NOLS keeps on trekking with help from Google Apps
October 24th, 2013 | Published in Google Enterprise
Editor's note: Colorado has enticed all sorts of pioneers since its Wild West beginnings. We’re excited to highlight a handful of these trailblazers - the intrepid entrepreneurs, aspiring micro-brewers and ambitious thought leaders - who have helped create the adventurous and innovative culture the Centennial State is known for. Today, we hear from Bruce Palmer, Admission and Marketing Director at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).
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Can you tell us about NOLS and its connection with Colorado?
The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) runs wilderness-based experiential courses from the Yukon to the Himalayas as a way of teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills and leadership to students of all ages. We’re based in Wyoming and have courses and employees all over the globe, but when it comes to Colorado, our relationship is about much more than a shared state border. We run wilderness medicine courses in Boulder and partner closely with community organizations like the Outdoor Nation, a group headquartered in Boulder that helps youth get access to the outdoors.
What’s the role of technology at a company like NOLS, whose mission is all about the great outdoors?
We’re a geographically-dispersed and on-the-go group of outdoor enthusiasts, so it’s important that our technology is easy to use and doesn’t get in the way of our adventures. We love hiking, rock climbing and kayaking, but we also recognize the ways that Google Apps and the cloud can help us operationally. Our teams are always on the go - hiking, rock climbing and kayaking - so we wanted a platform that supports our mobile lifestyles. That’s exactly what we get with Google.
When and why did you start using Google Apps?
Our system before Google Apps was a nightmare — our email, calendar and chat were hosted on separate servers that went down constantly and left us in the dark in the middle of a work day. Our employees had a simple ask: they wanted to be able to check their email and access their documents whenever they needed to. Google Apps has let them do exactly that. It’s reliable, it’s easy to use, and it just works without a ton of training.
How does Google Apps fits in with the way NOLS employees work?
An average instructor may be at headquarters one week, in Patagonia the next, and Yukon the one after that, and they need to be close to their email and files wherever they are. Because our Gmail messages and Google Docs are all stored in the cloud, our employees can access everything they need no matter where they are or what device they’ve got with them. It's great having our data stored securely in the cloud so we don't lose work when someone accidentally drops a laptop and drives over it - it's happened. Luckily, it is easy for all employees to pick up right where they left off, on any computer.
What are some of the surprising benefits you’ve realized since moving to Google Apps?
We have many off-the-grid locations, so we had concerns about a cloud-based solution, but Apps is actually a lifesaver for the offices when phone lines go down every time a storm hits. We may not be able to call or text each other, but we’re just a ping away. Hangouts has become the go-to tool for quick communication across branches when telephones aren’t an option and email messages are too slow-moving and formal.
What are you most excited about when it comes to thinking about your future with Google Apps?
I can’t wait to move all of our course descriptions onto Google Apps - all 102 of them. Right now, they’re built in Word and emailed back and forth between the dozen or so stakeholders until they all agree on the final version, then they’re uploaded to our website as PDFs. Shifting these to Google Docs will save hours for our instructors and make the process transparent, inherently collaborative and efficient. The real reason this change excites me is because I view it as one of the many major operational shifts we’ll see next year and beyond as we embrace and take advantage of the extensive Google Apps suite.
Can you tell us about NOLS and its connection with Colorado?The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) runs wilderness-based experiential courses from the Yukon to the Himalayas as a way of teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills and leadership to students of all ages. We’re based in Wyoming and have courses and employees all over the globe, but when it comes to Colorado, our relationship is about much more than a shared state border. We run wilderness medicine courses in Boulder and partner closely with community organizations like the Outdoor Nation, a group headquartered in Boulder that helps youth get access to the outdoors.
What’s the role of technology at a company like NOLS, whose mission is all about the great outdoors?
We’re a geographically-dispersed and on-the-go group of outdoor enthusiasts, so it’s important that our technology is easy to use and doesn’t get in the way of our adventures. We love hiking, rock climbing and kayaking, but we also recognize the ways that Google Apps and the cloud can help us operationally. Our teams are always on the go - hiking, rock climbing and kayaking - so we wanted a platform that supports our mobile lifestyles. That’s exactly what we get with Google.
When and why did you start using Google Apps?
Our system before Google Apps was a nightmare — our email, calendar and chat were hosted on separate servers that went down constantly and left us in the dark in the middle of a work day. Our employees had a simple ask: they wanted to be able to check their email and access their documents whenever they needed to. Google Apps has let them do exactly that. It’s reliable, it’s easy to use, and it just works without a ton of training.
How does Google Apps fits in with the way NOLS employees work?
An average instructor may be at headquarters one week, in Patagonia the next, and Yukon the one after that, and they need to be close to their email and files wherever they are. Because our Gmail messages and Google Docs are all stored in the cloud, our employees can access everything they need no matter where they are or what device they’ve got with them. It's great having our data stored securely in the cloud so we don't lose work when someone accidentally drops a laptop and drives over it - it's happened. Luckily, it is easy for all employees to pick up right where they left off, on any computer.
What are some of the surprising benefits you’ve realized since moving to Google Apps?
We have many off-the-grid locations, so we had concerns about a cloud-based solution, but Apps is actually a lifesaver for the offices when phone lines go down every time a storm hits. We may not be able to call or text each other, but we’re just a ping away. Hangouts has become the go-to tool for quick communication across branches when telephones aren’t an option and email messages are too slow-moving and formal.
What are you most excited about when it comes to thinking about your future with Google Apps?
I can’t wait to move all of our course descriptions onto Google Apps - all 102 of them. Right now, they’re built in Word and emailed back and forth between the dozen or so stakeholders until they all agree on the final version, then they’re uploaded to our website as PDFs. Shifting these to Google Docs will save hours for our instructors and make the process transparent, inherently collaborative and efficient. The real reason this change excites me is because I view it as one of the many major operational shifts we’ll see next year and beyond as we embrace and take advantage of the extensive Google Apps suite.