Alan grew up around science and art and European New Wave films in a medical family. Summertimes at his grandparents’ house in Germany he saw the country rebuild after WWII.
After college he danced for 15 years in a world-class avant-garde dance company. In the aughts he led his own troupe. One day he hurt his foot. Doctor’s advice: don’t jump, maybe for a year. Alan put the troupe on hold.
Stir crazy during recuperation he checked the web to see if the US has concrete tennis tables like he saw in Berlin. He found only three hobby projects—in Tempe and Dallas.
Ultimately, it wasn’t a big leap from a ballet company to an outdoor ping pong table company: both seek to bring together people.
The company started out as Public Ping Pong the same month Susan Sarandon opened SPiN — the great table tennis social club in New York. The name Public Ping Pong says it all: a utility that belongs to all, like a library. When we enter we can see each other.
Unfortunately it turns out that there’s company that owns the term ping pong. Alan’s concrete ping pong table company needs a new name.
