OrgOrg

Camp OrgOrg coming in May 2020!

8/13/2019

Hello, OrgOrg!

As you know, the past two years have been busy for us. Not only did we throw our first ever user conference, Camp OrgOrg, back in October 2018, but we hired our first non-volunteer/employee, Kelli Doré, just a couple of months ago.

We're getting the ball rolling and have some BIG news to share... and we're awful at secrets. 🙊

CAMP ORGORG 2020 🏕️
If you're serious planners like us (duh, of course you are), you'll be excited to know that we have landed on a date for our second ever Camp OrgOrg! Mark your calendars:

Friday, May 15th, 2020
San Francisco, CA

WHAT'S THE BUZZ, HIVE MIND? 🐝
We are mostly powered by volunteers, our admin community, and people like you! We could use your help as we work through the details of Camp 2020. Know a great venue who'd love to host 300+ OrgOrg campers? Or, you've been looking for the perfect opportunity to recommend your favorite event planner or swag vendor. You have ideas on topics and you'd like to share them? Perhaps your boss keeps asking you about opportunities to get involved with OrgOrg... Well, NOW is that time!

Please fill out this 5-minute survey with your suggestions. We trust that you'll only list potential partners that you have used and would recommend.
You don't need to be local to the Bay Area to participate -- all members' feedback is appreciated!
Things we'd love to know:

Your venue recommendations in SF
Your favorite vendors
Any topics you'd like to see on the agenda

It'll only take a few minutes to complete, but give us a great foundation to help with the planning!

Fill out the survey here!

CAMP ORGORG 2020 🏕️
We truly cannot wait to be reunited again at Camp, meeting one another IRL, making new friends, unplugging, recharging, whatever other fitting electronic metaphors make sense here, and sharing our favorite 👻 stories by flashlight:

(#sorrynotsorry about all these Troop Beverly Hills GIFs... we just couldn't resist)

As always, don't hesitate to reach out with any thoughts, suggestions, or anything else that's on your mind.

See you at Camp!
-- OrgOrg Events

Comments

VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT: Njon

6/25/2019

Comments

Please introduce yourself (name, location, family, hobbies)
I'm Njon (pronounced "John"). I've been in the Bay Area most of my adult life but have also lived in Paris and briefly in Hilo, HI. I'm a total foodie, a TV/Film commentaries junkie, and an avid urban hiker. Come walk some hills with me!

What do you do for OrgOrg?
As Community Manager and Membership Co-Lead, I help moderate member content and assist in member on-boarding and support.

What Inspired you to volunteer with OrgOrg?
After successfully using the advice from other members, I wanted to share my admin chops with the group that has also helped build my confidence level so that I can better advocate for myself and my needs.

What projects have you worked on for OrgOrg?
I've taken on much of the group moderation and support issues, and my goal is to help members more easily navigate our ecosystem. I'm also helping on the web side with content and design.

What is your day job?
I'm Operations Manager at a bookkeeping startup. I cover the SF and Nashville offices and my focus is Facilities, Workplace, and IT.

How did you get to where you are today?
I struggled with mental health and addiction issues for a long time during and following high school and have spent the past decade picking myself up and developing my professional persona. Office Management was the perfect entry point for me to dip a foot into multiple areas to find the path that I love.

What is your typical day like?
HAHA!!!! Nice try! I think I can speak for 95% of members when I say we do the "everything else" AND our special projects. Mine include office builds, IT support and updates, managing my vendors and service providers, but mostly relationship building with my internal stakeholders and suppliers.

Anything fun or interesting you’ve worked on?
Office expansions and relocations is my happy place and I've had the pleasure to work on several. They have been some low-budget, quick and dirty jobs and some multi million dollar gigs. They each have their challenges.

If a high schooler or new grad walked up to you asking for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give ‘em your best tips, what would it be?
It sounds corny (and it's taken me a long time to understand) but I tell them that they actually can shoot for whatever position they want. It can happen with (a lot of) patience and perseverance. I emphasize that they not be afraid to change course if they find that their interests lie elsewhere. I'm not exactly where I want to be today, but I'm enjoying the path to getting there.

