The 2006 H. Bruce Russell Global Innovators Awards, sponsored by Gensler, Equis Corp., and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce were presented by Mark Golan at the Opening General Session. The four award winners and categories were:

• Corporate Real Estate and Workplace: Capital One's Future of Work Program
• Service Provision: Corporate Portfolio Analytics for its demand-side CRE Market Intelligence tool
• Collaboration: McKesson Corporation and the Trammell Crow Company for their M&A Playbook detailing the due diligence of mergers and acquisitions with real estate leading the way
• Community Redevelopment: Melbourne-based GJK Facility Services with the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and the Victorian State Government for their work to improve the quality of life and facilities in public housing

Prentice Knight introduced the keynote speakers for the day's session, the authors of Freakonomics. Books on economics rarely generate the kind of excitement from the general population that Freakonomics has since it was first published last year. But in this book, authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner successfully show that economics is actually the study of incentives - how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.

Freakonomics grew from a New York Times Magazine profile that Dubner wrote about Steve Levitt, a young scholar and winner of the esteemed John Bates Clark Medal, an award presented to the most influential economist in America under the age of 40.

What is Freakonomics? According to Dubner and Levitt, Freakonomics is really about incentives in economics. They asked the audience the question: How many of them don't wash their hands every time they leave a bathroom? No hands were raised in response.

The truth is, they contend, that at least 40 percent don't, but the incentive is to say they do. It's that 40 percent gap between perception and reality that Freakonomics looks at. Another example was the 1987 change in IRS rules that required social security numbers for independents to be included on tax forms. Seven million children no longer existed after April 15, 1987. Why? Filers were incented to file more honestly because of the social security number requirement. The change meant an additional $3 billion that year in revenue for the government. Freakonomics is a new way to think about incentives and perceptions and apply these new ways of thinking to economics.

While many companies still react with surprise at the ever-increasing mobility of the workplace, Hewlett Packard (HP) has embraced and responded to the opportunities and challenges of today's mobile workforce by creating work environments that inspire teamwork, creativity, and productivity.

Almost 150 attendees in this standing-room-only session explored the "HP Workplace Transformation" model implemented worldwide. Speakers discussed the drivers of change that have resulted in increased opportunities in mobility as well as challenges that arise from a working in a virtual environment. Since 1990, HP workers have moved away from a "heads down" work style to a mobile work style as globalization, regionalization, business partnerships, group work, mobile technology, worker mobility, energy costs, and additional cost pressures increased and converged.

While not initially a corporate design but a natural evolution among workers, HP's Executive Committee and business/function leaders are now the sponsors and drivers of the company's current workplace strategy. By evaluating their holdings, HP found a number of issues needing addressing such as underutilized space, inefficient and uninspiring offices, lagging workspace services, and a lack of showcasing HP technology in house.

Today HP is moving into innovative environments that not only address real estate needs but also energize its workplaces and employees. By focusing on better use of space, creating and inspiring work areas, virtual work, and integrated technology and services, HP meets the needs of today's changing workforce.

The Contest, Live and Onstage:
Three Communities Compete for a Major New 'Deal'

The contenders for Project Cheetah (l-r): Frank R. Nero, President & CEO, Miami-Dade Beacon Council; Holly Wiedman, EVP, Miami-Dade Beacon Council; Debi Sandlin, Manager of Economic Development, City of Manassas Office of Economic Development; Maria Prince, Project Manager, Virginia Economic Development Partnership; Jerry Mallot, EVP, Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce; and John Haley, VP, Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The Contest came to the Florida Summit, where three Economic Development communities competed to become the prime location for Project Cheetah, a fictitious new financial services facility that would provide 1,000 high-paying jobs for the winning community. The Contest, created by Development Counsellors International, and moderated by Rob DeRocker, pitted Manassas, Virginia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Miami-Dade, Florida, in a spirited battle for this new corporate facility. Each community was given

The judges who had the challenging task of picking the best location (l-r): Gene DePrez, Americas Practice Leader, IBM Global Location Strategies; Samuel (Sam) Unger SLCR, Director Americas Real Estate, Ernst & Young; Sanjiv Awasthi, VP of Planning, Acquisitions and Research, Fidelity Real Estate Company; and Luigi Sciabarrasi, VP Real Estate, Symantec. The nod went to Jacksonville.

15 minutes to convince the panel that it was the ideal place to locate.

Each community's proposal included a compelling presentation of why it was the best location for Project Cheetah. Labor market-workforce demographics and risk management were key issues, as well as business climate, incentive packages, community services, education and training opportunities, and other attributes specific to each location.

