Archive for April, 2009

Coast-to-coast Communication: RubiCast

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

We take every possible measure to facilitate active communication within our company. When we moved down the street to our spacious L.A. headquarters last year, we didn’t shut our team members up in the many office rooms or put up cubicles between people. We grouped our desks together, removing any physical barriers between team members which created an ease of communication that fed into the culture we are trying to create.

But when we opened an office in New York, we realized that taking down the walls between the teams on the two coasts wasn’t a feasible solution to our communication challenge. So in January, we launched RubiCast, a coded program that shares information from both coasts in real time by displaying updates and information on the flat-panel screens mounted in each office. Our whole team was already well-versed with Yammer, a micro-messaging service, so we integrated it into our system. Now, whenever a team member in New York lands another premium publisher, the crew in L.A. will be notified as soon as Yammer is updated and the great news is flashed on the screens hovering over our desks.

Our daily annoucements on Rubi Cast

Our daily annoucements on Rubi Cast


The screens rotate through different information as a way to remind us of all we have accomplished and all that we are working towards. The Adometer is constantly running, reporting the number of ads served, revenue generated, live sites, and live networks. The screens also display:
• Goal tracking
• Quantcast ranking
• New customers and logos
• Daily announcements
• Department updates
• Bell announcements
• Rubi Rewards
• Cultural Values
One of our twelve cultural values that rotate through Rubicast

One of our twelve cultural values that rotate through Rubicast



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Rubi Rewards Board

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

A while back, we wrote about how our Rubi Rewards program helps us show appreciation for each other. Every quarter, we purchase gifts for deserving team members, which they can take home or enjoy at their leisure. But even though those small tokens make their way out of the office, our Rubi Rewards board is a constant reminder of how much we impact the team. After we give out our gifts, we post the recipient’s names on our board and explain why we want to thank them. The only problem is, we’re quickly running out of space.

Filling up the board

Filling up the board


If you want to snoop a little...

If you want to snoop a little...



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Midnight Mission

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Our St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser benefited the Midnight Mission and on Monday, we headed over there for our community service day. They provided us with hairnets and aprons as we prepared lunch for their meal kitchen.

Introduction to the Midnight Mission

Introduction to the Midnight Mission

Rocking our head gear

Rocking our head gear

Getting instructions

Getting instructions

Quick pose

Quick pose

Not your average lunch ladies

Not your average lunch ladies

In the kitchen

In the kitchen




For ways you can help, see the Midnight Mission homepage.

The team

The team



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And We’re Off

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Because we hit our Q1 company goal, we celebrated with an afternoon at the races. We piled into a red double decker bus at the beginning of April, the ladies all dolled up, the gents in fine attire, and everyone wearing their fanciest hats.

Our transportation to Santa Anita

Our transportation to Santa Anita

Our view of the track

Our view of the track

Enjoying ourselves

Enjoying ourselves

Go go go!

Go go go!


Even though only one horse comes out the winner in these races, after a day of friendly gambling, cold beers and warm hot dogs, we can declare this a team victory.


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Introducing Culture Blog

Monday, April 20th, 2009

We’re a hard-working bunch: we log a lot of late hours; spend weekends in the office; and strain over strategies to completely change the industry. But the key to life is balance. So we play as hard as work: our house events, quarterly community service, and regular team outings keep the office warm and welcoming. Check here for regular updates on what we’re up to and how we’re making this a great place to work.

The environment we create here makes all those long nights and cut-throat deadlines worthwhile. We’re doing something special here, and it’s not just in our innovative technology. We’re upholding our company’s cultural values, and that makes all the difference.

  1. Innovation: We invest our thinking and resources into change that will propel the industry and company forward.
  2. Transparency: Knowledge is powerful. Transparency keeps us honest. We believe in the highest level of transparency possible with our team, investors and customers.
  3. Active Communication: Communication makes or breaks relationships. We will devote time and effort in making communication a priority.
  4. Humility: While we enjoy winning, we will not let our success get to our head.
  5. Respect: Team development is a top priority for us. We hold each other in high regard and have zero tolerance for disrespectful behavior.
  6. Community: We consider ourselves to be fortunate and believe in paying it forward to those in need.
  7. Competition: We are driven to win and are highly competitive; externally not internally.
  8. Pride: Personal pride in our work is the number one criteria for our team members.
  9. Speed: We go fast but don’t hurry.
  10. Do More with Less: Constantly find ways to do twice as much with half as much time, money, and resources.
  11. Mistakes are OK: If we aren’t making mistakes, we aren’t moving fast enough. Making mistakes is the key to innovating and learning.
  12. Fun: We will celebrate our wins together, big and small.


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