On Monday, June 20th the amazing folks in our New York City office hit the pavement in their neighborhood to volunteer with One Million Trees New York City. Here is a post from our *awesome* team member Mike Baumwoll about the event:

This community service event was particularly interesting and educational. We were partnered with with two One Million Trees NYC reps who have us a background of the organization and explained their goal to plant an additional one MILLION trees in the city. The majority of the trees will be planted in the city parks and along the city streets (for every 25 feet of city block, a tree will be planted on the streets). We were taught the proper ways to care for the trees, which included aerating the soil and watering techniques.

It was a great event and we are looking forward to adopting two trees in our neighborhood and tend to them regularly. Hopefully that noisy neighbor who was really concerned with the watering of trees in front of his house leaking into his apartment and drowning his pets doesn’t sabotage the trees! He was wearing a Mets hat afterall

On Wednesday, May 19th the Rubicon Project hosted it’s first internal project building and coding event called HACKDAY. One of our brilliant Engineers, Sam Tingleff, came up with this idea for an all out, no holds barred, frenzied coding day- all driven by our awesome Engineering team.

In the weeks before HACKDAY we solicited ideas for projects from our entire company. Everyone came out of the woodwork with creative ideas for features, products, or reports that would make their lives better or that would be downright cool. There were over 50 projects for our Engineers to choose from- representing all sides of the business. It was a really great thing to see the entire business get involved and passionate about HACKDAY- it shows how much we support our team and our technology!

So the morning of HACKDAY, we got the entire company in our big meeting room (conferencing in satellite offices all over the world) and let HACKDAY commence! The Engineers picked their projects to raucous applause and they were off and running. The plan was to meet back at 5:30 for them to demo and submit their projects before a panel of judges (leaders from all across the organization). So between 9:30 am and 5:30 pm there was a lot of building, coding, solving problems, status updates, group thinking, loud music playing, just straight getting stuff done. At 5:30, the whole company reconvened in our meeting room and the Engineers got to demo and show off their “babies”. We were all there to support them and celebrate! Afterward, a fiesta (tacos and beer!) took place in our courtyard- complete with *funny* awards for the HACKDAY participants. Overall, this was a huge success for us- something we can’t wait to do again next quarter!

We don’t like rules much at the Rubicon Project but HACKDAY had the best one: “There are no rules! Oh, except no crying.” HACK IT UP!

On Monday, May 10th a group of Rubicon Project team members headed to the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the Midnight Mission’s biggest gala of the year- the Golden Heart Awards. Used to heading to their headquarters on Skid Row, this venue was much a different experience for us! It was quite a memorable evening for all of us. As a whole Rubicon Project team, we are proud to support the Midnight Mission and all the amazing work they do within it’s walls and out on the streets.

We joined hundreds of other civic minded folks who came from all across LA (plus we had one from NYC!) to honor the work of the Midnight Mission and the people who go above and beyond for the cause. The evening’s special honorees were Anthony and Stella Hopkins, who have truly been huge supporters and volunteers of the non-profit. Also honored that evening was  the Nestle Corporation, who have put a huge focus on community outreach and volunteerism as part of their corporate values- a huge inspiration to us.

The best part of the night was hearing from a recovering homeless mother with 3 small children who came into the Midnight Mission’s family housing program with barely any clothes to wear, food to eat, and living in fear of losing her 3 children to social services. Throughout her time there, she received a roof over her head, job training, and a new chance at life for her family. Two year later, she is an accomplished mother with a full time job at a family legal practice and a place for her children to call home. Her quote “thank you for believing in us before we believed in ourselves” will stay with us.

We had a great Rubicon Project showing at the event- all of those who went walked away with a new found appreciation for the work the Midnight Mission does and ideas of how we can contribute. While Craig Roah, our COO, was devastated by his loss in the last round of the silent auction, we truly all walked out of there winners. Speaking of winners- maybe the Rubicon Project will win a golden heart award one of these days? Here’s hoping!

If you are interested in volunteering or putting together a corporate program (like we did!) with the Midnight Mission email Mai Lee at mlee@midnightmission.org.

Rubicon strives not only to make a difference in the advertising space, but also in our community. One of the many aspects that distinguish the Rubicon Project from other companies is its devotion to giving back.

On Wednesday, March 24, the NYC team trekked to the Newark Educators’ Community Charter School in Newark, New Jersey.  With Rubicon shirts on our backs and our train tickets in hand, the NY team went back to school!

Upon arrival, the team was welcomed with open arms. The school was filled with excited kids anxious to meet us. And we were excited to meet them!

