tote for files, computer, etc

[david]

because vsalon is the one place to go for expert advice on everything of quality and substance...
my company just moved into an open space, no-assigned-seat office.
i need to carry stuff around from meeting to meeting and i'd like to find a simple but sturdy tote.
a laptop, chargers, couple files, some supplies (pens, etc.).
something with tool tote quality so it stands up on it's own.
want it to be open top so i can reach in and grab things without fiddling with flaps or zippers, so not into a briefcase or shoulder bag.
a couple pockets on the side might be useful.
not too industrial looking.
thoughts?

[EricKeller]

that sounds stupid.
the boss has an office with a door, right? Go set up in there

Alternately, a nice $15000 snap on tool chest would be just about right

Sorry to be of no help whatsoever.

[NYCfixie]

Not the answer you are looking for but this kind of office has failed many times over the years I am amazed anyone is still trying it. I was part of the aftermath of the original "virtual office" lead by Jay Chiat of Chiat/Day Advertising in NYC. I was leading the IT Department when everyone had just moved "uptown" into an open but defined office space that gave everyone a seat/desk/computer/phonr. It's funny because the following Wired article also mentioned Fallon McElligott who also had a failed attempt at the virtual office before I arrived and helped build out the NYC office (this was even before I went to Chiat/Day).

Lost in Space - It was a bold experiment in creating the office of the future. There were no offices, no desks, no personal equipment. And no survivors.

Now to answer your question:
I have always had great luck with the Timbuk2 Medium Messenger bag

Good luck and I hope you get there early every day to stake out a place or find a more junior person on your team to do it for you....that is what worked at Chiat and Fallon.

[david]

Not the answer you are looking for but this kind of office has failed many times over the years I am amazed anyone is still trying it. I was part of the aftermath of the original "virtual office" lead by Jay Chiat of Chiat/Day Advertising in NYC. I was leading the IT Department when everyone had just moved "uptown" into an open but defined office space that gave everyone a seat/desk/computer/phonr. It's funny because the following Wired article also mentioned Fallon McElligott who also had a failed attempt at the virtual office before I arrived and helped build out the NYC office (this was even before I went to Chiat/Day).

Lost in Space - It was a bold experiment in creating the office of the future. There were no offices, no desks, no personal equipment. And no survivors.

Now to answer your question:
I have always had great luck with the Timbuk2 Medium Messenger bag

Good luck and I hope you get there early every day to stake out a place or find a more junior person on your team to do it for you....that is what worked at Chiat and Fallon.

ha! i was at chiat at the time in the creative department. left just before we moved down to maiden lane and the virtual office. the previous setup was great. open offices, but everybody was in a large cube with solid walls and the seating was assigned. jay moved everybody every six months to keep people from getting too settled. it worked.
but the virtual office was, as you say, a disaster. i was fortunate to get out of there before the big move.

what my current company is doing is a bit different and so far it seems to be working. it would be easy to complain and some folks have decided to take that path. fortunately, i've been around long enough to know that you can adapt to almost anything if you choose to.

funny, but i had actually bought a timbuk2 command messenger bag a day before your post. i think it will be perfect.

[TTX1]

minor thread drift.

please comment on adaptation.

I recently accepted a spot in an open plan office. Previously had a private office for the same company, in the same role, with the same team.

Now I'm the senior manager on the floor, so to speak - in a central position among the troops.

Constant interruption.

The office is either too loud for a phone call or too quiet for a phone call.

I spend a decent amount of time staking out alternate locations to get something, anything, done.

How does the adaptation occur?

[xjoex]

Agree, open office is a terrible way to work. All the staff get noise canceling headphones and those in management get constant interruption. I hated it.

That said, I just got this bag from Greenroom 136, it is great for a laptop and files: Bootstrap | Greenroom136

-Joe

[NYCfixie]

...I was part of the aftermath of the original "virtual office" lead by Jay Chiat of Chiat/Day Advertising in NYC. I was leading the IT Department when everyone had just moved "uptown" into an open but defined office space that gave everyone a seat/desk/computer/phonr. It's funny because the following Wired article also mentioned Fallon McElligott who also had a failed attempt at the virtual office before I arrived and helped build out the NYC office (this was even before I went to Chiat/Day).

