Share. Collaborate. Inspire.
A full day of peer-based sharing designed to grow our collective culture by tapping into the creative expertise of every individual from any discipline (Design, Development, Documentation, Marketing, and Management).
I am Marcela Cabrera, and I work as a Lead UX Designer at IBM Aspera in Emeryville, California.
I returned to our Emeryville office truly inspired after the first-ever Pollinate event at the IBM SVL Studios in San Jose on August 7, 2019 (where I was also a speaker).
Leaning on one of my favorite quotations by the Dalai Lama, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” I decided to use this mantra as my inspiration towards making a meaningful impact in my environment. I decided to propose to our leadership the idea of a smaller chapter event applicable to our organization, IBM Aspera, in the winter time.
Our Background
The IBM Aspera organization (asperasoft.com) is an IBM acquisition.
We’ve been through a lot! As an IBM acquisition, we have been through a great number of changes. Some of these changes have forever altered the footprint we have in enterprise software as well as the geography of our work environment.
Some of these changes have been welcomed by many, but some have not. Many of my peers have moved on to other opportunities outside of IBM, but this change also has attracted a great number of talented and skilled individuals in various disciplines. As a result, we have a lot of new (unknown) faces walking down our hallways every day.
I wanted this event to inspire us all to connect, to get to know each other, to help develop a more fluid work environment, and to provide an opportunity for an exchange of ideas, skills, and passions.
My Vision
My vision for Pollinate IBM Aspera Winter 2019 is to be a platform for peer-based sharing, collaborating, and inspiring, in order to promote a positive and strong culture for our organization.
We spend as much as 1/3 of our lives at work. As a result, our co-workers become our family away from home. I believe there’s a great of value in getting to know our peers’ motivations, knowledge and passions. When we do, trust is developed, and team dynamics are greatly improved.
Making an Impact
I had additional goals I wanted to achieve when I started this process: I wanted to bring together multiple business units and disciplines within IBM Aspera in the same way IBM Pollinate Silicon Valley Labs did, along with having the same type of impact on a much smaller scale.
Is inspiration contagious? It is! The success of this event is proof: 83% of our workforce became involved as presenters or attendees, and they are already eager to support our next event!
Why do it? There are many benefits of creating a humane and motivating culture through events like this, including but not limited to: recruitment, employee loyalty, job satisfaction, collaboration, work performance, employee morale, and stress reduction.
Our Timeline
Our first chapter event took place on November 15, 2019. It was an all-day event that started with a one-hour keynote and was followed by 22 speaker-led demos, presentations, and workshops.
My first month as a creator and leader was all about planning and strategy. Following that, I recruited a small support team, created tasks, delegated roles and responsibilities, and continually managed the project, speakers, and volunteers during the second and third months.
I learned a lot about myself and my team in this three-month process.
“Just wanted to thank you all who helped put together such an amazing Pollinate on Friday. I loved every second of it. I know you spent many hours organizing it and working out all the logistics and all your hard work paid off. I personally believe making personal connections with people/coworkers can bring us together more and create relationships that last for years and lifetime. THANK YOU!”
Parisa Lofti
How We Did It
Our initial goal was to create a smaller event, but given the importance of its impact in our organization during this transition, we decided to let it grow.
With conviction and a great deal of promotion, we attracted speakers and received quality aspirational and inspirational submissions which were highly appealing to all our attendees.
A total of 13 team members joined the efforts during various stages of this production.
We were able to make this goal reality with the guidance of IBM Pollinate leader Alex Morris, the support of Scott Robinson, and a team of volunteers led by designers Cynthia Yue, Christine Song, Nehal Molasaria, and Zenia Villa. The days before, during, and after our event, our volunteer crew grew with the addition of room managers: David Wosk, Philip Baumann, Alex Morris, and Forest Weld, as well as various Aspera team members who helped us set up, decorate and clean-up the spaces: Riva Madan, Boney Yeldho, Carole Baden, and John Sun.
As a lead, I acquired new knowledge about what it takes to make an event like this successful. I made a lot of mistakes, but I succeeded in other ways. The ups and downs I encountered throughout this journey taught me a lot about my team, our company, and myself.
“What a fun day! Thanks a bunch, dearest organizers — great show. Already looking forward to the next Pollinate event.”
Divya Koppolu
The Outcome
Our event was a great success!
We’ve received great (immediate) feedback from our colleagues, and we believe that taking this day to share, inspire, and collaborate made a difference in our organization’s overall morale.
I’m very proud of this achievement, and we are currently working towards (and eager to learn) the results of our Event Survey, as well as our team Retrospective.
I want IBM Aspera to be named “Best Company to Work For”. Why? Because I believe in our people; our award-winning, groundbreaking, and innovative technology; and the support we have as IBMers. I firmly believe that an event like IBM Aspera Pollinate Winter 2019 is a stepping stone in that direction.
I also wanted to promote cross-pollination amongst our User Research, Cloud, Data & AI teams, and with the support of our Keynote speaker Eric Mahlstedt, (Head of User Research), I was able to accomplish this goal.
We learned a great deal about team leadership and management… and also the fine art of Beer-Making!
“The event was very inspiring and uplifting. I like that we had guest IBMers from other offices.”
Stacy N. Brown
What’s Next?
They say the journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step. Creating this event was my personal first step. The more we promote an environment of inclusion that celebrates employee differences, promotes exchange of ideas, and develops trust, the happier and more productive our employees will be.
It is in our power to make a difference in our work environment, it is up to all of us!
Marcela Cabrera is a Design Lead, Bass Player and World Class Creative Guru at IBM Aspera based in Emeryville, California. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
