Time for the latest update on great posts from our sister site, Work+Place.  This week’s “best of” includes:  

• Interruptions! Susan explores how we are are own worst interruptors (case in point: number of times I have flipped to another screen during the writing of this post – at this point, three – and that’s not including switching sites to copy hyperlinks).
• Is Being an Expert a Bad Thing?  Expert interior designer Mike shares about Knoll’s experiment with using non-experts (really experts in other fields) to design their new Antenna Workspaces.
• Innovation!  Leigh shares a Wharton study about innovative thinking - and how collaborative settings are not always the best way to get

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The St. Louis Office has begun participating in a new service called Fruit My Cube.  The Farmer’s Market in Belleville, IL has come up with a new business idea that connects hungry office-bound folks with healthy snacks.   Our employees can sign-up to have their cubes (or in our case workstations) “fruited.”    For $9.99/week we receive a box filled with 16 pieces of fruit and vegetables delivered to our office.  The fruit & veggie types change weekly and selections are seasonal.

This week our box contained apples, oranges, peaches, grapes, plums, pluots, baby carrots, a tomato, and an avocado. That’s a ton of fruit, so the STL …

Still hell hot in DC…still a good time to curl up somewhere cool and surf great posts on Work+Place.  This week’s “best of” includes:  

• Vision for the Workplace.  A colleague asked me a funny question about vision sessions – essentially, who wants a crappy office?  Sadly…some people do! 
• Telecommuting.  Catherine Haley exhaults the US government for encouraging employees to work from home (and wishes they’d do it more often for the sake of her commute among other reasons).
• Fonts?  Susan Baerwald explains how Gothic can save the environment.
• Etiquitte.  Sometimes you just need to tell people how to be considerate in the office - some snarky ideas via the New York subway system!

Check …

Dreaming of vacation?  Just getting back from one?  Rather than do your work today, check out some of the best posts from Work+Place.  Just think, what you learn here could help you become a more effective, productive worker! 

• Wiki Workplaces?  You may have heard of wiki as it relates to sharing information on the internet…Susan Baerwald applies wiki principles ot the workplace.
• An Extra Hour.  Claire Whitehill shares resarch from Fast Company about how people would like to spend an extra hour…and reaches out to YOU to help figure out where to find an extra hour each day.
• Seismic Shifts in the Pharma Workplace. Using the recent instability of the Earth as

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You’re probably still recovering from the Fourthof July (one of my favorite holidays).  A good way to get back into the swing of work is to check in on our favorite HOK site (besides Life@HOK): Work+Place.  Enjoy!

• Working in Wi-Fi Limbo. Mike talks about the cycle of workplaces used by nomadic workers (home, Starbucks, home).
• Opposites Attract.  Life@HOK’s own Megan Holder discusses the differences in workstyle she and her husband prefer.
• The Limits of Data. A true researcher at heart, Emily Golembiewsi talks about what can and cannot (or should not) be measured quantitatively.
• An Extra Hour in Dubai.  Catherine Haley shares about her trip to the UAE, including

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You are looking at Dallas’s newest challenge. Well, half of it at least. The 7’x7’              “World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle” was a little too big for our break room, so here’s part of it.

A few members of our in-house ACT Committee noticed the newspaper’s crossword puzzle getting completed a little too often.

This should hold’em.

And now you know someone that has actually purchased something from skymall.  I know, I know… I thought it was just a magazine museum for extremely useful products too.

What do you think, can you give

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Prep Time:  the time of an email and a phone call

Ready In:   days? weeks?

Ingredients:

1 bike un-friendly building

1 building management contact

1+ bicycle commuter (bike included)

1 secured area

and a pinch of patience (necessary for taste!)

Directions:

Step 1)  Realize building is not bike friendly by trying to carry your bike through the lobby. (Step 1 is not always necessary but may occur)

Step 2)  In one large Email, inform building management about current problems with bicycle storage for occupants.

Step 3)  Sprinkle thoughts and suggestions throughout email of bike storage ideas and request necessary conditions(bike rack, weather protection, security from people that may want to barrow your bike and …

If Star Wars is any indication, Episode IV is where the story gets really good.  We hope you think Episode IV of  the “best of” Work+Place is just as good (minus the yummy young Harrison Ford, of course).  Enjoy!

• Work/Life Balance.  Embracing the new year, Mike McKeown looks to 2010 as the year of better work/life balance.   I wonder if he’s still wearing that occasional tie?
• Construction is Underway.  Doug West shares some in-progress construction photos of the new Russell Investments space in New York.  Vivian Alonso also shares some great shots of HOK’s Florida International University project.
• Work+Displaced.  Bill Mitchell makes his blogging debut, sharing about how work gets done when one

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Today is the day that brings you just what you’ve been waiting for: Episode III of the “best of” series highlighting hot workplace topics on Work+Place.  Enjoy!

• Open work environments.  After being spoiled with a ginormous mahogany row office, Claire Whitehill reflects on her current workspace in “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, A Beautiful Day for a Neighbor.”
• Work Observatory. Steve Foran takes us out into the universe, back down to the 41st floor, and then ties the workplace into the urban fabric.
• Mommy is Working. Ever wonder how new moms make it all work?  Jennifer Mannier shares her experiences as a mother transitioning back into the workforce.
• This Ain’t

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It’s been a couple of weeks since our last “best of” so we thought it would be a great time to check back in and see the hot workplace topics on Work+Place.  Enjoy!