Lost in Space - It was a bold experiment in creating the office of the future. There were no offices, no desks, no personal equipment. And no survivors.

ha! i was at chiat at the time in the creative department. left just before we moved down to maiden lane and the virtual office. the previous setup was great. open offices, but everybody was in a large cube with solid walls and the seating was assigned. jay moved everybody every six months to keep people from getting too settled. it worked.
but the virtual office was, as you say, a disaster. i was fortunate to get out of there before the big move.

Small world.

[sk_tle]

I know it doesn't help but...there is some venting to do.

I'm always amazed to see people still needing pen, files and anything remotely related to paper in a modern office. My laptop and my phone are my only companions. If I want to show things to people, I use a beamer or share it electronically. If I want to draw things, I draw things on my laptop. I'm not in an open space but often go working with other people in their own office, or attend meeting and just carry the laptop with me. Sometimes the phone is just the only device needed.

The only time I print things are for things outside of the office (documets to be mailed somewhere, travel tickets, stamps or parcel stickers) or things that we would need in the case of an outage, and they are secured in a safe (like passwords/procedures to get access to files in a secured disaster recovery site) : There is no good reason to keep physic files outside of an archive department or safe.

I work in an IT department and when I see my colleagues, especially directors, keeping it the old school way by bringing a pen and a notebook to the meetings, I cringe thinking they really should not be allowed to take any decision related to the IT field.

[NYCfixie]

I work in an IT department and when I see my colleagues, especially directors, keeping it the old school way by bringing a pen and a notebook to the meetings, I cringe thinking they really should not be allowed to take any decision related to the IT field.

That would be me.

Not to start a flame war, but as someone working in the IT field for more than 20 years as an IT Director, I cringe when I see others who are confined by their laptops. It is not possible to have a big idea meeting on a small laptop. White-boarding session is also not possible. You are confining yourself by the tool (laptop).

As someone who is a self-taught technologist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (graphics, illustration, design), I remember ALL of my professors stating that the computer is just a tool to make your design cleaner/tighter/more legible. If you cannot make it happen with pen, paper, charcoal, colored pencils, and paper than your are limiting your design. Same goes for IT work.

Last point, as a mid-career professional just about to start the #1 Information Management program for graduate school, when I recently visited campus, most professors do not want computers in class because it is disruptive and students are not paying attention (the irony of this statement is that I will be an online student).

Many years ago I was the youngest ever IT Director for the TBWA/Chiat/Day NYC office (mentioned above and one of the premier Madison Avenue advertising agencies, Apple's agency, etc.) and I DID NOT allow computers in my department meetings because they get in the way and would cause the meeting to run longer than needed. I still do not allow computers in most meetings. I just got tired of saying: pay attention to the meeting and stop screwing off on facebook.

[EricKeller]

if someone has a genius idea and draws it on paper, everyone who wants a copy can take a picture with their cellphone. If you have to share it electronically, there is a certain amount of work.

I just can't see working without a big monitor. I've always thought that if your work can be confined to a tablet, you're a good candidate for downsizing.

[david]

minor thread drift.

please comment on adaptation.

I recently accepted a spot in an open plan office. Previously had a private office for the same company, in the same role, with the same team.

Now I'm the senior manager on the floor, so to speak - in a central position among the troops.

Constant interruption.

The office is either too loud for a phone call or too quiet for a phone call.

I spend a decent amount of time staking out alternate locations to get something, anything, done.

How does the adaptation occur?

Tough for me to say how it will play out for you at your place. So many variables.
How long have you been there? When I first started at Chiat, mentioned above, i didn't think it was going to work for me. But I got used to it, and before long the environment felt natural. So time, and patience, are big factors.
Attitude is also critical. At the risk of sounding new age-ish, I've been attempting to follow the belief that how I feel about many things in life is a choice. I actually envision myself physically taking the negative thoughts and placing them to the side. Sounds stupid but it helps.
On more practical matters, I'm just looking at the whole thing as just another problem to solve. If you like solving problems, all these challenges that an open space presents can be fun to conquer. Figure out the right tools, create new habits, establish protocols with others. It'll work out. And if after a while you decide it's just not right, move on. I'd love to hear how it's going in a few months. Good luck!

[david]

That would be me.

