Durning the pandemic many restaurants turned off their ovens, corked their wine, and closed their doors. Services like Seamless and Doordash exploded providing the vital service of connecting hungry customers with a variety of culinary delights. But many of these orders weren't from restaurants at all, but rather delivery-only businesses known as “Ghost Kitchens.” 

On this episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas chats with journalist Kristen Hawley about the rise of the Ghost Kitchen, an evolution in the restaurant business that began before the pandemic and has grown exponentially with the rise in meal delivery.  

Resources:

Kristen Hawley's Website:

https://www.kristenhawley.com/

Kristen Hawley's Ghost Kitchen Article:

https://www.eater.com/21540765/ghost-kitchens-virtual-restaurants-covid-19-industry-impact

Kristen Hawley's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenhawley/

Doug Thomas' LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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The 2020 pandemic led many to discover that they weren't as tethered to a specific location as they previously thought. Realizing that they could continue to do their job from anywhere they had a laptop and reliable internet, it was easy for people to pick up their lives and become a digital nomad. But when your life is comprised of traveling as much as a digital nomad's does, it can be difficult to meet people and forge strong bonds, but that's where our guest comes in to save the day.   

Aline Dahmen realized she loved the nomad life but when she found that it was difficult to find and keep friends and develop relationships, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She developed Nomad Soulmates, an online community specifically geared for those like her who were interested in finding friends and romantic partners throughout their travels.   

Resources:

Aline Dahmen's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aline-dahmen-6441a0110/  

Nomad Soulmates:

https://tour.nomadsoulmates.com/  

Doug Thomas' LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Have you noticed an ever-increasing cacophony of barks and meows in your neighborhood since the pandemic began? Well you're certainly not alone. Since the pandemic brought the majority of America's workforce inside their homes, people who previously were apprehensive about getting a pet only to leave it home alone for 8-10 hours a day figured that now is the perfect time to get that furry friend they've always wanted.  

On this episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas sits down with Corey Childs and Kerri Tenniswood, two members of PAWS, an animal shelter based in Lynwood Washington, to talk about the pandemic pet adoption surge. 

Resources:

PAWS 

https://www.paws.org/ 

PAWS on Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/paws_wa/ 

Kerri Tenniswood's LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerritenniswood/ 

Corey Childs' LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-childs/ 

Doug Thomas' LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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When offices began working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, teams had to work extra hard to figure out ways to communicate effectively when every team member was siloed in their respective homes. Is there something better than just another Zoom or Microsoft Teams call? 

On today's episode, Doug Thomas sits down with Christoph Fleischmann, the founder and CEO of Arthur Technologies a virtual reality tech company that's working to bring teams into the virtual environment. Whether it's sitting around a conference table and being able to whisper something to your neighbor, or conferences with hundreds of people, the time for Virtual Reality may be arriving at your place of work. 

Resources: 

Christoph Fleischmann's LinkedIn:  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cfleischmann/ 

Arthur Technologies: 

https://arthur.digital/ 

Doug Thomas' LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Having worked professionally in Australia and Europe, and both coasts of the United States, it's clear that Adam Naor likes to keep moving. So what happens when someone with an active spirit, a health-focused mindset, and a background in computer science is forced to work from inside the confines of his own home for a year? He figures out how to optimize that workflow and share his lessons with the masses. 

On today's episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas sits down with Adam to discuss the founding of Work From Home Advisor and the informational newsletter training program that spawned from it, WFH Bootcamp.  

Resources

Work From Home Advisor:

https://wfhadviser.com/

WFH Bootcamp Newsletter:

https://wfhbootcamp.com/

Adam Naor's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamnaor/

Doug Thomas LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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We all have our own ideas about what works and what doesn't in the new digital workspace. Online meetings, video chats, no water cooler talk have various advocates and detractors. And some have learned to love the “new normal.” To quantify these ideas, we can turn to Andy Goodman of The Goodman Center who conducted a survey of over four thousand people to get a more accurate sense of what works, what doesn’t, and most importantly, how to keep people engaged in the digital workspace.  

On today's episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas speaks with Andy Goodman about his findings in the survey titled, Unmuted: What Works, What Doesn't, and How We Can All Do Better When Working Online.  

