Continuity Update for July 11

Let's take another look at this baby! A baby grand, that is. Congratulations to VPR Classical for creating programming that inspired a major gift to enable this purchase. And congratulations to Development for cultivating relationships that lead to this level of generosity. AND congratulations to listeners, who will get to hear amazing live music on this Steinway. Really, really awesome all around!!

Green Room - please go around

Renovation of the Green Room begins Monday morning. You will see visual barriers reminding you not to pass through that area. Folks with air shifts or and engineers needing access to the Term Room -- you are ok to enter. This is not a hard hat area. It IS a noisy area, at least on Monday and Tuesday. Noise will be curtailed to morning and afternoon hours when Master/Talk are not live. Work in the Green Room will continue intermittently through July.

Screen installation
Speaking of noisy and getting out of the way.... You may have noticed that the I-beam below the Crow's Nest has four electrical and data inputs:

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the construction guys will be installing four large monitors here. We'll have a lot of flexibility to change what is showing on each, but initially two screens will be set to TV news, and two will be computer computer monitors that rotate through the News lineup that shows how assignments are progressing throughout the day, chartbeat that shows data on digital visits, a digitized Vermont Edition whiteboard, Tweetdeck, VPR Facebook pages -- any number of things.

Apparently, installing these screens requires drilling into the steel beam to set the mounting brackets, which means a lot of noise and potentially flying shards of metal. While this work is underway on Monday and Tuesday:

• the work area will tented off and no foot traffic will able to pass through that part of the room
• Project Room is inaccessible
• Crow's nest is (likely) too noisy to use
• News printer/copier will be moved away from the work zone, closer to the exit door
• staff in this area are encouraged to relocate or work from home -- talk to your manager about options

We didn't realize the level of work involved, or I would have mentioned this in earlier posts. I'm REALLY sorry for the surprise factor here. (And thank you to Heather, who gave the people who work nearest to this area a heads up already.)

Staff BBQ & baby shower!
This Friday, in the Cafe and entrance patio, 1 o'clock! We're celebrating Kari and Jane and the babies who are on their way. VPR is providing the grillables, please bring a side dish to share. Dessert is homemade ice cream! The party hosts have reached out to several staff who have ice cream makers to coordinate this; if you have an ice cream maker and you haven't mentioned it before, please identify yourself to Madelyn or Jean!

More construction photos!

Door to the new coat room near the new employee entrance; formerly the kitchen.

New employee entrance, north side of the building, formerly Will's desk;
the slowest elevator in Vermont is still behind the door on the left.

Development conference room, with ethernet cables masquerading as a modern art installation; formerly major giving.

I mean, generally a good reminder to all of us.