Listen to the complete interview: InBusiness radio interview with Vickie Wenzel

Vickie Wenzel, Vice President, Target Commercial Interiors in Madison, WI, discusses the local history of Target Commercial Interiors with Judy and Joan; from the founding in 1949 as Rowley-Schlimgen to the current organization. Vickie reflects on the approach she takes in working with clients, understanding their needs and wants and moving to determining budgets and goals. A recent project with Full Compass highlights her collaborative approach to space planning.

Vickie also discusses the advantages of working for a national company, Target, including the ability to source products from around the world, and the diversification to national, retail, hospitality, and healthcare projects. Target Commercial Interiors is part of Target’s property development pyramid. According to Vickie, “we [Target Commercial Interiors] bring to the parent company our organizational expertise in space planning, as well as workplace innovation. Because we are part of the planning and design group, we really have a good fit with people just like us, that plan and build stores all over the United States.”

Connect with Vickie on LinkedIn

Vickie’s role with Target Commercial Interiors is currently focused on new business development an urban Wisconsin market. She notes that the company is a “very matrixed organization,” sighting the example of a Design Manager in Wausau, WI who manages a design team in India.

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Impress (or appall) your colleagues at your next conference table get-together by using one or more of the new corporate buzzwords found at www.buzzwhack.com:

Generation D: Unlike Gen-X and Gen-Y, Gen-D is not determined by age. It’s the group of people who are completely at ease with the digital revolution, whether they’re 8 or 80.

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The paperless office is a work-in–progress. Today’s worker is performing more tasks on the computer, and storing more information in the cloud. The growth in data centers in the past decade offers some insight. According to the EPA, “The energy use of the nation’s servers and data centers in 2006 is estimated to be more than double the electricity that was consumed for this purpose in 2000.” So, the migration toward a paperless office is about increasing efficiency and effectiveness of content generation and exploitation, as well as reducing paper usage and preserving natural resources.

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No matter the weather, no matter who you want to bring, the whole family can enjoy the parade with our Nicollet Mall store as your warming house.

Visit us before, during or after the parade for hot chocolate, coffee and sweets to warm you up. Join us the first three Thursdays in December, 12/03, 12/10, and 12/17 from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm.

Please RSVP to Joel.Bartlett@Target.com so we can save you a place.

Today’s mobile workers often complain about office wireless connections while cellular carriers are grappling with a rapidly rising flood of traffic. This article shows readers how some technology vendors promise to address both of these problems at once.

Companies like Texas-based InnerWireless already offer “distributed antenna systems” to handle wireless connections inside hotels, hospitals and government offices. The antenna system market is particularly promising, notes the author, because of the flood of users of devices like Apple Inc.’s iPhone who are pulling tremendous amounts of data from the Internet. AT&T, the cellular carrier providing service for the iPhone, has seen wireless data growth on its network rise nearly 5,000 percent between 2006 and 2009. It and other cellular carriers are trying desperately to offload some of this traffic by encouraging the use of WiFi, the alternative wireless technology built into many laptops and many smart phones. They are also looking to technologies that take over wireless coverage inside buildings as a way to move traffic from their overburdened cell sites.

Silicon Valley startup SpiderCloud Wireless recently introduced technology that takes over delivering either cellular or WiFi signals to smart phones or laptops of office workers worldwide. The performance improvement is so dramatic that management there expects some customers to dispense with desk phones entirely and rely solely on cell phones. While other in-building wireless networks take months to install and are more suited to large companies, SpiderCloud’s technology seems inexpensive enough for even small companies to employ.

The article talks about SpiderCloud’s new system of access points installed in office ceilings that communicate with laptops and smart phones and its specialized servers that manage how the devices communicate with each other and the Internet. One industry analyst notes that other in-building systems route a call between two people in the same building outside to the wired portion of the carrier’s network which is already burdened with heavy traffic. SpiderCloud connects those people directly, inside the building, and offloads external traffic directly to the Internet, better reducing carrier data load. Its strategy is to sell the technology to cellular carriers and let them offer it in a service bundle to businesses.

Source: Don Clark, The Wall Street Journal (New York); Oct 30, 2009

The Millennial generation enters the workforce with a new set of skills and a different kind of work ethic than previous generations. Over the next five years their effect will be profound, as over 58 million millennials become employed in the U.S. alone. This article explores what the likely impact of this workplace transformation will be.

It begins by looking at the events and circumstances that influenced these Gen-Yers as they grew up. The millennials are the first true “children of technology,” growing up with the instant communication of cell phones and smart phones and the “highly-charged feedback of video games.” Used to a fast-paced energized environment, they revolutionized texting and instant messaging and frustrated their elders who were used to the more sedate email and voicemail. Millennials are also used to a constant flow of encouragement and positive feedback from parents and teachers and expect this type of support on the job. They were greatly affected by the “herding” phenomena of the 1990s and 2000s — including team sports, team projects and group dates – which have gotten them used to more teamwork and collaboration than previous generations.

The scions of “helicopter parents” who made their children’s major decisions, completed their projects and even did their homework, millennials have come to rely on demanding yet trusting relationships with their elders, an attitude that the author believes can extend into the workplace. Other positives from employing millennials are identified by the author:

• They bring a new energy into the workplace.
• They are very task-oriented when instructed clearly.
• They are tech savvy, making them highly efficient and natural tech mentors to other generations.
• They naturally “speak the language” and know the needs of their fellows in the large and growing millennial target market.

The article advises managers to take extra care that millennials understand the mission before them. Managers must create a fast-paced, energetic culture that will ultimately benefit all working generations. The article ends with a list of ways managers can attract, retain and train millennials to the betterment of the company and its bottom line.

Source: Joanne G. Sujansky, Super Vision (Burlington); Oct, 2009

In this short article the director of Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University was asked to pick three of the best keyboards for aching wrists. The results were:

• Goldtouch Go! — Light weight and ideal for mobile users, this keyboard is divided into two angled halves that naturally straighten the hands and wrists. (Cost: $139).
• Kensington Comfort Type Slim Keyboard – Looks like a traditional keyboard but the keys are angled toward the center, allowing for a straighter and more relaxed wrist posture. (Cost: $20).
• Jasper Freeboard – A good choice for those who use their mouse as much as they type, the Freeboard has a built-in mousepad which prevents overextension and straining and has a snap-on attachment for the left-handed. (Cost: $149).

Source: Shivani Vora, Inc. (New York); Oct, 2009

Councilmember José Huizar joins Target Store Volunteers and together they help to makeover elementary school libraries.

By Allison Zack | October 25, 2009 | Original post in Westside Today

Councilmember José Huizar joined Target leadership and team member volunteers to makeover Sunrise Elementary’s library, a LA’s BEST site, and accept a $10,000 check from Target for computers at six LA’s BEST sites at the third annual Target Reads with LA’s BEST. Target granted LA’ s BEST six library makeovers, as well as literacy kits for nearly 4,000 children at 25 additional sites, promoting the joy of reading, the importance of education and that ‘homework is fun.’ The Sunrise Elementary event is part of the company’s broader Target Volunteers School Library Makeover program.

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