Today, I enjoyed SeaTech Connect’s Capitol Hill Office crawl. It’s a networking event happening in Seattle, first Thursdays in the summer months. Most of the offices are design companies that focus on digital/tech solutions. I heard about the event from a classmate via Facebook, but I decided to go when someone from AAF Seattle proposed (via Linkedin) to meet and travel as a group.

Two hours isn’t enough time to hit up all the cool places and really get a feel for their offices on the Hill. I ended up going to 5 out of the 9 participating offices.

It was a little intimidating (but mostly exciting) being a recent graphic design graduate chatting up design veterans on their home turf. It was an adventure in interior design with excellent networking opportunities. People kept asking me where I worked and I told them that I am currently looking for a job. So in a way, this office crawl was like window shopping for companies to work for.

Civilization is a small office with one conference room and a open work-space. I liked the magnetized walls where they hung beautiful posters. They were excellent hosts, serving a punch flavored with rum and elderberry. They were the only one with their twitter handle readily available, which is a nice thing for these kinds of events where tweeting is encouraged.

Crown Social is a small office with a big open space in the middle and lots of natural light. They had a row of unique looking chairs that was a nice touch.

DIGITALKITCHEN is really adorable. I was greeted by Stanley, the interactive player piano playing some Lady Gaga. Their office is glorious. Most of the workspaces had two or three monitors. I remember seeing a lot of wood: desks, floors, cabinetry, making the space seem warm and cozy.

Intentional Futures is on the fifth floor of The Greenest Commercial Building in the World — The Bullitt Center. The office was clean and new, decorated with white furniture. The windows are large and open during the summer, letting in lots of fresh air. Incredible feeling being in that space, being on the hill, the breeze, the view of the Space Needle at dusk.

SUBSTANTIAL really won me over. They had a rooftop lounge, overlooking Cal Anderson park. They had a DJ, margaritas, friendly employees that spoke well of the company and seemed engaged as to who I was. I hadn’t heard of them before this event. But, now I can’t stop thinking about that place. It was nice seeing their post-its on the wall, indicating their sense of organization and communication. I’m a big fan of Kanban, so that made a huge impression on me. And they’re hiring designers right now, so that’s a place I might get to work at. So cool.