Greg Wyckoff

http://www.gregwyckoff.com

Member Since: October 2009

Type of Member: Resident

Greg makes the longest trek every day to come to Office Nomads.  He makes the journey from Edmonds to Seattle on the the Sounder train, followed by a  ride through Seattle in the Metro Bus Tunnel. After about an hour of reading, thinking, working and a little exercise, he arrives at ON ready for the day.  Greg sought out Office Nomads to transition from being a stay-at-home dad and part-time web developer to a being a full-time Software Requirements Analyst. It was very difficult to separate his personal time from his professional time, and he knew he needed to move the work elsewhere.  Greg found Office Nomads and found somewhere he can “be productive without being part of the machine.”  His fondness for the space and the collection of people here are what get him out the door in the morning to start the commute.

Greg lights up when you ask him about Office Nomads. “Office Nomads provides the ‘missing pieces’ for independent professionals. The perceived opportunity of working independently motivates many to break out of the traditional 9-5 office job. There are many benefits to working “on your own,” but it seems that the impact of the energy that comes from interacting with other interesting, lateral thinking, motivated individuals is often overlooked or underestimated. Office Nomads is a unique space that provides an inspiring blend of independence and interaction.”

When he does finally make it to Office Nomads, he settles in and gets down to business.  With more than 10 years of IT experience, Greg recently started working as an independent consultant for organizations looking to  improve their operations through the use of software.  He systematically analyzes  business objectives and maps processes, looking for opportunities to apply software to increase efficiency and capacity.  Greg offers recommendations for software solutions and also manages the execution of projects.

Greg’s path to his current job is a unique, starting with working on his family’s farm in the Yakima Valley.  He says he has always been geek at heart.  Working on the farm, was involved with several data collection projects: Yield projections, pest monitoring pesticide application tracking, horticultural activity tracking, etc.  After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Geology at Whitman College, he spent some time in Germany working for a hop grower/processor where his inner geek and farming roots really melded together. Listening to his story of his time in Germany and work history, it’s interesting how those summers working on the family farm really were the foundation for the work he does today.

Outside of Office Nomads, Greg makes sure to spend quality time with his wife and two kids.  Weekends often include trips to the pumpkin patch, adventures to the zoo or maybe a father-daughter outing to the climbing gym. It’s fun talking with Greg because there is more than meets the eye: He always seems to have an interest or story you wouldn’t expect.  To say the least, he’s a great addition to Office Nomads.

Well, we’ve made attempts at getting in touch with the local DOTs to let them know  about local coworking spaces willing to take in commute refugees. But we have not yet been able to connect in a way to get the word out to you commuters. Instead of getting the word out through their communication channels, they suggested we reach out to you directly.  So here we go:

Sick of commuting across the floating bridges?? Check out one of your local coworking spaces!

If you’re working at some of the large companies either on the Eastside or in Seattle, it is likely that your company either recommends telecommuting regularly or may even require it as part of a commute trip reduction strategy. Instead of battling the productivity demons at home or at the coffee shop, get yourself into a coworking space and get to work. Better still, ask your boss to pay for it since it’s likely cheaper than losing hours of your productive time by asking you to try and work at home.

We’ve talked about the benefits of coworking to commuters before. But never has there been a more timely occasion for those of us in the Puget Sound to take a stab at working from a coworking space, even if it’s just one day a week. There are spaces in Seattle and on the Eastside, all of which provide an awesome alternative to the challenges of telecommuting from home or coffee shops.

So floating bridge commuters I urge you: instead of battling traffic all summer across the bridges, see if you can get yourself into the lucky scenario of kicking your commute goodbye and working alongside some of the savviest workers in the area: coworking members in the Puget Sound.

Thanks for Flickr user rutlo for the use of their photo through the Creative Commons license!

Sound familiar? It should, Susan posted recently about the idea of neighborhood coworking centers as a trip-reduction strategy. We’re such leaders here at Office Nomads. Well, according to the blog that brought the Birmingham effort to our attention, Office Nomads is a “good example” of a coworking office!

Anyway, more on the Birmingham idea:

Birmingham commuters will work from shared offices located in the city’s suburbs in the future under plans being drawn up to tackle climate change.

The radical measure will see employers working side by side with staff from other firms at specially equipped out-of-city centre work hubs in a bid to cut down on carbon emissions caused by travel.

Cool huh? Too bad our government has so much to worry about right now, it could be a better way to reduce the price of oil than increasing drilling off our coasts. But then, that’s just me.