ERIK BARNLUND, CEO

MAVIDEA TECHNOLOGY GROUP LLC

tion of it—as opposed to being driven by a for-profit entity, it’s driven by a chamber of commerce,” he says.

He also cautions against getting in over your head. “You have to have three separate donors: a hardware donor, a software donor, and a services donor,” he says. “They need to be separate, and they each need to be willing to donate enough to complete a network for a client.” If not, he warns, the size of the donation may be too much for one business to bear.

WHa T IT MEanS FOr yOu

A significant benefit of Extreme Office Makeovers is the opportunity to raise awareness about your company among businesses in your area. West advises that the before, during, and after portions of the project be recorded. “Wonderful documentation—photos, videos, whatever it takes—of the process from the beginning to the end, to make it a compelling story, is going to make next year’s event far more public,” he says. In JWCS’ case, the winner did all of the video production, which made the task of collecting images much easier.

ARRC Technology in Bakersfield, Calif., also leveraged the power of video with its short documentary on the Extreme Office Makeover project it spearheaded (with systems donated by Cisco) last year. The local chamber of commerce and several other organizations were also involved.

“When we developed it, I said, ‘I don’t
really feel good about picking a winner. How
are we going to do the judging?’” says Mo-
nique Rogers, corporate administration and
marketing director at ARRC. “That’s when
the mayor came in, as well as the president
of Mid State Development, the chamber
president, and the president of one of the
local charities, so we had good representa-
tion from all sides.” Local wedding coordi-
nation firm The Wedding Center was judged
the winner.

a MaIn CaVEa T

When donating either services or goods, it’s
important to treat the project as you would
any other, notes West. At the same time, you
need to be able to commit to exactly what
is required. “It’s hard to say what you’re go-
ing to donate to a project when you have no
idea what the project is going to be or who
is going to win,” he concedes, adding that
there is a lot that is out of the donor’s control.
“I’ve seen a lot of people do this and halfway
through, they get into a situation where they
can’t continue. Then what you thought was
going to be a positive event ends up being
extraordinarily negative.”
One of the challenges that ARRC ran up
against was that while it donated the tech-
nology, the company realized after the fact
that The Wedding Center’s facility required
structural improvements before the systems
could be installed. “We could have placed
the most beautiful piece of equipment in
there, but it wouldn’t have made an impact
because the interior of the office needed to
be done,” Rogers explains. The next time
around, ARRC’s team will do a walk-through
of each contestant’s area to ensure, up front,
that there are no surprises.

Regardless, Rogers touts her company’s
Extreme Office Makeover project, and the
charity work it does in general, as a great way
to not only unite employees, but instill a cul-
ture of giving that extends into their personal
lives. “It’s part of our human nature to want
to do for others, but a lot of people just don’t
know how,” she says. “When you do bring
your employees into the charitable giving
that you are doing, it’s a twofold situation:
You are teaching them how to give, and how
easy it is.”
Sometimes, people assume that giving
to charity simply means writing a check—
something not everyone is able to do. As
Rogers puts it: “You can give your time, your
talent, or you can write a check. Mainly,
people want a piece of you—not necessarily
your bank account.”

Carolyn Heinze (carolynheinze.blogspot. com) is a freelance writer/editor.

kEy TakEa WayS

n enliST Par TnerS. Get other community leaders involved, including the local chamber of commerce.

n THree’S no Cro WD. Have three separate organizations sponsor the hardware, software, and services.

n Ge T i T on ViDeo. Film the process from beginning to end for future posting on Web sites.

n Follo W THroUGH. Do what you promised. Nothing is worse than a positive attempt becoming a negative experience.

FOr MOrE InFO
n arrC TeCHnoloGy ( www.arrc.com)
Extreme Office Makeover video starring
The Wedding Center. www.arrc.com/press-
room/ extreme-office-makeover-2008.aspx