Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 6 - Index

In a work environment where employees choose their
own hours, enjoy virtual commuting, creative education
opportunities, spa rewards, and family “happy hours”
featuring everything from barbeques to bike rides, not to
mention a management team that is hungry for talent and
energy, you get one result — a happy organization. For
Clockwork Active Media Systems, it also means a spot on
“Working Mother’s” list of top 25 woman-owned businesses.
“We have great chemistry,” says Nancy Lyons, standup
comic, working mom, and CEO of Clockwork, a web-based
products firm in Minneapolis. “We don’t just like working
together, we like being around each other. We are always
looking for ways to engage each other.” Whether that
means going bowling, having game nights, pizza parties
with families or even attending Clockwork’s industry-specific
seminars and workshops, “it’s never anything terribly formal,”
Lyons explains, “and there is never any pretense.”
“We’re a no bull - company - no politics, no bureaucracy.
We don’t have a lot of time for bologna. That should be our
tagline,” the standup comic laughs. The slogan, albeit silly,
is an honest and effective business stratagem at Clockwork,
where the mission is to maintain the work/life balance.
Employees don’t have to punch in at 8:00 and out at
5:00. The focus is not on when people do their work, Lyons
explains, “just that they get their best work done.”
“Employees enjoy a level of freedom allowing us to do our
jobs without someone hovering over our shoulders,” says
Meghan Wilker, managing director of Clockwork. “When
we get to work, we’re doing our best because we want to
be here. I have the freedom to drop my child off at day
care and then come to work.”
New moms at Clockwork are eligible for FMLA benefits with
six paid weeks off, and both moms and dads are given the
opportunity to slowly phase back to work after their child
arrives. Plus, once moms are back at work, they can visit the
office Pump House, a super-swank yet comfy nursery.
Clockwork went above and beyond the criteria for “Working
Mother’s” top 25 list, which included not only flexible schedules
and creative family-friendly benefits, but also innovative
educational programs that champion the work/life balance
while helping women advance professionally. Editor in chief
Suzanne Riss and the “Working Mother” selection committee
chose Clockwork for its creative programs and strong support
offered to working mother employees.
Clockwork’s ownership is extremely supportive of
professional development as well, and offers employees
networking events and career-enhancing seminars like
“Minnebar,” an international network of workshop-events,
with content provided by participants. “Ours is a culture
where we encourage that passion for continuing learning
opportunities. I’m a technology evangelist,” Lyons laughs.
Though Lyons’ “evangelism” certainly motivates and benefits
her staff, she wishes there were more females learning
technology. Information technology remains a field typically
dominated by men. At Clockwork, there are 27 employees,
most of them men, six of them working moms. Managing
director/mom Meghan Wilker describes the male/female
ratio at the office: “Got a lot of dudes,” she says humorously,
“which, you know, is not bad, but more women would
be good. So… women, get on your computers, learn
technology, and then come apply at Clockwork.”
“It’s unfortunate that we don’t live in a culture that
encourages women to pursue technology as a vocation.”
Lyons adds, “We are constantly trying to demystify
technology, make a language that the world understands.
Once you realize that it is possible, anything preventing that
should be removed. Gender has never been an obstacle
in my experience. If you allow it to be then it is. I don’t walk
into the room as a female technologist, I walk into the room,
hopefully, as a thought leader.”
Clockwork Active Media Systems, LLC, continues to dedicate
Web expertise to crafting the latest interactive media and
transitioning traditional business into the new frontier of the
Internet. It is owned and operated by Nancy Lyons — a
full-time entrepreneur and mom, Michael Koppelman and
Chuck Hermes, both full-time entrepreneurs and dads, and
Kurtis Koppelman, whose philosophy is “When in doubt,
hack it!”
In addition to this top honor, Clockwork Active Media
Systems is also a recipient of the Interactive Media Award
for “Outstanding Achievement in Web Site Development”
and “Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal” awards for
both “Top 25 Web Developer,” and the “Twin Cities’ Great
Places To Work” for two consecutive years. Lyons is among
the “Women to Watch” and “40 Under 40,” according to the
“Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.”
//www.clockwork.net
//www.workingmother.com
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Forget About Punching
The Clock At Clockwork
By Liz O’Neill