Our team spent time with the students individually and were able to really bond with the kids while reading their favorite books like The Giving Tree, Dr. Seuss, and the Magic School Bus. It really brought back some exciting childhood memories!We also spent time painting chalkboards as well as organizing additional books for the school library.

According to Rubicon team member Elinor Adams, “It was a great opportunity for team bonding, as well as a chance to give back to a group of people who have already worked so hard creating an amazing learning environment for all of these great kids!”

Rubicon newbie Ben Karetny felt the same way, “Overall, it was a really great experience, and I hope someday we can visit them again!”
Aside from all the laughter, reading, and games of rock- paper- scissors, our NY team seemed to truly connect with the students of the Newark Educators’ Community Charter School. The experience was outlined by Rubicon team member Mike Baumwoll, “It’s exciting to play a small role in shaping the lives of children who will soon shape our community.”

Our holiday party was a big success but we are especially proud of our partnership with the program Toys for Tots, sponsored by the United States Marine Corps Reserves. Our friends over at Think LA reached out to us during the holiday season, as donations were lagging. We stepped up, along with other companies in the LA internet space, to make the drive a major success.

Since the goal of Think LA is to promote and support world class collabortation, innovation and creativity among the marketing, media, entertainment, and advertising industries of Los Angeles, coming together for a toy drive seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to get involved- especially in our LA community! Thank you to Think LA for including us in this wonderful act of kindness and allowing us to “pay it forward”.

Although a much smaller operation (in size, not in heart) our New York office held a coat drive to support New York Cares, a non-profit in their city that supports those in need, including the homeless and at risk children. Our team members from LA sent coats back east to add on to the impressive collection our NYC office accumulated. Great job everyone!

In Q3 2009, we focused heavily on international expansion- opening offices and/or focusing team members in London, Hong Kong, Sydney, and the Neatherlands. Maintaining a strong company culture across seas and different languages is a challenge but something we are committed to at the Rubicon Project. As a team, we all know that we are each a part of the unique experience of working here. We look forward to volunteering and ultimately building a camaraderie by working together to give back to our local communities. In terms of our global impact this holiday season, our team members in Hong Kong rallied their friends and family to walk and raise money for Community Chest, an organization that provides social services for children and at risk youth. They said it was quite a fun day! In Sydney, our team spent the day volunteering (talk about working hard!) for the Ted Knott Foundation, a group that provides essential services for young people and their families who are experiencing drug and alcohol related problems.

In 2010 we look forward to expanding our global impact through more volunteers (we’re hiring!), partnerships with more organizations, and many great memories. Also, we have incorporated global outreach into our Good Impressions program, which allows our customers to donate a portion of their online advertising impressions to the World Food Organization. To take part, reach out to you account manager or email goodimpression@rubiconproject.com today!

Who doesn’t love Monday Night football? We like to have fun around here so Monday, November 2nd was officially “support your favorite NFL team” at the Rubicon Project. Los Angeles doesn’t have a football team but everyone brought out their NFL pride from all over the country and it was quite exciting to see the rivalries present. Nobody came to blows (not our style) but it was quite a memorable day, followed by Monday night football playing in the office as people are working late (and some hanging out!). Judging by the amount of Steeler’s fans in this office, you would think our headquarters is in Pittsburgh!

Last Wednesday proved to be a very exciting day for the Rubicon Project team members in the LA office… the Kogi truck arrived! Our wonderful office manager, Courtney Chapman, hunted down a contact for the truck and for 2 hours peoples stuffed their face with possibly the best Korean bbq tacos in America. It was all you can eat and the boys were really impressive with how many some of them put away! We’re very proud guys. We all know how lucky we are to have catered lunch every day as part of being on the Rubicon Project team but this was extra special for us! We can’t wait for the next round.

It is often said that out of great hardship comes strength. Instead of letting the tragic day tear us apart as a country, we came together as a nation and mourned together, helped each other, and shared memories of the event and of the fallen. It is our saddest day but likely our proudest moment. We showed, as a united country, that freedom is a strength not a weakness and in the face of great tragedy we stop at nothing to come together and hatred cannot tear us apart. Eight years later, we will all likely remember the exact moment when we saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center but more importantly this day will always be a time for us to reflect on what is so great about this nation and its people. Today in the Los Angeles office, we are having a pot luck to share food amongst friends and also raise money for a local non-profit. In the spirit of 9/11, please take a moment wherever you are to share with others (even if it’s just a smile on the street or an email to an friend).

In honor of the fallen (friends of the Rubicon Project family):
Todd Beamer
Scott Weingard
John Murray