Comments

Top 5 Things to Consider when Leasing your next Office Space in San Francisco

6/14/2019

Comments

<Sponsored Blog Post by our friends at CBRE>

1. Start your process EARLY.
Begin planning for an office move at least 3-4 months before your ideal move-in date. The typical Leasing Process from start to finish can take anywhere from 2-6 months. This depends on a variety of factors:

Speed: We know you can move quickly and so can your broker, but can the Landlord (or Sublandlord if it is a sublease) move as quickly? The answer is usually no, so jump in early and allow others for extra time.

Tenant Improvement Work: Is there any construction that needs to happen in order for you to move in? This could add another 2-3 months to your timeline.

Sublease vs Direct: Are you planning to sublease your new space? Subleases are especially popular options in San Francisco and are great for hypergrowth companies because they frequently come as "Plug & Play", fully furnished suites. That said, when you sublease space in any building, you are required to go through a final extra step after the sublease process: Landlord Consent. The Landlord has a 30-day window to review the Sublease & the incoming Subtenant's financials and determine whether they consent to the sublease or not. If not, the Landlord usually has a right to recapture the space (email us directly if you'd like to discuss Recapture in more detail).

Finding the Right Space: You can find your perfect space in the first building you see during your first tour. That usually is not the case. It takes time to find the perfect space for your company. We see various situations where companies will begin their search 1 or 2 months prior to their Lease Expiration and get forced into a space that isn't perfect for them because they were on a time crunch.

Note: The only 2 scenarios where things can move a lot quicker are in coworking suites (WeWork/Regus/Knotel) or in Live/Work suites.

2. Stay FLEXIBLE
Do you know how many employees you will have in the next 12 months? How about the next 24 months? Reality is, it is difficult for startups to project headcount growth far into the future. We see too many scenarios where companies lease either too little or too much space and end up needing to move again far sooner than they hoped. This is what makes San Francisco one of (if not the) hottest sublease markets in the country.

When leasing directly from the Landlord in San Francisco, Landlords typically try to push Tenants to go for long-term leases (at least 3-5 years if not more). Their goal is to keep their spaces leased and earn additional revenue from the 3% annual increases that come with every lease, which is understandable. The longer the lease term, the less work the Landlord has to do in marketing the space and leasing it to a new tenant (and possibly having to incur the cost of having a vacant space).

Push back! Don't commit to 3 years if there is an 18-month sublease out there that fits your company's needs, especially if you are not sure where your headcount will be in 3 years. Do everything you can to stay flexible so that you do not have extra liability and incur the cost and time of subleasing space and "becoming Landlords".

3. Do your best to minimize cost/capital expenditures
Leasing office space is similar to renting an apartment in that it is a sunk cost for your company. You don't own it and you can't earn appreciation from it, so do your best to minimize your overall expenses.

Until your company grows more and can afford to spend the money needed to improve your space, build extra conference rooms & make it nice enough to attract the talent you need. Try to stay away from doing Tenant Improvements in your suite. Paint & carpet/flooring is okay, but once you begin moving walls, building rooms and working on the electrical, construction costs really add up and (speaking from experience) companies almost always spend more than they originally estimate when planning the project.

If you can get "Plug & Play” space that is fully furnished, even better! Buying new furniture can be expensive and companies tend to leave it or discard it when moving because moving furniture between offices can sometimes be just as expensive as buying new furniture altogether. There are also other costs you save when taking on a “Plug & Play” space, such as cabling/wiring, purchasing AV (if the previous tenant is willing to pass the AV on to you) and hauling the furniture.

4. Be Responsive, Act Quickly
San Francisco is an insanely competitive market. We're hovering at ~4% vacancy throughout the city, which is SF's lowest vacancy rate since the dotcom boom. Spaces come and go extremely quickly in this market.

