special feature designing duos Matt Mars and James Flick Partners FlickMars, Dallas A rendering of the contemporary lobby in the Wyndham Portland Riverfront How did you meet? James Flick: We met back in the early 1990s when we both were working for Trisha Wilson. We knew of each other; however, the firm was large and our desks were on opposite sides of the office. As acting class clowns for each end of the office, Trisha thought it would be a great idea to have us host the annual Christmas party. Matt Mars: Fresh off our successful gigs as MCs for the Christmas party, James and I got 148 July 2017 hospitalitydesign.com A suite in the South Shore Harbour Resort and Conference Center in Texas to be good friends and our families traveled together. While in South Africa on a game drive, we were all sitting watching wild animals come to a watering hole on the hood of our truck. We were drinking Scotch and at that moment decided it would be a good idea to kick off our own firm. Did I mention we were drinking Scotch? We both felt we could take our passion for design and architecture and combine it with our drive and thirst for travel. We clinked glasses and the idea for the firm was hatched. Early memories of working together? JF: Our first office was my dining room table. That lasted a week or so before my wife threw us out of the house. MM: After getting evicted from our first office, we moved into our first tiny office in a building that was literally going to be torn down in six months. That gave us the space we needed to expand a bit and concentrate on project design. I did miss the snacks in James' kitchen, though. Like most startups, we worked onhttp://www.hospitalitydesign.com