Interview w/ Traci Wilbanks @ Vendavo

Traci Wilbanks

- Senior Technical Writer at Vendavo

- former middle school teacher

http://www.linkedin.com/in/traciwilbanks

Irrigation

- many office buildings lack the infrastructure we'd need for irrigation

- most commercial buildings don't have spigots on the side

- water source?

- people could water by hand --> community (not mechanical) effort

Business

- most office buildings are leased --> companies may not have the authority to alter rooftop

- recruiters and salespeople see the value of a community space

- engineers are less likely to see that value --> have deadlines to meet, bosses don't encourage laissez-faire work style

- engineers like to get something tangible out of a community-building experience (ex. origami making session --> they leave with something they created)

- parallel: have the garden produce ingredients for company food

- first priority is to get management on board

VENgarden / ideas

- 7 people actively involved

- allows garden fans to pursue gardening at work

- educational for those with little experience

- start with seedlings instead of seeds --> start with momentum ("like adding tips to a half-full tip jar rather than an empty one")

- people who are actively involved still participate in bad weather

- give kits -- "Earth Boxes" -- container on wheels, comes with instructions

- hand out to different departments

- start with different plants

- professional gardener/landscaper can stop by occasionally to give lessons

- talks from other professionals (chefs, yoga instructors, bird watchers, etc.) can vary depending on season

Company Culture

- don't want to overwhelm with new initiatives (want to ramp up instead)

- empowering people is the greatest way of getting people buying into the idea

- if it's too packaged, too slick, then it's like Big Brother

- Vendavo Olympics forced cross-pollination in random teams (parallel: assigned seating)

- allows people to talk to each other more easily in business

- easier work life

- life/work balance is like a seesaw --> the "work" part is taken care of, but the "life" part is neglected