Resources

The Goodman Center:

https://thegoodmancenter.com 

The Goodman Center's Unmuted report:

https://www.thegoodmancenter.com/resources/#

Andy Goodman's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-goodman-6a36b110/

Doug Thomas LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Over the past year as the global workforce largely shifted to working remotely, our work-life balance was thrown for a loop. But one silver lining of the complications of working from home 24/7 and all the confusion and uncertainty caused by the pandemic is that it has led to a spotlight on both our mental health and issues of accessibility.  

On today's episode, Doug speaks with Megan Lawrence, Microsoft's Accessibility Evangelist who spends her days working to ensure that everybody has the tools they need to excel at their jobs. Doug and Megan speak about how there's been a paradigm shift in how those in the workforce discuss their mental health and ways that the workplace is evolving to become more accommodating, and the upcoming Ability Summit all are welcomed to.  

Links 

Meghan Lawrence's LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganlawrence55/ 

Doug Thomas' LinkedIn:  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Ability Summit: 

https://abilitysummit.eventcore.com/ 

Office Accessibility Center: 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/ecab0fcf-d143-4fe8-a2ff-6cd596bddc6 

Dictate feature in Microsoft 365: 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/eab203e1-d030-43c1-84ef-999b0b9675fe 

Turn off notifications--distractions--in Outlook: 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-new-message-alert-pop-up-on-or-off-9940c70e-b306-442e-a856-d94b20318481 

In Outlook, how to end meetings early or start late: 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/end-meetings-early-or-start-late-ebb4c4c9-6992-4ea7-9772-8b5883df8500 

Author Kenji Yoshino on Covering: 

http://kenjiyoshino.com/KY/covering/ 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Since the Coronavirus pandemic began, most of us have transitioned to working remotely. It didn’t take long for some people to see some of the obvious benefits of ditching the traditional office setup in exchange for the remote work model, and many of those people have since realized they don't need to go back to the way it was. And then there are people like Lydia Lee, founder of Screw the Cubicle, who has been practicing nomadic employment long before the quarantine popped up on anyone's radar.

On today's episode of Remote Space, Doug Thomas speaks with Lydia Lee about her transition from a six-figure corporate job to starting a career helping people to find meaning in their work and empowering them to find purpose while also making a profit.  

Doug Thomas' Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Lydia Lee Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiallee/ 

Lydia Lee's Website: Screw the Cubicle 

Lydia's article, How I turned my dream life into my real life: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-i-turned-my-dream-lif_b_9630836 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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We’ve all seen those classic company compliance videos, you know the ones; poorly-scripted dialogue trying to teach us not to divulge company secrets. But Rashelle Tanner, Senior Corporate Counsel for Compliance and Ethics at Microsoft, knew that there was a better way to get information across than the traditional method. Using the Microsoft Runs on Trust campaign, Tanner decided to bring a dash of Hollywood pizazz to the new compliance videos. We’re talking suspense. Actually relatable characters. Drama!  

But raising the bar on these training videos takes a lot of production, and when quarantine began in March of 2020, all of that had to stop, or at least shift.  

Tune in to today’s episode to hear more about Rashelle Tanner's work, some of the drawbacks of working from home from her perspective as Sr. Corporate Counsel for Compliance and Ethics, and how her team has pivoted to create Netflix-worthy compliance training videos while working remote.  

Resources:  

Rashelle Tanner’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashelle-tanner-a7a8ab6/ 

Doug Thomas’ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-k-thomas/ 

Standards of Business Conduct Seasons 2 and 3 trailers - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/compliance 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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In this episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas is joined by Maria Mendiburo, PhD, a Senior Technical Programmer at Microsoft. Outside of her day job digging into the engineering that makes AI work, Maria has a lifelong passion for education.

Maria has taught classes for TEALS, a program connecting classroom teachers with tech industry volunteers to create sustainable computer science classes. Maria discusses some of the advantages (and of course, disadvantages) of remote learning and what the future may look like in education going forward. 

We also learn more about Maria’s work with LatinaTechies, a Seattle networking group founded by Maria with the goal of connecting women in technology. Doug and Maria discuss how she’s seeing massive explosions in networking via sites like LinkedIn versus the sponsored meetups she used to attend pre-pandemic. 

Resources: 

Maria Mendiburo - LinkedIn 

TEALS program - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/teals 

LatinaTechies - https://leanin.org/circles-network/latinas-in-seattle  

Doug Thomas - LinkedIn 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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