DAY 16 of 60 – Life at Adobe

pic: Gena at Adobe – first day on the job

I’ve been at Adobe for a few months now, and it’s FABULOUS! I work with Adobe Analytics, which is really cutting-edge technology – designed to help companies do better marketing and understand their customers and web-traffic better. (No, I don’t write programming code, I work with the Consultants that are the experts.) And it’s exciting to hear of all the new innovations that are happening with our Clients, especially since they are some of the biggest companies in the country.

But Adobe is certainly a different environment than I’ve ever worked in. Not only is it a different type of job, but the setup is different. Most of my coworkers (including my boss) live in other states, so “meetings” all happen Virtually – and rarely do I need to leave my desk (which sometimes gets lonely). And that’s especially odd because I work in a building with over 1,000 people – yet I don’t interact with very many of them.

There are a few other differences too:

   •   A bunch of Young Nerds – So, being my very friendly self, I walk down the hall and say “Good Morning” as I pass someone – but I’m typically greeted by silence. At first I was offended, until a friend pointed out that it’s these 20/30-something guys, and they’re thinking “A GIRL JUST TALKED TO ME!!!” Oh yeah, they’re nerds!

pic: 4-story Ball Toy in the middle of the main staircase

   •   4-story Ball Toy – After my initial interview, I took the stairs down from the 3rd floor. In the middle of the staircase was a huge metal sculpture, which ran all 4-stories tall, and just happened to still be wrapped with Christmas Lights. I found it odd that they’d put Christmas Lights on a sculpture – until I got down to the bottom. At the very bottom of the wire sculpture is a wire basket with balls – red, yellow, blue – like you find in Ball Pits at McDonald’s. That’s when I realized this “sculpture” was a 4-story Ball Toy (like the game Mousetrap). Yup, only geeks would build a Ball Toy that big!

pic: Break Room at Adobe

   •   Gaming – OK, so in a building of 1,000 people, where 80%+ is male, you’d expect a fair amount of “Guy Stuff” – and there is. I’ve been in 5 different Break Rooms, and they ALL have some sort of gaming system (Xbox, etc) connected to a big screen tv. There is my favorite Break Room that, in Hard Rock style, has autographed guitars mounted/framed – along with a handful of acoustic and electric guitars for people to use, and a lovely gray Grand Piano (perfectly tuned). Yup, that IS how I de-stress midafternoon.

   •   Healthy Environment – Not only is there White Noise pumped through the building, so we can have an open/airy environment without all the noise – but there are Healthy Snacks everywhere! The 4-story building has Breakfast Rooms in each half of each floor, and all 8 Break Rooms include: Gourmet Coffee/Cocoa/etc vending; a fridge stocked with apple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, tomato juice, milk, half-and-half, and soy milk – and then a basket with apples/oranges/pears/bananas in the bottom; a drawer filled with instant oatmeal and instant soup (in case you have meetings or work late); cups/bowls/plates/spoons/etc – all made of Spudware, so it’s compostable (and, yes, they do compost here). Yes, and all of it’s FREE! Heck, there’s only ONE vending machine in the entire building – and it’s hidden in a corner of the basement.

pic: chair made from nunchucks

   •   Chuck Norris Chair – In the Atrium, where most of us eat, there is a chair made from nunchucks. I don’t know that Chuck Norris has ever been here, but we have a chair for him when he does.

   •   Star Wars – Especially with the new movie coming out this year, Star Wars is a VERY frequent topic of conversation. There are toys, signs, and other paraphernalia for Star Wars (and Doctor Who) everywhere – but I have yet to see anything about Shakespeare or Jane Austen anywhere.

   Oh, and there’s PLENTY more:  a fabulous cafeteria with incredibly affordable yummy food, parties a few times each month, vendors coming in with Giveaways all-the-time, incredible gym including a fabulous basketball court and a rock-climbing wall, high-tech security bike parking, free UTA/Trax/Frontrunner for employees, free Thanksgiving Point passes – and, seriously, much more than I can possibly list.

   Yup, I’m sold on this place. Adobe is a great company, good pay, fun people, amazing products – truly one of the best companies in the country to work for (by both my opinion AND Fortune Magazine for the past 15 years). Oh yeah, and I get to sleep in my own bed every night. It just doesn’t get better than this!