Not to start a flame war, but as someone working in the IT field for more than 20 years as an IT Director, I cringe when I see others who are confined by their laptops. It is not possible to have a big idea meeting on a small laptop. White-boarding session is also not possible. You are confining yourself by the tool (laptop).

As someone who is a self-taught technologist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (graphics, illustration, design), I remember ALL of my professors stating that the computer is just a tool to make your design cleaner/tighter/more legible. If you cannot make it happen with pen, paper, charcoal, colored pencils, and paper than your are limiting your design. Same goes for IT work.

Last point, as a mid-career professional just about to start the #1 Information Management program for graduate school, when I recently visited campus, most professors do not want computers in class because it is disruptive and students are not paying attention (the irony of this statement is that I will be an online student).

Many years ago I was the youngest ever IT Director for the TBWA/Chiat/Day NYC office (mentioned above and one of the premier Madison Avenue advertising agencies, Apple's agency, etc.) and I DID NOT allow computers in my department meetings because they get in the way and would cause the meeting to run longer than needed. I still do not allow computers in most meetings. I just got tired of saying: pay attention to the meeting and stop screwing off on facebook.

I'm with NYfixie on this one. Less so because machines can be a distraction, although I do agree they can, but more because I like to use different tools at different times. My laptop is just one tool. Pen and paper are others. Wallboardss are tools too. Why limit yourself? And I don't use a variety of tools simply because one is better suited for a certain task than another. I often use them interchangeably. Sometimes cranking out work on a keyboard is the tool that feels best at the time. Other times a pen and paper just feel better. Sometimes I sit. Sometimes I pace. More tools, more options, more ways to create.

[vertical_doug]

I know it doesn't help but...there is some venting to do.

I'm always amazed to see people still needing pen, files and anything remotely related to paper in a modern office. My laptop and my phone are my only companions. If I want to show things to people, I use a beamer or share it electronically. If I want to draw things, I draw things on my laptop. I'm not in an open space but often go working with other people in their own office, or attend meeting and just carry the laptop with me. Sometimes the phone is just the only device needed.

The only time I print things are for things outside of the office (documets to be mailed somewhere, travel tickets, stamps or parcel stickers) or things that we would need in the case of an outage, and they are secured in a safe (like passwords/procedures to get access to files in a secured disaster recovery site) : There is no good reason to keep physic files outside of an archive department or safe.

I work in an IT department and when I see my colleagues, especially directors, keeping it the old school way by bringing a pen and a notebook to the meetings, I cringe thinking they really should not be allowed to take any decision related to the IT field.

I do the opposite. I walk in with a pen and paper. No phone, no computer. I want to maximize face time and focus on content. If someone is in a meeting and not engaged, you will often see doodling on the paper. I guarantee you the same thing is happening when someone is staring at a screen- mental doodling.

I work with some people who think as long as they sent an email, they have 'contacted' the person... when picking up a phone and having a conversation can provide so much more content...

FWIW, I do the same with my wife on date night. I leave my phone home. It does wonders for conversation...


Back on topic, the Arcteryx Blade 20 might work for you. It is a backpack, but has two sets of handles so can pass for something a little morepresentable when backpack, tote, messenger bag just wont do.

[sk_tle]

¨

Not to start a flame war, but as someone working in the IT field for more than 20 years as an IT Director, I cringe when I see others who are confined by their laptops. It is not possible to have a big idea meeting on a small laptop. White-boarding session is also not possible. You are confining yourself by the tool (laptop).

Never heard of collaboration whiteboard tools ? These things exist. There are tons of them available actually.

Many years ago I was the youngest ever IT Director for the TBWA/Chiat/Day NYC office (mentioned above and one of the premier Madison Avenue advertising agencies, Apple's agency, etc.) and I DID NOT allow computers in my department meetings because they get in the way and would cause the meeting to run longer than needed. I still do not allow computers in most meetings. I just got tired of saying: pay attention to the meeting and stop screwing off on facebook.

