made it official by putting a sign up on the door telling the world (and the FedEx driver) we’re here. So you won’t find us out in the virtual world any longer – we’ve come down to earth and we hope it will be for your benefit.

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Verb Washington
Verb Washington
12 years ago

Congratulations, I pray that God continues to bless you in your new location. Keep up the great work.

Kenn Iskov
Kenn Iskov
12 years ago

Congratulations to my favourite Bible Software dudes! (Way back from QV4 days) The most sensible licencing in the business, a human face with a sense of humour. Thanks Craig and Jeff and team.

(Now if you only can find time to put an “off” toggle on the largely redundant status bar that hogs the bottom line of my screen in PocketBible PC!)

Blessings

Kenn Iskov

e: [email protected]
b: kenn-iskov.blogspot.com
f: http://www.facebook.com/kenn.iskov
t: twitter.com/iskovk
w: sites.google.com/site/iskovslebanon
skype: iskovk

Fran McHugh
Fran McHugh
12 years ago

Welcome to real reality! Thanks for the good work you have done already. Looking forward to the blessings you will bestow and receive in the future.

Ed
Ed
12 years ago

Excellent! Now your employees will ask you about telecommuting though! 😉

Tim
Tim
12 years ago

Love your products! I have been using them for years! Your great licensing agreement keeps me with you! I started out on a Palm and I am now using an iPad. The iPad version of PocketBible is amazing! I even upgraded to the “inapp” upgrade that allows tabs across the top of the screen. That is so helpful! I have quit using my paper Bible. I know that sounds anti-spiritual, but it works for me! Thanks for a great product!

Michelle Stramel
12 years ago

Ed, thanks for the great idea 🙂

Tim, we don’t think using electronic only is “un-spiritual” but we are biased that way 🙂

Thanks everyone for your good wishes!

Craig Horlacher
Craig Horlacher
12 years ago

Nice! Congratulations on your move to physical in this crazy virtual world!

John Hopkirk
John Hopkirk
12 years ago

Hey that sounds great guys (and lady) Boy there will be a few laughs now.
Love this program

Britt
Britt
12 years ago

Does this mean we can expect a new smartphone version of Memorize that would work with Apple products?

Please, please, pretty pleeeaasse!!!

Keep up the great work….love ALL my Laridian products!!! I’ve been a loyal fan since the OLD Palm platform days!

Blessings…

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