The majority of tech companies are all looking for a similar type of space: high ceilings, brick walls, polished concrete floors, a surplus of meeting rooms and a creative overall feel. Those spaces get leased even quicker than the rest. If you have your eyes on a certain space or if your broker shows you a space that just came online and seems perfect, go see it immediately. If it's perfect, send a proposal immediately. Get your name in the ring before the space gets snatched right from under you.

5. Work with a broker that you like and that you know will hustle on your behalf
As we have noted, SF is a fast-moving city when it comes to office space. Work with someone you know is on top of the market, continuously sending you new opportunities and keeping you updated throughout the lease process.

Know what's going on throughout the process. Having a broker you trust and can call/text for a quick update is crucial. It is unacceptable if your brokerage team is unresponsive or if your broker keeps you out of the loop. Good brokers will keep you posted throughout the process and make sure you know where things stand. There may be situations where you lose out on 1 or 2 or 3 spaces because of high demand and stiff competition, but continuing to stay on top of the market and evaluate new options is crucial to any tech company in San Francisco looking to find creative and flexible opportunities.

We would be happy to answer any questions about these 5 things to consider or about real estate in general. Please don't hesitate to email or give us a call anytime!

Jenny Haeg | Global Real Estate Services
jenny.haeg@cbre.com

Reuben Torenberg | Global Real Estate Services
reuben.torenberg@cbre.com
C +1-201-240-8479

Comments

Announcing OrgOrg's First Executive Director!

6/11/2019

Comments

Dear OrgOrg Community,

For years, I’ve acknowledged that while we can accomplish ridiculously amazing things with our scrappy part-time volunteer team, OrgOrg would really benefit from someone whose entire job is making this thing great. For the last couple of months, I’ve been working with Eden to find OrgOrg’s first paid employee: an Executive Director to take this community to the next level. We’ve been a 100% part-time volunteer organization since 2010, but with our new partners at Eden, we have the opportunity to scale OrgOrg at a much faster velocity.

I’m incredibly honored and humbled to announce that OrgOrg has found its new fearless leader, Executive Director Kelli Doré. Kelli has been an OrgOrg member since 2015, and worked with the OrgOrg Org for the past two years (on multiple teams), most recently leading our Boston chapter and Sponsorships initiatives, in addition to much, much more.

She has a vision for a globally-connected, fully-resourced OrgOrg, with a more robust sponsors and partners program to help further fund our operations and provide amazing connections and opportunities to our members. I love how passionate she is about our mission and the vision I’ve been driving towards for the last eight-plus years, and how many great ideas she has for how to propel our efforts forward.

I will continue to be involved with OrgOrg as an Advisory Board member, and I’m excited to see where Kelli takes this amazing community. Please join me in congratulating Kelli (and heck, congratulating OrgOrg) on this new chapter in OrgOrg’s life!

With tremendous gratitude,
Kim

My top 10 Moments in OrgOrg history:

Our first meetup: a picnic (with our only 6 members!) on the Yerba Buena lawn
Co-hosting the first ever Admin Bash with OfficeNinjas
The first OrgOrg swag (tshirts with our “owl” logo)
Collaborating on a shiny new face for OrgOrg at orgorg.co
Running the “Outstanding Organizer” contest with Eden and sending an OrgOrg’er to Hawaii
Hosting two fundraisers to sustain operations with small donations from the community
Launching official chapters, complete with events all over the country
Getting acquired by Eden
The first ever CampOrgOrg
Hiring Kelli Doré to run this thing and take it to the next level

Comments

6 Simple Ways To Make Your Office More Secure

3/29/2019

Comments

If you’re an office administrator, office manager, or operations professional, you might find yourself wondering: “When did I take on the role of IT professional?” From being asked to add the new hire to a Google Group, to being tasked with sitting on hold with your internet service provider to figure out why the Wi-Fi is so slow, office admins everywhere are becoming their office’s de facto IT person.