Following each presentation, the site selection team followed up with a question and answer period to address issues specific to each community. When the final question had been answered, the site selection team was asked to cover their eyes while the audience voted on which community they believed was the winner for Project Cheetah. The team then deliberated for 15 minutes reviewing the strengths of each community and made the final decision of

The audience agrees: it’s Jacksonville!

which one would be the most favorable location for Project Cheetah.

The audience and the Site Selection team agreed. While all three communities made excellent presentations and gave convincing reasons for Project Cheetah to locate in their areas, Big Cat, Inc. determined that the best site for Project Cheetah was Jacksonville, Florida. The final determination rested on two major considerations: risk and workforce. The team agreed that from a risk viewpoint, the Jacksonville sites offered the least amount of risk for the long-term, primarily as a location that is not on the Atlantic or Gulf hurricane track. Jacksonville also offered a much more attractive outlook for potential workforce, cost of living, commute time and patterns, and education and cultural opportunities in and around the Jacksonville area. In the final analysis, The Contest demonstrated how proposals are put together and presented as well as the many considerations the site selection team must take into account when selecting the right place for a new facility.

"Capital One's competitive advantage-that it has had, and will continue to have-is its people," Larry Ebert explained in his introduction to the Capital One Future of Work case study. The Future of Work program provides each associate the choice to be a mobile worker. Almost 80% of all workers have self-selected to become mobile-a much higher percentage than even this innovative company predicted.

In response, Capital One has eliminated cubes, increased technology, and built a number of diverse work settings for its five categories of workers: teleworker, mobile, resident, anchor, and executive. This session's 200+ attendees viewed a sample floor plate that included places for administrative workers, executives, resident and mobile workers, activity centers, quiet spaces, space for formal and informal collaboration, and coffee houses, tree houses, and other creative spots.

As a result of these workplace changes, Capital One's workers are more productive and satisfied than ever. In order to best prepare its workforce, Capital One put "taking care of the people" first. As David Guin explained, "Reality can be a little scary." Therefore, Capital One emphasizes change management using the ADKAR method: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. For example, the educational component of the program lasts a full eight weeks, enough time for all workers to become knowledgeable and comfortable with the change. From involving workers in the creation and layout of the floor plate to quirky etiquette training films, Capital One has not only increased the performance of their real estate portfolio but increased workplace and employee satisfaction.

While changing the ways of work, Capital One's 16 desired outcomes centered around improving economics, increasing associate satisfaction, supporting individual work, and supporting group work. A series of benchmarks and measurements allowed them to gage the success of Future of Work. At the onset of the initiative, Capital One discovered that around 40% of their knowledge workers were already mobile, with over 40% of their seats vacant daily, and 30% vacant during the course of the day.

Since the onset of the initiative, Capital One has measured results such as a 41% gain in satisfaction with the workplace, a 31% reduction in peer feedback time, a 95% gain in satisfaction with access to quiet space. In addition, Capital One workers perceive an increased sense of innovation, creativity, and stimulation. Indeed, 87% say they will never go back to the old environment. As with all change, some problems have arisen that Capital One is in the process of addressing. Three examples include fine-tuning the telephony system with an integrated VoIP solution, increasing the number of collaborative project rooms available to employees, and working to engage and familiarize mobile workers with the new office environments.

The bottom line of Capital One's Future of Work is that revenue has increased overall and, perhaps more importantly, 66% of their employees have an improved overall view of Capital One.

Moderator: Steve Dumas, Member Development and Services Manager, CoreNet Global
Speaker: Laura DeCarlo, A Competitive Edge Career Service

How many of us have concrete life goals? How many of us have actually made a plan to reach those goals?

In this interactive session that focused on life skills (skills that can be applied to any part of our lives, including our careers), DeCarlo first asked attendees to chart out how they spend their time each day, and then to consider how to make the most of their down time. The session really detailed DeCarlo's life plan, called Ten Steps to Find Your Competitive Edge.

1. Create a plan for yourself. Outline your goals.
2. Ask yourself empowering questions in order to begin moving toward that plan. "What will it take to make these changes?" "What kind of life would I have if I made these changes?"
3. Make a written list of these goals and break them down.
4. Ask yourself motivating, thought-provoking and directional questions as you get ready for each day.
5. Evaluate and improve your presentation and presentation materials. A typical flaw most suffer from is not understanding the importance of presentation.
6. When all else fails, create an external "warrior" or "second voice" to keep you on track and in line. Sometime we don't feel strong enough to motivate ourselves. Sign up with a professional coach or other to help you reach your goals through external motivation.
7. Be good to yourself and fair with your expectations.
8. You can't create success in a vacuum. Isolation is the killer. Extend and maintain your contacts.
9. Keep a daily journal. Get clarity on the events of the day by taking time to write them out.
10. Never Give Up!