• Weather.  While it’s sunny and beautiful in May in most of the US (and northern hemisphere, for that matter), our Work+Place bloggers remind us of the good times in winter 2009-2010.  Check out Gerald Callo’s post on snow in Houston, Claire Whitehill’s documentation of the DC office, Vincent Ng’s work from home snow day, and Shelby Guazzo’s observation of design by snowplow.   Definitely reminds me of just how much a part weather plays in my

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Now that we’ve whetted your appetite regarding our workplace expertise, it’s time to share some more of our favorite posts from Work+Place.  Enjoy!

• Hello from I-95. Ever wonder what makes a true road warrior?  Leigh shares her working on (not from) the road experiences.
• User Perfected Environments. Ever wonder how people make a terrible workplace environment more palatable?  Check out Jim Rice’s post complete with hilarious photographs.
• I Can Think Here. Catherine Haley shares her need for a change in scenery to get the creative juices flowing.
• HOK Miami.  Interior designer Vivian Alonso shares about the new HOK Miami office, including all the great

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We’ve talked before about my job as a member of HOK’s Advance Strategies team.  As you may remember, one of the things that is a big focus for Advance Strategies, as well as HOK’s Interiors group, is workplace strategy.  We’re passionate about developing, designing, and implementing workplaces that work (and are beautifully designed, too)! 

We thought it might be cool to share our knowledge about the workplace online: voila,  Work+Place was born!  This site is a blog authored by a global team of HOK people who are out doing this work in every corner of the world, and who are dedicated to exploring all things “workplace” – you …

Workplace specialist Angie Earlywine has worked with many a business whose senior managers are shocked to realize their employees are much more “mobile” than they thought. She likens it to a ’Where’s Waldo?’ scenario.

Angie is a “distributed work” expert, recently co-authoring a research report on distributed work strategies for the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). The landmark study documents the trends and bottom-line impact of 21st century workplaces at Bank of America, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, Microsoft, Sprint Nextel and other companies.

During the past several months, Angie has been spreading the word at a series of IFMA conferences, industry gatherings and office events.

We tracked her down (together with co-presenter Tom Polucci) during a March 12 …

Recently, CoreNet Global, the world’s leading corporate real estate and workplace executives professional association in the world, recognized their Top Rated Faculty for 2009. This award is given to specific individuals who have participated in developing and instructing CoreNet courses. Recipients of this elite award also must receive a 6.4 or higher rating on a 7 point scale on the course evaluation sheet based on their course knowledge, crowd interaction and presentation skills.

HOK Advance Strategies is fortunate to have three Top Rated Faculty recognized for their dedication to teaching and advancing the profession. …

HOUSTON, TEXAS – The Green Workplace Booksigning Tour made its long awaited stop in the Lone Star State, after multiple stops in St. Louis, NY, WDC and Chicago. HOK along with Hines and Knoll sponsored the one night booksigning event which proved to be a lively yet intimate green evening. The event took place Wednesday, February 17, 2010, in the KNOLL showroom and in the lobby of the recently certified LEED Gold Williams Tower.

Leigh Stringer from Advance Strategies Washington DC, was the special guest to present findings and sign her book, The Green Workplace: Sustainable Strategies that Benefit Employees, the Environment and …

About a year ago, I gave you an update of what was going on in my work life.  Looking back over the last year of Life@HOK, I thought it might be fun to revisit that post,and let you know what’s going on now!  You’ll see from the list below that some things have stayed the same, but lots of cool new things have come up too!

Revisiting old news:

• GSA Unit Cost Study: just about wrapped up!
• U.S. Capitol Complex Master Plan (still going, and I still can’t tell you more or I’d have to shoot you)
• Blogging on The Green Workplace
• Blogging on Life@HOK

Sharing new news:

• NeoCon East presentation

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HOK London has been chosen to supply the workplace and interior design for the second phase of the BBC’s Broadcasting House development in central London.

The BBC is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, with a mission to enrich people’s lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain. It is a public service broadcaster, established by a Royal Charter.

The project team – who you can see below (and yes that is me)! – are incredibly excitied about this opportunity and looking forward to getting started. We will draw on our extensive experience in interior design and workplace strategy (Advance Strategies) including Guardian News and Media (subject of a previous blog post), some great shots of which can be found on their own website.  But

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I’ve talked before about how HOK is committed to continuing education, and also about the company’s commitment to health (on thegreenworkplace.com).  Yesterday, the DC office tied the two together with a fabulous presentation by Steelcase: the movement toward wellness in the workplace. 

This presentation was not your typical lecture on traditional ergonomics (monitor height, seat position, etc)….it went quite a bit further and discussed how wellness in the office relies on a combination of human resources policies and facility management solutions (good furniture!). 

The presenters discussed how movement is a critical element for the body and mind, and also for collaboration.  Movement keeps us refreshed, focused, and energized…and we need our workspaces …

Found this site while doing some research. Thought I would share my discovery here.
If you have ever been curious to see where people work, what their offices look like – now is your chance. Office Snapshots is a site that lets you look inside offices of companies you may deal with on a regular basis…GOOGLE, Facebook, Twitter and Apple to name a few. While the site is mostly focused on Web/Tech companies, there are also some larger more ‘traditional’ offices. No – HOK is not there…YES another very large architectural firm is…we can change that status! Are there any HOK clients among …

Are you dying for your opportunity to meet some of Life@HOK’s famous names? Leigh and I will be presenting Wednesday, October 29, at NeoCon East in Baltimore. Leigh will be presenting with Kevin Kelly from GSA about furnishings, and I will be talking tech with Claire Whitehill from HOK Advance Strategies, WDC later in the day.

Hope to see you there!

Furnishing the Future: Leaner and Greener Workplace [W7]
Wednesday, October 29 • 9–10 a.m.
How can organizations create workplaces that support the workforce of the future while meeting the growing number of environmental mandates and guidelines? Gain specific strategies for creating lean and green workplace environments that minimize the use of economic and environmental resources. Case …