So why not get ahead of the game and implement a few simple policies to increase cybersecurity at your office? Not only will it make your role as de facto IT person a lot easier, but pushing proactive cybersecurity policies can also protect your company from a major security breach.

Enforce regular password changes

One of the simplest ways to make your office’s devices/endpoints more secure is to enforce regular password changes. Most SaaS apps and operating systems give you the ability to configure regular password changes and send out push notifications to employees so they are not caught off guard. In addition to these push notifications, it’s also a good idea to send out additional communication to your office (e.g., a scheduled Slackbot or email explaining the what/when/why/how of regular password changes).

Implement MFA where you can

Multi-factor authentication (MFA), which requires more than one method of authentication to log into an account, is probably active on your personal accounts. But did you know that MFA is one of the best cybersecurity policies you can roll out at your company? Even if all of your employees are using the most complicated passwords known to man, their user info will still end up in the wrong hands at some point. MFA is an inexpensive and essential line of defense when an employee’s device or credentials get lost or stolen.

Get branded webcam covers

Covering your webcam isn’t just a best practice for conspiracy theorists – it actually has some merit when it comes to cybersecurity. A former FBI director recommends that webcams remain covered with tape, and even Mark Zuckerberg covers his webcam. An easy, cost-effective way to safeguard your office’s privacy from webcam hackers is to get webcam covers. You can even take this a step further by branding your webcam covers with your company logo. Who doesn’t love free swag?

Send out regular phishing tests

Don’t underestimate the importance of phishing training! According to Wombat’s 2018 State of the Phish Report, 76 percent of InfoSec professionals said they experienced a phishing attack in 2017. Maybe you’re thinking, why would a cybercriminal go after my company? Wouldn’t Jeff Bezos be a better target? Actually, it’s precisely the opposite. While the Amazons of the world have the resources to protect against these kind of attacks, small to mid-sized businesses are extremely susceptible – especially if your employees are not trained to know otherwise.

Set a five-minute screensaver

Perhaps the quickest of cybersecurity wins is enforcing a screensaver policy at your office. Pushing your employees to configure the settings on their device so a screensaver turns on after a few minutes of inactivity can be a work-lifesaver. While leaving your screen up while you run to the bathroom or chat with a coworker may not seem like a security issue, even a five-second peek at your screen by the wrong person can compromise company data.

Backup data to the cloud

Of all the ideas on this list, backing up data to the cloud is probably a best practice your business is already, well, practicing. At the risk of preaching to the choir, cloud services like G Suite or Office 365 offer a lot of added security, and your business doesn’t have to worry about hiring more people or paying for extra resources for an on-site backup. If your office currently stores its data on a server on premise, we also recommend backing up your data to the cloud as an added security and data retention measure.

For even more cybersecurity best practices your business can implement, check out some of our latest guides:

We’ve seen hundreds of de facto IT people become the office hero by partnering with Electric to solve their modern businesses’ IT needs. To learn more, schedule a demo with an Electric IT Specialist.

About the Author: Kristofer Black is a builder of systems and applier of theoretical models. He is also the Director of Hardware Engineering at Electric — and a self-proclaimed sneakerhead.

About Electric: Founded in New York City in 2016, Electric is a Series B startup backed by GGV Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bowery Capital and Primary Venture Partners. Electric is revolutionizing IT support with the world’s first automated IT platform. The platform’s core features include IT troubleshooting, systems administration, security and network management, and on-site assistance. Electric has also recently introduced Turbine, which uses automation to streamline employee onboarding and offboarding processes, adding to its list of core features. Through a chat and web interface, personalized service and flat-rate pricing, Electric is on a mission to become the de-facto IT solution for businesses all over the country.

Comments

OrgOrg and Office Ninjas and Admin Week 2019!

3/11/2019

Comments

We’re partnering with our friends at OfficeNinjas to celebrate Admin Week 2019! (And we’ve got an exciting contest for you, so keep reading)

Like OrgOrg, OfficeNinjas cares deeply about empowering and celebrating the admin profession. In fact, we've been partnering with them since the earliest days of Admin Week — and we’re thrilled to be jointly celebrating the admins hard at work behind the scenes again this year!

