On Monday, March 31st, Matrix Group said goodbye to our office on the 3rd floor of 2611 South Clark Street in Crystal City. We moved into this space in July 2019, a mere nine months before the pandemic began. This new office was light-filled, full of collaborative spaces, decorated with purple splashes and Star Wars toys, and full of the latest tech. We got rid of our 15’ x 10 server room and moved everything to the cloud. The Zoom-enabled conference room made meetings a dream for remote staff because of the two cameras: one showed the room, while the other zoomed in on whoever was speaking.
The Remote Work Shift That Stuck
Then March 2020 came, the world changed forever, and so did Matrix Group. We went all remote and never looked back. Even as the pandemic waned, I joked that I would never see my COO again since she lives in Herndon and previously, her commute into Crystal City was a bear. I hired staff who live outside the DMV, and still other staff moved away for family or love, or both.
For over five years, the office stayed largely unused. Sure, a handful of staff came to the office every day, and Matrix Group was able to host some amazing events on our floor. We hosted two events each for Association Women Technology Champions and Association Latinos, and we held some amazing Matrix Group parties.
When our lease was up for renewal, I made the decision to not renew our lease. It was hard to say goodbye to such a gorgeous space, sad to part ways with a terrific landlord, and difficult to wrap my brain around the answer to the question, “where is your office located?” And, if I’m being honest with myself, it was hard to say goodbye to a physical representation of my company.
But with turbulent times ahead for the US economy in general, and the association and nonprofit industry in particular, we decided to give up our space. We haven’t entirely gone remote. We now have two offices in a co-working space in the same building.
Work 5.0 at Matrix Group
So what does work life look like at Matrix Group these days? In many ways, it hasn’t changed since we gave up the office two weeks ago. BUT, I want us to think about when and how we gather in an intentional way. We’re calling this Work 5.0 because this is the fifth office configuration in the company’s history. Here’s a snapshot of our work history:
Work 1.0 – shared office space in Georgetown, then sub-lease in Alexandria, VA
Work 2.0 – full floor, took over existing space, in Alexandria, VA
Work 3.0 – full floor, office space designed for us, in Arlington, VA
Work 4.0 – was supposed to be the office at 2611 South Clark Street with some staff fully remote and some staff hybrid, but we moved to all remote work during the pandemic
Work 5.0 – intentional, mostly remote work, with opportunities to gather
It’s been interesting to see how our physical space defined the staffing of the company, as well as how we gathered. When we went all remote, meetings and staffing changed completely.
Today, with our new relationship with the Regus co-working company, my entire staff has the ability to work at any Regus office around the world. And while Maki and Dave like to go to the Crystal City office every day, Tanya and Janna really like the Regus office in Old Town. And during my next family trip to somewhere in the world, I could (if I needed to!) rent an office for an hour to take a meeting or record a podcast. And of course, we have a jillion ways to meet and gather online, via Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack. We even have a virtual meeting room named Hoth, in honor of a previous conference that was always too cold, that is open all day long for impromptu meetings.
We’re still working on the details, but I think Work 5.0 is going to usher in a new period of creativity and collaboration for us!
In case anyone is wondering, as of April 1, 2025 Matrix Group’s address has changed to:
2611 South Clark Street (no change)
Suite 600 (new suite number!)
Arlington, VA 22202 (no change)
I won’t invite you to drop by because chances are, I won’t be there, and neither will Maki or Dave, who are there only about half-time. BUT, I do invite you to hit me up for in person coffee, in person lunch, or a virtual coffee.
How about you? How is your organization navigating RTO (return to office) mandates? What configuration of remote, hybrid or in person has your organization landed on? Please share!
