Continuity Update, Feb 29

Greetings!

Quick question right off the top: as we head into a period of transition, increased dislocation and activity, would you prefer to get shorter blog communications twice a week, or keep the weekly info-dump going the way it is now? Note your preference to me or... use the Comments Section below.

And now... check out this gem of a staff photo from 2006:

The items above were saved in a 2006 time VPR capsule that was recovered when the engineering wing was taken down last year. Please use the Comments Section below this post to suggest quintessentially 2016 artifacts that should go in the NEW time capsule that will be secured (someplace?) in the new building. (We promise that sweet Nokia phone will go back into the archive for all posterity.)

Construction update:
Seriously, so much is happening so fast that it's difficult to capture. Check out the photos from last week for a visual of the progress! A few things to highlight:

• We're two weeks away from a Certificate of Occupancy!
• Commercial constructions cleaners are coming soon to ready the engineering office and newsroom for use.
• A massive skylight will be installed in the front lobby this week.
• Master Control and Talk have new ceilings and floors; this week they'll get sprinklers and fresh paint; after that our engineering team takes the rooms back to wire them up.

WE'RE MOVING!

Move Coordinators:
Each department has a Move Coordinator who will be a key source for your questions about many move-related things on the day of your move (plus some of the lead-up days before your move). The move coordinators are:

• Major Giving and Development Services:   Leanne
• Finance & Administration:  Madelyn
• Human Resources:  Beth
• Underwriting:  Lesli
• MarComm:  Meesh
• Leadership Team:  Brian D
• Programming, including Jazz:  Franny
• Music:  Kari
• Digital:  Jonathan
• News:  John D
• Vermont Edition:  Patti
• Traffic, Ops, Engineering:  Liz

If your Move Coordinator can't answer your question, Heather probably can. Team effort, y'all! Also, I like to imagine the Move Coordinators wearing fancy balloon animal hats throughout the weeks of the move, so that they're easily identifiable. Just a thought. Comments welcome.

Move Schedule:

Individual desks will begin moving on Monday, March 21. We've established the days for each person, but still need to establish the 1-hour block of time during which Todd will be your tech concierge on your move day. As with all things construction, this might change a bit. But here are the dates that we are planning for, as of 2/25:

A few notes on this chart:

The numbers in parenthesis correlate to the seating chart/floor plan.  (*) means the person can’t move on a Monday or Wednesday.

We strongly recommend that employees who work occasionally in Colchester try hard to avoid doing so during the four weeks of the move.  See your supervisor if you have concerns or unavoidable exceptions.

Do you see any conflicts or concerns? Please talk to your Move Coordinator.

Meeting Trailer!
If you haven't enjoyed the posh wood paneling of the new meeting trailer, take a look:

There are three rooms - a little room at each end and a larger room in the middle. The walls are very thin, so it might be a challenge to have a meeting happening in each room at the same time.

Here's a reminder of the protocols for using the space:

Of course, "The Trailer" should be booked using Zimbra.

The keys are located on a hook on the wall between Madelyn and Beth's office.  The trailer will be locked when not being used. When you have a meeting, please take the keys, unlock the trailer, and then lock up when done and return the keys to the wall.

The trailer is equipped with electric heat.  The thermostat is located on the wall inside the larger middle room.  This thermostat controls the whole trailer. Please turn the heat down to a reasonable temperature when leaving, not less than 65 please.

Please turn off the lights when you leave!

Clean out continues
We can see the evidence of everyone's effort to pack up and clear out 'stuff' from our personal and public spaces. THANK YOU for working on that, and for accommodating the detritus that occasionally accumulates.

All personal items should be removed from public spaces by now.  

Those spaces will be packed up over the next few weeks as we prepare to hand over the existing building for the next phase of construction. Every public space in the building (under sinks, cabinets, office supply closet of horrors) has been assigned to a member of the Continuity Team to be purged and packed. Beth is looking for willing volunteers to help with the bathrooms

Coming soon!
Beth is working with a small group to plan a workshop to help everyone settle into the open workspace as happily as possible. The idea is to hit topics like etiquette, and the experience of change. Do you have ideas for topics to address, or even guest speakers who would be helpful to hear from? Please contact Beth or use the Comments Section below.

Questions, comments?
Seeing the move chart above may trigger a bunch of detailed questions from folks - who will plug in my computer? What about my phone? Will everything in the new space be ready to go before we move? Not surprisingly, we are working through all of these things in detail and will have more information for you soon.

As we try to anticipate your questions, but do us a solid and use the Comment Section to let us know what's on your mind. Chances are, others are wondering too! Continuity is so deep in the details that we may have neglected to communicate some big picture topics, so keep us on our toes and post below!

Sincerely,
Patti & the Continuity Team

PS: One More Thing!

Jonathan and Todd continue to think about how we'll use Zimbra to keep our spaces and calendars organized when we move into a bigger, more complicated building. In that spirit, here's a Zimbra calendar tip for you:

Change your settings so that you *do not* automatically add appointment requests to your calendar.

When someone sends you an invitation to a meeting, any meeting, Zimbra automatically accept its, adds it to your Calendar and sends an RSVP to the meeting organizer. If you've ever invited someone to a meeting and received an instantaneous Acceptance, they probably have this turned on.

How do I turn this off?
1. Go to Zimbra and click on the Preferences tab along the top.
2. Click on "Calendar" on the left side.
3. At the top of your Calendar settings, in the General section, the 6th item down is a checkbox labeled "Automatically add received appointments to calendar."
4. Un-check (turn Off) that check box.
5. Click "Save" (it's at the top, under the Search box).

What did that do?
Now, when people send you invitations, it does not automatically reply "Accept" for you. You must reply to each invitation with Accept, Decline, Tentative or Propose New Time.

Why should we do this?
If everyone follows this policy, then meeting organizers can know that whatever reply they get is from you, not a bot. They don't have to wonder if your "accept" was really an accept. For everyone, it gives us a moment to better manage our calendars and have a stronger meeting culture. Instead of meetings just blindly landing on your calendars, you can consider each one: Do I need to be at this meeting? What is the purpose of this meeting? Should I reply "Tentative" and confirm later? Might I have to leave/arrive early b/c of another commitment, and should I let the organizer know now? This layer of thoughtfulness will help us all manage our calendars better and, most importantly, collaborate most effectively.

If you've got a Zimbra question, send a ticket to network@vpr.net.