Inspiration 2.0

Greetings!  My name is Tim McDonald and I am the Director of Interactive Media & eBusiness for Tangram Interiors - an office furnishings and office furniture services dealership in Southern California.

My daily tasks include maintaining technology solutions aimed at enhancing our customers' facility management processes and simplifying doing business with Tangram, as well as leading our social and interactive media efforts.  Yet, it is my passion for technology and the possibilities and benefits it can bring to our daily lives that truly inspires me.

So it's been awhile since my last post in which I was listing the benefits of the Apple iPad and its potential to positively affect my daily routine here at Tangram Interiors.  It's been so long in fact that the buzz about Apple's latest product isn't even about the iPad anymore thanks to the recent release of the iPhone 4.

Since my efforts to be an "early adopter" like Phil from Modern Family (arguably the best show on television) were successful (yes, I now have my very own iPad) I thought I would share with you one of the most recent FREE Apps that I downloaded.

Now, office furnishings and office space design might not be the first thing you thought of, but that is exactly what Steelcase had in mind when they developed Roam, which provides you with an interactive tour of the Chicago WorkLife Center located in the iconic Merchandise Mart, recently renovated for NeoCon 2010.

For every solution displayed in the showroom, Roam gives you an interactive floorplan complete with beautiful high-resolution photos (that can be saved or shared via Facebook) along with 3D visualizations, footprints and measurements, the design intent that led to the application, the types of work the solution supports, the products that comprise each solution, and details about the overall showroom design.  While touring through the showroom, our local Tangram and Steelcase team had access to an iPad loaded with Roam that enabled them to enhance our guests' experience and provide further insight to the newest office interiors solutions.

   

If you were unable to visit us at NeoCon in Chicago this year, feel free to connect with us so we can share our recap presentation of all of the newest products and solutions and give you the virtual tour on the iPad!

Unless you have been living under that proverbial rock, you have no doubt heard some, if not all of the uproar about Apple's latest gadget -- iPad -- and how it is set to be this revolutionary device that, "heralds a new era of computing."  Although I was immediately enamored with the new device, I was somehow able to resist the temptation to be one of the first 300,000+ people reported to have purchased it on Day 1.

But my choice to not purchase one for my personal use should not infer that I would not benefit from having one.  In fact, I believe that the iPad could truly be of benefit to me in my professional role.  So naturally, I asked the question, "How do I get my boss to buy me one?" I knew I would need some serious justification if I was even going to think of asking for one, so I decided to put that justification in the form of a letter.  Here is my best attempt...

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Dear Boss,

I am writing to officially request the purchase of an Apple iPad for my daily use here at Tangram Interiors.  I truly believe this request will directly benefit the company through increased production and efficiency of my work.

As the Director of Interactive Media & eBusiness, almost all of my work is done on the internet. In any given day, I could be updating our Twitter account with informative links to articles on commercial interior design websites or posting pictures from our latest installation of office furnishings to our  Facebook fanpage.  Or I might find myself filming, editing and uploading a video to YouTube or as I did this morning, helping one of our employees update their profiles on LinkedIn to enhance their networking ability within the industry.  I also spend time editing and submitting posts from our internal bloggers here on the Inspired blog.  I often create and upload new content to our many websites, including my most recent work in project managing the redesign of the Tangram Studio site. A large portion of my time is spent managing our CRM (Salesforce.com - also web-based), like creating reports to track upcoming opportunities for commercial flooring or refurbished office furniture installations.  And while all of that is happening, I am often creating or editing our eBusiness web portals for our many customers so that they can manage their facilites and procure furniture assets easier.

So what does all of that have to do with the iPad?  Well, no one could explain it better than Apple themselves.  But if that wasn't enough, there are also the countless custom applications built specifically for iPad, like TweetDeck for Twitter and a new custom interface for Salesforce.com - applications aimed at increasing productivity.  And what about being able to support our internal users via the Tangram IT Help Desk?  No worries - the iPad has a built-in VPN client and free Remote Desktop applications that would allow me to connect to any computer or server on the network from wherever I am.

All in all, there is no better device available suited to help me be successful in what I do!

Thanks for your consideration,
Tim

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So, what do you think?  Think it will work?  Would you buy me one?  No, seriously...would you?  Because he might not, and I still want one! ;)

I think that it is safe to say that anyone that works in the commercial interior design industry or has any involvement in dealing with office furnishings would agree it is easy to become overwhelmed with the countless products to choose from when creating an office space design.

From the floor to the ceiling, it could be the thousands of patterns and colors made available by the commercial flooring vendors to the more technical components of healthcare environments that could put any experienced professional into a tail spin.

But every once in a while a product comes along that is not only simple to specify, but more importantly simple to use - especially when that product is integrated with technology.  Such is the case with media:scape by Steelcase.  A seamless integration of furniture and technology, this product allows a user to quickly and easily "walk up and connect" their laptop to a table which is attached to as many as four screens.  No longer does a single person have to control the projector and sharing of information - now data can be shared from multiple sources, by multiple people - all at the same time!

Obviously, since Tangram Interiors is a Steelcase dealer and office interiors solutions provider we have access to use their full line of products - which is evident upon visiting any of our four showrooms in Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire and San Fernando Valley.  We have already installed two standing-height media:scape stations in our Santa Fe Springs showroom, one lounge-height station in Santa Ana and have multiple others that we are using in a "test drive" program where we deliver it to our customers' own offices so that they can kick the tires and use it for a week or so.

I must say that media:scape has definitely created an unusual buzz in the office, unlike any other I have witnessed in my tenure here.  The stations rarely go unused; from impromptu meetings to review documents between two individuals, to full conferencing sessions between our two showrooms using our WebEx meeting center for real-time document sharing as well as our latest addition of a video conferencing solution from LifeSize (of which Tangram is now an authorized dealer!) to allow for more personal interaction.

I may be a bit partial since I love technology, but I truly think that the office design layout and the way in which people interact within it is about to dramatically change thanks to technology solutions like media:scape.

If you have any thoughts on the use of technology in the workplace or if you would like more information on how we have integrated it in our offices, I would love to hear from you in the comments below!