Mandee Eckersley: Hi I’m Mandee with Cengage Learning.
Welcome to our new mission bay, San Francisco offices.
Come on inside and I’ll show you around.
The actual design and planning of the company’s new bay area hub reflects our new approach
to work.
Collaborative, flexible, and creative.
Cengage is a learning company committed to engagement and collaboration and it starts
right here in our office.
Carolyn Lewis: One of the things that everybody loves about this new space is that it’s
so open, and one day I noticed some people behind me talking and I’m like “is something
wrong?” and this guy kind of sheepishly looked and was like “well I’m the head
contractor and this is the architect,” like ten people turned around and said “oh my
god, we love this place.”
Mandee Eckersley: The first stop is the idea pit.
This is one of my favorite places.
It’s where people get together, have impromptu meetings and all kinds of ideas happen.
Jon-David Hague: When you look at this office space and what Cengage has done now, we’ve
totally opened it up so that the teams can communicate with each other and find moments
of innovation all day long.
Mandee Eckersley: The office was designed to inspire collaboration and you’ll find
examples of that throughout.
It’s already changed the way that we work.
Kimberly Russell: We’re all given a space to work to the best of our abilities whether
you work in a collaborative space or want to find a space outside or in one of the little
yurts, you’ve got that option.
So it really does show an investment where people can thrive.
Mandee Eckersley: Creative teams require collaboration and focus space as well as project room to
spread out and display materials.
Software engineers and analyst need more heads down space with minimal storage and working
space.
Work stations have lower panel heights and offices are on the interior to allow more
daylight throughout the space.
Managers require flexible areas that can accommodate meetings ranging from one on one conversation
up to training sessions involving a large number of participants.
Unassigned private and semi-private rooms allow time for focus and minimal distractions.
Conference rooms provide video conferencing capabilities as well as technology intensive
furniture and equipment for presentations and connectivity.
This isn’t your average conference room, from team meetings to demos to speakers.
We get a lot of work accomplished here and check out that view.
Danny White: We’re trying to evolve as a company and that means we have to evolve as
culture as well.
So we both made an office that was a great place for us to work but also wanted to make
it a place where we could attract some of the most innovative people in San Francisco,
one of the most innovative cities in the world.
Mandee Eckersley: I’ve shown you a lot of really cool spaces that we have here in this
office but how many San Francisco offices feature outdoor working space?
Our industry is in the midst of an enormous transformation and at Cengage Learning we’re
committed to putting the students at the center of our development process to ensure that
they get exactly what they need to succeed.
Cengage Learning is committed to transforming learning with tailored technology solutions
to accelerate student engagement.
This new office space really brings the concept of engagement to life.
You can really write on any surface in this place.
Cengage Learning is one of the largest global education companies.
Our mission is to help people learn.
We achieve this goal by developing print and digital educational products that increase
student engagement, as we believe engagement is the foundation of learning.
At Cengage we’re not just about creating the next app or another platform but about
content and experience that changes students’ lives.
Jon-David Hague: Software and big data and analytics are going to be solving learning
problems going to be a huge part of what we do in solving learning problems going forward.
This is a great opportunity for that and it’s something that is fundamental to the success
of not only the students who are here now but really of our country going forward.
Mandee Eckersley: Cengage Learning produces traditional textbooks, etextbooks, online
homework situations, personalized digital learning platforms, and research databases
for the college, k12, career and professional, and library markets worldwide.
We touch millions of learners every year through our student, faculty, and library solutions.
Alright it looks like we’ve come to the end of our time together today, so we hope
you’ve enjoyed the tour and we’ll see you again next time.
Thanks!