Thursday, February 16, 2012

Pop Quiz | Can you identify Gannett's lounge?

The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., has just started a major newsroom redesign that will feature a new employee lounge, complete with couches and a coffee table.

The Sun isn’t the only site getting kick-back space for workers. “This mandate came from Corporate,’’ says Anonymous@8:44 p.m. “Sites are supposed to create friendly relaxing places with sofas, chairs.”

And not a moment too soon, judging from the following photos!

These are real employee lounges at Facebook, Gannett and Google. Can you match the companies and the photos?

[Lounge at company A]

[Lounge at company B]

[Lounge at company C]

For answers, check out the comments section, below.

Earlier: In Nashville, Tenn., a hullabaloo over an Ikea desk lamp.

22 comments:

  1. Lounge A: Google

    Lounge B: the Chicago office of the Gannett-controlled CareerBuilder

    Lounge C: Facebook

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  2. Ha ha, the coldness and sterility of the middle one was a dead giveaway. Got em all, what do I win?

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  3. You win a lukewarm 75-cent cup of coffee from the vending machine!

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  4. This post is so darn funny! It is so blatently obvious which picture belongs to a Gannett site. No vision and absolutely no idea what a friendly atmosphere is. Thanks for the laugh, Jim!

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  5. Is this a flash back to 70's decor?

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  6. Are those padded walls at Facebook?

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  7. Are those real flat-screens or wall art?

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  8. Security camera screens so they know that you know they are watching you while you're relaxing. seriously they look like artwork.

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  9. I finally figured out what was going on here. Top 51 tried to sell IKEA an ad program and all they could pull off was a trade. Trade agreement runs out soon so they had to rush over to IKEA and buy a bunch of crap. (after execs used some of it to furnish their kid's dorm rooms)

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  10. But seriously, it's really happening at our site. We've got 2 new areas. I couldn't figure out what was going on, why they'd spend money on a lounge. I still can't understand it. Fewer people with more work don't have time to lounge. Not to mention the slap in the face to people who will loose their paychecks.

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  11. The most inept management team Gannett has ever had. Period.

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  12. Hardly enough room on that couch to have sex, but we've got workarounds for everything.

    What? Gotta be SOME benefit to working here, ain't for the raises!

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  13. Palm Springs also has a foosball table in one of the outdoor lounge areas by an employee entrance that I haven't seen used in years. And a mini-gym that is almost never used. And a basketball court that's used a little more, but still not alot. Doing the work that far more employees used to do doesn't leave a lot of time for lounging.

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  14. Well, I'm glad that "C" is not the Gannett property. Option-C looks like Ikea was commisioned to decorate a padded-room.

    Actually, I think option-B, would be greatly improved with a contemporary light-box lamp, instead on the current lamp. I would also get an apple green throw rug for under the furniture area to instantly brighten-up the lounge area.

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  15. Is there a sign-in sheet to fill out when you use the room? You know, so the micro managers and bean counters can keep track of your time.

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  16. It was corporate mandated. Should really improve moral along with the layoffs, the furloughs, the no pay increases and buy-outs!

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  17. Wow. The lounge in Reno is a lot better; it was built by the on-site maintenance people who did a really classy job.

    Although it too came on the heels of layoffs -- in Reno's case at the time, the second round.

    The surviving staff were all in WTF mode after 61 of their friends just lost their livelihoods, and now the building gets a very swanky "lounge area."

    The HR guy, one of the few generally personable and decent execs, actually responded to the chagrin among a traumatized workforce, and explained the timing.

    Same deal, though: with less staff and now furloughs, who had the time to avail one's self to it? The supple leather couches? The wide-screen TV?

    Never the less, some -- not a lot as it was usually empty -- some found the time. Probably the beginning of the "why bother" work ethic.

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  18. I thought for sure the Gannett lounge was C - padded walls for all the crazies there.

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  19. The magazines on the elegant
    coffee table are PSYCHOLOGY
    TODAY and Lay-Offs Weekly.

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  20. Plus, the always-gossipy Hello, CEO! magazine.

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  21. I knew it was B -- small and empty.

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  22. Can those with lounges send pics to Jim? We can pick the best layoff lounge.

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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