Chip Hitchens builds his own guitars.

Every once in a while the staff at Azavea needs to stand up, stretch the keyboard-itis out of our fingers, and run around the office. Rather than induce group mayhem we have found an organized, extra-curricular outlet for our office angst. ‘Brown Bag Lunches’ take place once a month during the lunch hour. Everyone congregates in one of our conference rooms to enjoy a collegial lunch and a presentation from one (or two) of our own. We like to consider ourselves well-rounded people to begin with, but we each have now learned a wealth of new information about topics ranging from the martial art Aikido to the ‘art and mystery’ of guitar making, and the ancient Chinese game of ‘Go.’

During a recent lunch, Robert and Rachel Cheetham donned full fencing gear and turned the center of the office into a makeshift piste (the name of the strip along which fencing bouts are held, which we learned during their presentation). A few months earlier, David Zwarg demonstrated how he uses a cell phone to blog and map his location on trips. Relaxed and fun, the Brown Bag Lunches let us share our unique talents (show off) and learn a bit more about each other in the process.