20 Years of Doing Things Differently
We took over In The Hanging Garden, invited more than 180 people who have been part of the 4one4 story, filled the place with art, food, games, music and twenty years of memories, then somehow forgot to properly tell everyone about it.
Yes, we probably should have shared it sooner.
Okay, we are very late with this one.
Back in April, more than 180 clients, friends, team members, community partners and people who have helped shape 4one4 joined us for a proper 20th birthday celebration.
We could have booked a ballroom, put everyone at round tables and made it all feel very polished and corporate.
Naturally, we did none of that.
01 / Not a corporate dinner
A block party, but make it 4one4.
There was a custom giant Connect Four game, 4one4 cornhole, food from Hamlet, our own 4one4 beer brewed with Deep South Brewing, a local DJ, live street art and a charity art auction.
The point was never to fill the room with branding for the sake of it. We wanted the little details to feel like us. Things people could play with, talk about, photograph, laugh at and remember.
It was a celebration of 4one4 without feeling like a corporate event about 4one4.
02 / Twenty years around the room
The history was part of the party.
One of our favourite parts of the night was the timeline running through the venue.
It walked guests through the different eras of 4one4: the early office at 414 Main Road, the colour schemes we loved and later questioned, the teams and offices that helped us grow, the experiments, the awards, joining forces with McGregor First National and the new departments that turned a small agency into the business it is today.
For some people, it was a history lesson. For others, it was a slightly confronting reminder of hairstyles, old advertising and how quickly twenty years can disappear.
Twenty years of 4one4, spread through the venue.
From corkboards to considerably more screens.
When 4one4 opened in 2006, there were three people at the beginning, second-hand office furniture, a corkboard in the front window and brochures being produced through a homemade Microsoft Access system.
It was not particularly glamorous. But the idea behind it was already there: find a better way of doing things, look after people properly and do not be afraid to look a little different while doing it.
03 / Local people, local flavour
Good food. Good people. A beer with our name on it.
Hamlet looked after the food, Deep South Brewing helped us create the 4one4 beer, and throughout the evening the venue kept changing as the artwork developed, the crowd grew and the music took over.
The night was not designed as an industry function. It was a thank you to the people around 4one4, including clients, friends, team members, suppliers, partners and people who have simply backed an independent Tasmanian business over the years.
A special recognition during a milestone night.
04 / One very special moment
Forty years in the industry.
In the middle of celebrating 20 years of 4one4, we also got to recognise a story that started well before 4one4 existed.
Paul Berry received recognition from the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania for 40 years of industry service.
Twenty years of 4one4 sits inside a much longer family connection to Tasmanian real estate, and having Paul recognised in front of so many people who have been part of that journey made the moment even more special.
05 / Celebrate, then give something back
The night had a purpose beyond the birthday.
The live artwork was auctioned during the event, with fundraising supporting A Home for All and its work around homelessness and housing insecurity.
Property is what we do every day, so using a night about our own history to support people without a safe and secure place to call home felt like the right way to celebrate.
It also reflected something we have tried to keep at the centre of 4one4 as the business has grown: enjoy what you do, be part of the community around you and, whenever you can, give something back.
A few more from the night
Daylight, old stories, a few drinks, then the dance floor took over.
By the end of the evening, the timeline had been explored, the games had become competitive, the artwork had been finished, plenty of 4one4 beer had disappeared and In The Hanging Garden was looking considerably less like an anniversary function and considerably more like a proper party.
06 / The story keeps rolling
The party was one night. The story is a lot bigger.
Since April, we have been going back through the archives, sitting down with people who built different parts of 4one4 and putting more of the story on camera.
We have spoken with Paul, Pat and Abbey about where the business started and where it might go next.
We have revisited the story behind the 4one4 name, the McGregor First National chapter, the people who shaped the culture and some of the ideas that worked, along with a few that probably deserve to stay in the archive.
There are stories about innovation, people, growth, culture and twenty years of trying to avoid becoming just another real estate agency. And yes, we still have a lot of it to post.
Twenty years down
Still doing things differently.
Thank you to everyone who came along, everyone who helped bring the night together, and everyone who has been part of 4one4 since 2006.
The clients who trusted us. The people who worked here. The businesses and community groups who partnered with us. The friends who supported the ideas. And the team members who kept pushing 4one4 forward.
This is the first chapter of our proper look back at twenty years of 4one4. There is plenty more to come.