OrgOrg co-founder Kim and OfficeNinjas co-founder Nancy back in the early days.

We’d love for you to join us for this year’s Admin Bash festivities on April 24, 2019 in San Francisco.

If you haven’t heard, Admin Bash is the biggest celebration of office managers, executive assistants, and workplace operators worldwide. This highly-anticipated recognition event takes place on Administrative Professionals Day, and strikes the perfect balance between a professional networking social and an all-out celebration. Get ready for:

Tasty bites and drinks
Interactive experiences
A curated vendor market
Legit raffles prizes
The legendary swag bag

Watch last year’s Admin Bash recap to see what we mean.

Will you join us? Get your tickets before March 15, to secure early bird pricing.

Enter Our Contest! We’re celebrating our partnership with OfficeNinjas with a pre-Admin Day Contest. Five lucky OrgOrgers will win either two free passes to Admin Bash or a beautiful handmade wooden letter board (your choice, depending on whether you can join us IRL at the Bash)! Click here to enter by sharing your favorite OrgOrg memory!

The deadline to enter the giveaway is March 15 at 11:59pm PT, and we’ll announce winners on March 20. Good luck!

Comments

VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT: Allison Zincke-Robles

2/22/2019

Comments

Please introduce yourself (name, location, family, hobbies)
My name is Allison and I'm an Office Manager for a social impact startup in Chicago. I moved last year from San Francisco, and I absolutely love my new city! In the summer I volunteer with the Chicago Brewery Running Series and take advantage of everything Chicago has to offer (bars, museums, beaches). Now that it’s winter I’m excited to be able to experience snow again!

What do you do for OrgOrg?
Chicago Chapter Head

What Inspired you to volunteer with OrgOrg?
I love the resources OrgOrg and it's members provide, and there wasn't a big presence in Chicago- so I'm trying to change that!

What projects have you worked on for OrgOrg?
Building Chicago's presence and getting more members and resources.

What is your day job?
Office and People Manager at Moonrise, a social impact startup that provides one day shifts and same day pay.

How did you get to where you are today?
After graduating I got my paralegal certificate from Georgetown. I decided I did not want to be a lawyer but worked as a paralegal in DC for 5 years. When I relocated to the bay I got my start as an office manager when the previous office manager went on maternity leave. I thought it was a great balance of my administrative experience and interest in events, so I've been working as an office manager ever since!

What is your typical day like?
We're very small so everyone pitches in for everything! On a typical day I'll run through our onboarding for our workers (Moonrisers) and make sure they get all their HR docs set. Sometimes I am on call and troubleshoot any issues our Moonrisers have. As an office manager I make sure the office is stocked, have regular meetings with employees, build our core team onboarding flow, and plan events to celebrate and grow our culture.

Anything fun or interesting you’ve worked on?
We’ve had a couple of great events with our Core team and Moonrisers (field days, holiday parties). Currently I’m starting to ramp up our social media presence and take on more recruiting!

If a high schooler or new grad walked up to you asking for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give ‘em your best tips, what would it be?
What you end up doing is not necessarily what you think you will! Industries are growing and changing and there are a ton of cool jobs that you might make your career that don't even exist yet.

Comments

OrgOrg Volunteer Appreciation Day

11/12/2018

Comments

OrgOrg Volunteers work hard all year, not only at their full-time day jobs, but also behind the scenes at OrgOrg. Whether it's managing the community's online forum, planning meetups & events in their own cities, managing sponsorships or posting to our social media, our year-round volunteers make sure this community is amazing for our members. It's an incredible effort, and we would not exist without our talented and committed team.

This dedication was demonstrated tenfold leading up to Camp OrgOrg last month. On the day following Camp, Britt from Wine and Dine Events was generous enough to spoil us to a full day of luxury in Napa.

