Leveraging Business Archives - Seattle Area Archivists Meeting

On February 21st an audience of nearly 50 gathered in the Economy Building at Pike Place Market on the Seattle waterfront to attend the Seattle Area Archivists Quarterly Meeting, “Leveraging Business Archives.” Hosted by Seattle Folio, an independent member-supported library. the program began with welcoming remarks from Caroline Cumming, Folio’s Executive Director. Caroline outlined Folio’s programs, which include author readings, live music, and other public events, and introduced the speakers.

Caroline Cumming, Executive Director of Seattle Folio.

Following this, Ryan Anthony Donaldson, Senior Consultant at The Winthrop Group, provided a company overview, including Winthrop Founding Director Linda Edgerly’s work in the Pacific Northwest initiating the Weyerhaeuser Archives, among other client work. Ryan also discussed the variety of businesses that utilize archives and heritage programs to satisfy company goals and objectives, including consumer products, apparel and fashion (Levi Strauss & Co., PVH, Carhartt), healthcare (Virginia Mason), finance, food and beverage, and the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. To ensure success, business archivists need to foresee opportunities, creatively leverage heritage assets, build connections throughout an organization, engage communities, and determine how the archives can drive brand messages and express company values.

Richard S. Hobbs, Winthrop’s Senior Consulting Archivist & Historian, underscored these insights and provided two brief case studies of business clients that have established private archives, including Laird Norton and Pendleton Woolen Mills. With seven generations of family leadership, Laird Norton began in forest products, and now is involved in real estate, private equity, and venture capital. Laird Norton’s archives program began officially in 1983, and includes books, documents, photographs, and audio-visual recordings. Richard contributes to publications and online content, conducts oral history interviews, and assists senior leadership with presentations and conferences, most notably for the annual Family Summit.

Founded in 1909 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Pendleton Woolen Mills has six generations of family ownership. Winthrop helped establish the company’s archives in 1989. Archival assets are utilized for design inspiration, storytelling, and product partnerships with other companies and brands, such as Disney and Lucasfilm. Richard described further how these two corporate archives programs are closely aligned with an evolving identity spanning over a century, and the importance of adapting accordingly.

Amy Stevenson, Archives Manager at Microsoft, provided an engaging overview of the Microsoft Archives. Microsoft’s origins date back to 1975, and an archive was set up just over a decade later in 1986. Amy outlined the collections, which include computer hardware, artifacts, and digital content, such as Sharepoint sites and videos. The Microsoft Archives serves internal, external, and partner audiences. Serving this wide range of communities requires optimum reactivity, and Amy noted that the “heritage moment” can happen at any time. Therefore, a mix of foresight, preparedness, and flexibility is required to achieve maximum impact. Amy discussed some key initiatives, including supporting the Design Lounge at Build 2016, the Windows 95 Reunion in 2015, the Alumni and Employee Campus Commemoration in 2018, and the design of a new lobby in Microsoft’s Shanghai Office that includes heritage assets.

The PowerPoint presentation deck can be viewed with the following link: http://bit.ly/leveragingbusinessarchives

Thank you to Seattle Folio, Seattle Area Archivists, all the presenters, and everyone who could attend.

Photographs courtesy Philippe Cloutier, Ryan Anthony Donaldson, and Richard S. Hobbs.