People who are screwing off on facebook are just not interested in your meetings which means one of the following :
1. they had a difficult night
2. they should be fired
3. you shouldn't have invited them as they have nothing to do here
4. you are not a good MC
5. your meeting shouldn't have been scheduled in the first place because it doesn't serve any purpose

Without laptop they would just do what people do when they don't have an electronic device : they just stop listening and zone out. In my particular case unless I am the organizer of the meeting my laptop lid usually stay close until I need to note something. That's what I call common sense and being polite.

if someone has a genius idea and draws it on paper, everyone who wants a copy can take a picture with their cellphone. If you have to share it electronically, there is a certain amount of work.

Common, if your staff isn't able to share electronically in just a few seconds, that means you didn't give them the right tools. All the technologies that make many kinds of contents so easy to share through social medias is available and can be brought inside your network.

I do the opposite. I walk in with a pen and paper. No phone, no computer. I want to maximize face time and focus on content. If someone is in a meeting and not engaged, you will often see doodling on the paper. I guarantee you the same thing is happening when someone is staring at a screen- mental doodling.

You are confirming it is not because of the device, but because they are not interested in this meeting.

I work with some people who think as long as they sent an email, they have 'contacted' the person... when picking up a phone and having a conversation can provide so much more content...

I agree with that but the opposite can also be true as some other people will take ages explaining things to you while they could have sum it up in 3 lines of text without uninterrupting you. Besides, the fact that I don't use pens and papers doesn't mean I never meet people. This is unrelated.

[vertical_doug]

Thomas,

I don't disagree with anything your wrote beyond your first post which was so judgemental. Most of your responses address the quality of the person and the quality of the content which in my mind are device independent.

Sometimes, the most important part of the process is self-editing before blasting the world with our brilliance. The line between digital content and digital noise is a fine one.

(there is a hilarious chapter in the book 'The Money Game' by Adam Smith (pen name) written in the 70's about computers on Wall Street. Analysts loved the computer. Even though they were doing the same old crap analysis which was wrong before, because it came from a computer, the people thought it was better. Garbage in , garbage out.

If all I create is garbage, I may want to share it really fast to show how productive I am, but good ideas are really rare and hard to come by. 'Wasting' a little bit of time to reformat from my pen and paper to a file, is probably time well spent since I again will edit and improve the idea in the process.

[NYCfixie]

¨

Never heard of collaboration whiteboard tools ? These things exist. There are tons of them available actually.



People who are screwing off on facebook are just not interested in your meetings which means one of the following :
1. they had a difficult night
2. they should be fired
3. you shouldn't have invited them as they have nothing to do here
4. you are not a good MC
5. your meeting shouldn't have been scheduled in the first place because it doesn't serve any purpose

Without laptop they would just do what people do when they don't have an electronic device : they just stop listening and zone out. In my particular case unless I am the organizer of the meeting my laptop lid usually stay close until I need to note something. That's what I call common sense and being polite.



Common, if your staff isn't able to share electronically in just a few seconds, that means you didn't give them the right tools. All the technologies that make many kinds of contents so easy to share through social medias is available and can be brought inside your network.



You are confirming it is not because of the device, but because they are not interested in this meeting.



I agree with that but the opposite can also be true as some other people will take ages explaining things to you while they could have sum it up in 3 lines of text without uninterrupting you. Besides, the fact that I don't use pens and papers doesn't mean I never meet people. This is unrelated.

Based on some of your bike related posts I have read over time you seem like a nice enough person.

With hat said, I am troubled by the fact that you were so negative/judgmental of IT Directors in your first post and negative/judgmental of everyone who did not agree with you in your second post. Why not ask yourself the following:
- Why be judgmental of more senior IT Directors (or anyone you come in contact with) rather than ask them about their methods and why it works for them? Even if all of their ideas do not work for you maybe you will find something that will be of value to you in the future.
- Why tell everybody else they are wrong in your follow up post? You may not agree with them but that does not mean they are wrong.
- Why not be open and value the methods/strategies/opinions of others especially those that may have more experience than you? Age and seniority are not always correct but many times this level of experience can be helpful to others who may not have "seen it all".


Again, not trying to start a flame war but concerned that you are coming across as a know-it-all and that everyone else is wrong.

[NYCfixie]

Garbage in , garbage out.

If all I create is garbage, I may want to share it really fast to show how productive I am, but good ideas are really rare and hard to come by. 'Wasting' a little bit of time to reformat from my pen and paper to a file, is probably time well spent since I again will edit and improve the idea in the process.