We kicked off our morning with a champagne bus ride up to Tres Posti where we immediately dove into a pesto-making competition. The competition was heated, but Dana, our Phoenix Chapter Head, reigned supreme and won a bottle of white wine for her victory.

We followed our competition up with an al fresco -- a beautiful, fresh spread of grilled vegetables, crispy skin salmon, mushroom chicken, salad, and big pieces of toasted bread spread with our freshly made pesto.

Next, we hopped back on the bus and drove to Stag Leap Cellars (not to be confused with Stag Leap Winery just down the road) for Sauv Blanc in big chairs overlooking a private pond. Even more special, we got to meet one of the owners and discuss what makes their wine (and their story!) so special.

We continued to the infamous Castello Di Amarosa for a wine tasting atop a hill and overlooking the valley. We leisured in the sun, playing bocce ball and sipping wine. As for the competition, Dana and our Oakland Chapter Head, Tiffany, won -- Dana was the lucky charm that day!

Finally, we were treated to the most delicious and indulgent chocolates at Kollar Chocolates, burgers and ice cream at Platform 8, along with every fry imaginable (parmesan! onion rings! sweet potato fries!) before hopping on the bus back to San Francisco.

As you can see from our epic outing, Wine and Dine Events plans exquisite, specially curated experiences and trips for both corporate and non-corporate events. Half day, full day, or multiple nights; you name it, they handle all the details so you can relax and enjoy your day, no matter its purpose. We can't recommend them enough. Thank you Wine and Dine Events for a beautiful day!!

If you're interested in learning more about about working with Wine and Dine Events or any of the amazing venues we visited, contact information is below.

Wine and Dine Events
www.wineanddinetour.com
Britt Van Giesen
Director of Corporate Sales
(707) 738-6645
Britt@winedineevents.com

Tre Posti
www.treposti.com
Kimmie Husted
Tre Posti Events & Catering
(707) 963-7600
kimmie@treposti.com

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 5766 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558
www.CASK23.com
Karla Jensen|Senior Hospitality Manager
(707) 261.6403
karla.jensen@cask23.com

Castello di Amorosa 4045 N. Saint Helena Hwy Calistoga, CA 94515
www.castellodiamorosa.com
Antoinette Freeman
Director of Hospitality
(707) 967-7084
AFreeman@castellodiamorosa.com
Angie Guevara
Event Manager
(707) 967-7098
AGuevara@castellodiamorosa.com

Bottegana Napa Valley 6525 Washington Street, Suite A9 Yountville, CA 94599
www.botteganapavalley.com
Kellie Magna
Director of Special Events & Celebrations
(707) 754-4467
kellie.magna@botteganapavalley.com

Interested in joining our most excellent volunteer team? Check out current openings here, or check out our whole team and contact us! We'd love to have you!

PS did you attend Camp OrgOrg? Let us know what you thought!

Comments

Volunteer highlight: Adele Gower

10/31/2018

Comments

Please introduce yourself (name, location, family, hobbies)
My name is Adele and I live in San Francisco with my husband, dog, and cat. I'm from Minnesota originally but have lived in the Bay Area for around 4-5 years now. In my spare time you'll find me watching nature shows on Netflix, checking out cool local bars, or exploring the city by cable car (my favorite method of transportation!).

What do you do for OrgOrg?
I manage the OrgOrg Job Board and work on the membership team.

What Inspired you to volunteer with OrgOrg?
I first learned about OrgOrg through Kim Rohrer (cofounder of OrgOrg). I was looking to leave higher education/student affairs and she suggested I consider Office Management (shout out to Kim for getting me into this field!). With her guidance, I joined OrgOrg to learn from other awesome folks in people-oriented tech roles and to get a better understanding of the landscape. I was immediately drawn to volunteer to get even more exposure in the field and network with more experienced members; all with the hope of eventually supporting other people who were new to the tech/operations space.

What projects have you worked on for OrgOrg?
While I was living in Minneapolis I was the Twin Cities Chapter Head. Currently I am the Job Board Admin and I help on the membership team.

