Moving: Lessons Learned

Well, the office move is complete, however, unpacking still goes on. Having moved over 25 times in my adult life, I've learned a thing or two about moving, and even learned a few new things this move about what to do (and not do) when you're planning an office move.

Here's our top ten moving rules:

1: EVERYTHING GOES IN A BOX or rental moving crate. Everything, really, without exception, unless it's furniture. Sofa cushions, put 'em in a box; small desk lamps, box them, umbrellas too. And, be sure that you use real moving boxes, not stuff you picked up from the grocery store or liquor store. Uniformly sized boxes makes the move go so much faster, and it's a false economy to cheap out on boxes. Invariably, at least one of those liquor store boxes will break, and it will have your favorite framed photos in it.

2: BUY PACKING PAPER. Again, this is not the place to cheap out. DO NOT save the Sunday papers for two months and use them for packing. Old newspaper get everything filthy, from whatever you are wrapping to your hands, clothes and face. It's a cheap economy. We spent about $30 on packing paper. What's leftover, we'll use for brainstorm sessions and fun.

3: CONTRACTOR BAGS ARE A GODSEND. Don't buy cheap garbage bags to dispose of packing paper, bubble wrap and old boxes. The bags will split every time. Invest in heavy duty contractor bags: they'll hold anything and can be compressed to hold 4-6x more than a standard garbage bag.

4: DO NOT MARK 30 CRATES "OPEN FIRST." That was a lesson learned this move. We had so many crates marked "open first" that we couldn't find what we really needed first (office supplies, paper, and stationery, current files). Next time, everyone will get one "open first" sticker and that's it.

5: WHEN THEY TELL YOU TO EMPTY ALL DRAWERS, THEY MEAN IT. We forgot one, and that was the filing cabinet that got destroyed in the move.

6: MAKE FRIENDS WITH BUILDING SECURITY BEFORE YOU MOVE: Some pre-move schmoozing is quite helpful, particularly if you need to get into the building during off hours and cannot find your building pass. A $20 helps too.

7: USE CRAIG'S LIST TO GET RID OF WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO MOVE! Your trash really is someone else's treasure. Prior to the move, we listed all sorts of stuff that we didn't want (Old TVs, VCRs, furniture) and really didn't have the space for...we sold or gave it all away with little effort.

8: IF YOU HAVE UNOPENED BOXES FROM THE LAST MOVE, YOU SHOULD JUST TOSS THEM BEFORE YOU MOVE AGAIN. We had a couple of dozen boxes that hadn't been touched since our last move over 5 years ago. We tossed them and I feel fine.

9: BEER, WATER AND PIZZA, PAPER TOWEL. You cannot have enough of these when unpacking. Just be sure that the paid movers don't partake in the beer til they're done.

10: PRE-MEDICATE. Packing and unpacking kicks up oodles of dust. If you're prone to allergies, hay fever, or sneezing, be sure to start your medicate prior to packing.

To view our new offices and see out our unpacking progress, check out our Facebook Page. We also did a silly little movie video, see it on YouTube.

MAB Advertising Inc.
515 N State
Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60654
mabadinc.com