^This^

[randonneur]

jay moved everybody every six months to keep people from getting too settled.

That sounds like some kind of hell to me. I moved cubes 3 times in 1 yr at one job I had and it's not my idea of pleasant. I work better when my routines aren't upended regularly.

Back OT, you may have missed these relevant threads in the Art of Wardrobe.
http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...ase-35350.html
http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...ion-38466.html

[sk_tle]

Again, not trying to start a flame war but concerned that you are coming across as a know-it-all and that everyone else is wrong.

I won't answer in details as I already hijacked too much this thread but that was not the point of my posts and I must have not expressed it how I should. Keep in mind english is not my native language and some may be lost in translation.

I may have seemed arrogant but the "laptop will screw up meetings" is truly a false argument to me. I understand a professor who disallow students to use laptops in classes. They sometimes have to deals with a large number of them. Business meetings are in my experience another affair as we are usually a small number. It is quite easy for the organizer to spot people not engaged/motivated enough and he is entitled to tell them about it. In the end, I think the fact they are posting on facebook or simply dozing off is quite irrelevant.

On the other hand it is probably true I may take that paper and pen image too strongly as a symbol of some IT Dept. management staff I've seen over the years. Some are/were definitely lagging behind and were stuck in an old vision of what information technologies can provide to the end user. The answer Eric gave me about taking a picture of a whiteboard with a smartphone instead of being able to share things instantly is a great demonstration of an IT Department that fail in his duty to provide appropriate tools for the end users. Peoples are used to be able to share content, be it selfies, videos, lolcats, whatever in a few seconds through social medias and smartphone apps. If an IT department fail to provide an user friendly way for the end users to do the same in the office people start using others non approved means. This is a huge security issue yet we've probably all seen people sharing sensitive data through public cloud service.

Anyway I truly feel sorry if I offended you and other posters, that was not the point. Please accept my apologies for that.

[NYCfixie]

I won't answer in details as I already hijacked too much this thread but that was not the point of my posts and I must have not expressed it how I should. Keep in mind english is not my native language and some may be lost in translation.

I may have seemed arrogant but the "laptop will screw up meetings" is truly a false argument to me. I understand a professor who disallow students to use laptops in classes. They sometimes have to deals with a large number of them. Business meetings are in my experience another affair as we are usually a small number. It is quite easy for the organizer to spot people not engaged/motivated enough and he is entitled to tell them about it. In the end, I think the fact they are posting on facebook or simply dozing off is quite irrelevant.

On the other hand it is probably true I may take that paper and pen image too strongly as a symbol of some IT Dept. management staff I've seen over the years. Some are/were definitely lagging behind and were stuck in an old vision of what information technologies can provide to the end user. The answer Eric gave me about taking a picture of a whiteboard with a smartphone instead of being able to share things instantly is a great demonstration of an IT Department that fail in his duty to provide appropriate tools for the end users. Peoples are used to be able to share content, be it selfies, videos, lolcats, whatever in a few seconds through social medias and smartphone apps. If an IT department fail to provide an user friendly way for the end users to do the same in the office people start using others non approved means. This is a huge security issue yet we've probably all seen people sharing sensitive data through public cloud service.

Anyway I truly feel sorry if I offended you and other posters, that was not the point. Please accept my apologies for that.

No apology needed and I was not offended.

As a more experienced IT professional I was only offering advice and hope I did not sound like a know-it-all myself. I have worked with many different types of end users and many different types of IT professionals so I learned not to assume what works best for anyone. For some people (end users and IT professionals) digital tools are best; for others (end users and IT professionals) paper and pen are best. For me, I use both depending on the need and what I am doing. Usually when I am planning, I draw on the largest whiteboard I can find with dry erase markers and then follow up in Visio (or Google Draw) to make it more professional looking.

So I give the same advice as before, when you encounter an old-dog IT Director like me, rather than assume I am out of touch with my pen and paper, ask why I use it. I am the type of IT Director that would probably have a 2 hour conversation with you about different types of work styles and then based on your recommendation for a new tool, I would ask you to create a plan for testing and implementation within the department. This would probably also lead to a bonus and a nice letter in your personnel file after you successfully completed the project

Have a great night (or day depending on your time zone).