What is your day job?
Office Manager at Y Combinator

How did you get to where you are today?
By being flexible, willing to learn/do anything, and OrgOrg! Those three are office manager must-haves and have really helped me in my startup career. Through OrgOrg I have been able to meet so many awesome people who have inspired me and is also how I found the job I am currently at.

What is your typical day like?
No one day is the same but during parts of the day you can find me putting out fires as they come up (overbooked conference rooms, monitors not working, etc), restocking snacks and drinks in the kitchen, preparing for upcoming events, driving to Mountain View to help out our other office, and everything in between. For those step-trackers out there, I average around 8,000 steps just during the work day so I'm constantly running around doing whatever needs to get done in the office :)

Anything fun or interesting you’ve worked on?
The Job Board is a fun project and was new when I started on it about a year ago. It has been really great owning this part of OrgOrg and being able to see its adoption among members.
At my previous position I did an office move for our staff of 100. That was the most fun I’ve had working on a project. It involved everything from IT to furniture to facilities and was a huge highlight in my career. I can’t wait until my current company wants to move offices!

If a high schooler or new grad walked up to you asking for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give ‘em your best tips, what would it be?
Have the mentality that no job is beneath you. There will be times when you will be asked to clean up a mess that someone else made and sometimes you just have to take care of it no matter who you are. Having that mentality will also present opportunities to learn new things which will make you invaluable.

One more: don't let people get ya down! There's always going to be someone you work with who is difficult. Try not to let those people affect you and you will be so much happier in life :)

Comments

What's a Live Forum?

9/27/2018

Comments

We're so so so excited about Camp OrgOrg, and every week we lock in more beautiful content for you beautiful people. This week, I can't wait to share with you more information about what we're calling "Live Forums": it's OrgOrg IRL. As we described in our last blog post, Live Forums are a chance to meet for small group discussions and workshops and meeting your online friends face to face. Or just taking a little break. Up to you.

What can you expect?
From 2:45-4:00pm, Camp OrgOrg will feature an "Open House" of sorts, where you can walk around from table to table in our main hall, popping in on brief or longer discussions and workshops. It's going to be informal, unconference-style, for the most part, and to be honest, I'm not sure how it's all going to go. I hope it will be fun! :)

This is new and exciting (for me, anyway) and I think it has the potential to be an incredibly informative, educational, and invigorating experience. Eeeee!

What kinds of discussions and workshops do we have lined up?

So far, this is what's confirmed:

The Importance of Mentorship // Charu Sharma @ NextPlay
*sponsored*

We help Square, Lyft, Org Org, etc. to build mentorship programs that work! Come learn best practices on finding a mentor/mentee, mentorship etiquette and driving the most effective 1:1's. Bonus: Enter a raffle to win a free 6 month pilot, if your company has >50 employees.

(15-minute presentation, repeated 4 times.)

13 Mistakes To Avoid When Building Out Your Next Office // Adam Felson and Kira Courpet @ officemorph
*sponsored*

We'll be talking about concepts from our guidebook of the same title (we'll have plenty of copies to share as give-aways). It will be a lively presentation about our tried and true tips and tricks for running a smooth office renovation project.

(15-minute presentation, repeated 4 times.)

Wellbeing @ Work // Stacey Nordwall @ CultureAmp

Please join me for an ongoing open discussion about how to frame what wellbeing means for your company. This includes creating communications and education around your initiatives, determining the components of wellbeing people in your organization value, and experimenting with and implementing wellbeing programs.

(open discussion)

Designing and Implementing Leave Policies // Dana Brown @ DoorDash

Drop in for a casual conversation to discuss your best practices on company leave policies plus tips, tricks, & tools you use to administer leaves at your organization.

(open discussion)

Making an open floor plan office work // Miranda Hanna @ Milkwood Designs

Struggling with an open office floor plan? Aren't we all? Workplace designer, Miranda Hanna, from Milkwood Designs will discuss best practices for how to mitigate common problems in an open office - without having to spend your entire Series B. Bring questions!

