The Case
It started with a disco ball. If a Florida-based tech company was going to attract digital-savvy employees and keep its top talent from fleeing to the Silicon coasts, the best
strategy was to let staffers dictate the office décor and build their own culture from the ground up. So it was that Hydrogen Media changed its name, revamped its space,
transformed its attitude, and set out to put St. Petersburg, Fla., on the map as a new economy epicenter.
Climate Control Strategy
Businesses in the high-tech sector were suffering an average employee turnover rate near 20%, but Hydrogen Media was determined not to fall victim to the statistic. In the
summer of 1999, the company launched an internal contest to rename the business - then known as Weblink Communications - and ditched its generic name in favor of the more
metaphorical moniker, Hydrogen Media. (Other names in the running included Eyeball.com and Anthill Interactive.) The 3-year-old shop then moved offices and put its 40 employees
in charge of the environment inside its new digs. Another series of contests (with cash prizes of $300-$500) gave staffers incentive to create original artwork for the walls.
Online and offline suggestion boxes asked employees for regular input on interior design matters.
Before long, the staid building took on a new persona with coats of black and blue paint, blue neon, track lighting, oversized black leather couches, bubble tanks, old gas
tanks, gas masks, the famed disco ball, and a futuristic production studio dubbed, the "Hydrogen Pit." Multimedia designers traded their cubicles for a Volkswagen bus that was
sawed in half and converted into a sound/animation lab. Two break rooms, modeled after convenience stores, offered free soda fountains and cappuccino machines. Management added
a game room and created an inhouse concierge service for staff, offering perks such as car wash services, catered meals, dry cleaning, massage therapy and general errand-running.
Employees started recruiting their friends and former colleagues to join Hydrogen Media. By the fall of 1999, the staff had grown to 100 and stock options were rolling out.
Storytelling
Having reached a level of retention Nirvana shared by few in the tech industry, Hydrogen made a calculated decision to start telling its story to the press. "We'd deliberately
held off from pitching the media until this point - until we could position ourselves as the high-tech employer of choice in the Tampa Bay area," says Craig Patrick, director of
PR.
In five weeks, the firm generated a total of 16 minutes of television coverage and two front-page stories in the business section of the Tampa Tribune. Trade outlets
such as Digitrends, d-Business and the Industry Standard also picked up the story. An open-door policy gave reporters free reign to speak with any Hydrogen employee
they chose, and although staffers had received no media training, the strategy paid off. "We weren't concerned with how polished they'd be in the interviews. We were confident
that they would show genuine enthusiasm," says Patrick. "I wasn't the chief spokesman. The real story was on the floor of the production room where reporters could talk to
people first hand."
Creative Farming
To further anchor its position as a high-tech leader in the community, Hydrogen forged a partnership with St. Petersburg Junior College to help develop a technology curriculum.
Company employees helped the college secure a substantial educational grant from Microsoft, and offered input on course offerings. Later, the firm began providing internships.
The commitment not only leveraged Hydrogen's reputation as a high-tech leader in the community, it also set up a perpetual homegrown talent pool for recruiting purposes.
Bragging Rights
In 1999, Hydrogen Media had zero budget dollars allocated toward internal communications, but the firm leveraged the $180,000 it had earmarked for capital improvements
(building renovations) into an effective retention and recruitment strategy. That year, the company's turnover rate was a mere 6% (compared with the industry average of 20%). And
while Hydrogen received fewer than 10 unsolicited resumes in 1998, it was receiving 300-400 per week by the end of 1999. Reporters have since begun referring to the Tampa Bay/St.
Pete area as "Silicon Beach." Hydrogen Media now employs 150 people.
Patience is a Virtue
If you're a start-up and you're tempted to tout your culture to the media, make sure you have a clear sense of the morale inside your doors before you blab. "You'll know if
you're over-selling yourself," says Craig Patrick, director of PR at Hydrogen Media. "If you move too quickly, you could have a meltdown. You have to have the foundation before
you build the walls." Craig Patrick
Hydrogen Media
888/890-9175
[email protected]
About Hydrogen
Founded: 1996
HQ: St. Petersburg, Fla.
PR Staff: 2