(15min talk with quick Q&A, repeated 4 times)

How to say "NO" // Monica Volk @ Square

Join Square EA Monica Volk for a discussion on how and why you should say "No" in order to ensure that your company is getting the right work done, by the right people, in a positive and productive way! We'll start by outlining why sometimes saying "No" can be the best thing for the business, break down a few real-life case studies into concrete best practices, and workshop times when you have (or wish you had!) said "No."

(30-45 minutes of presentation and discussion starting at 2:45 and again at 3:15. Check out the Emergency Guide to Saying No in your swag bag for spoilers!)

How to find your dream office space // Hillary Hogan and Brittan Hawken @ JLL
*sponsored*

Are you looking for your dream office space? We work with growing companies from seed stage to post-IPO on uncovering a space that embodies your unique culture. We have helped companies like Stride Health, Heap Analytics, Envoy, Square, Shift Technologies, Stitchfix, and Lyft.

Swing on by, we're here to help!

Personal Financial Checkup Checklist // Jeff Nordin @ Core Financial Concepts
*sponsored*

Stop by and pick your Financial Checkup Checklist! We will be reviewing and discussing 20 concepts that are key for personal financial health.

(open discussion)

Difficult People (how to deal and stay productive) // Tiffany Turner

Do people love to complain to/at you? Do you love to complain yourself? Come learn what's occurring inside complaints, and how to manage difficult people who love to complain all the time! We'll look at how to shift your relationship to complaining in a way that costs you less energy, and generates more productivity. This breakout session will be held for 30-minutes. If you miss the first round, come on over for round two! If there's extra time, we'll do live Q&A to address any real-time difficulties attendees are experiencing.

(30 min session presented twice)

Holiday Party Planning for All Budgets // Emily Stember @ Rhumbix

We'll discuss the key elements of a good holiday party and how to make them work for your budget, whatever that might be! I've planned holiday parties for under $500 onsite at the office and for a few hundred with an almost unlimited budget, I'm excited to help make your holiday party dreams come true!

(20-min sessions, repeated 3 times)

Finance 101 // Waseem Daher @ Pilot
*sponsored*

Want to learn the basics of business finance? Not sure what credit card provider to use? Join Waseem Daher, CEO of Pilot, in a talk about best practices around business finances, budgeting, and more.

(One talk; We'll have a short Q&A after the talk -- Bring questions!)

Salary Negotiation // Casey Shultz

Salary negotiation doesn't have to be a stressful experience. Casey Shultz will walk you through the steps of how to research the market rate for your position and level of responsibility and leverage that information when negotiating the salary you deserve.

(15-min sessions, repeated 4 times)

We've also heard from you that you're interested in talking about performance management, leave policies, budgets & spreadsheets, and more that we don't have experts lined up for! We'll have plenty of open tables so that you can start your own discussions as you see fit! Find your "birds of a feather" and get to it!

And of course, there will be space for more casual meetings so you can say hi to your buddies, new and old.

I always find that when I'm at a conference, I don't have the time I'd like to just casually say hello to people, have a short but deep conversation, or yeah, check my work Slack "just for a sec." My hope is that between the "passing periods" in between sessions and our afternoon of more casual Live Forums, you'll have plenty of time to connect and recharge throughout the day!

See you in a week!
Kim

Comments

<<Previous

Camp OrgOrg coming in May 2020!

VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT: Njon

Top 5 Things to Consider when Leasing your next Office Space in San Francisco

Announcing OrgOrg's First Executive Director!

6 Simple Ways To Make Your Office More Secure

OrgOrg and Office Ninjas and Admin Week 2019!

VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT: Allison Zincke-Robles

OrgOrg Volunteer Appreciation Day

Volunteer highlight: Adele Gower

What's a Live Forum?

So far, this is what's confirmed:

Archives

Categories

So far, this is what's confirmed: ​

OrgOrg

Archives

Categories

So far, this is what's confirmed: