Joel Hazzard – CEO Ergotron

Back in November of 2007 I was interviewed by Beth Ewen of Upsize Magazine.  In addition to the article, Beth also published an editorial that she titled “Install Your Own Products”.  She wrote “That in a nutshell is Joel Hazzard’s answer to my question: How does Ergotron reach its goal of launching 20 significant new products for the mass market every two years?” and she went on to write “I thought his answer would be from the vantage point of 30,000 feet, not from two feet away from the customer”.

At Ergotron, we work very hard to create a culture of innovation because we understand the power of an entire organization waking up in the morning with ideas and solutions to problems versus excuses.  To me it’s pretty fundamental, engage the Ergotron Team to go out and install our products directly into the hands of end users because this process will provide us with not only very meaningful feedback about our products but it will also inspire many new Innovative ideas.    

We often joke within the walls of Ergotron that if you were a young person just graduating from college full of passion to become the next high impact entrepreneur you most likely would not choose Ergonomics as your market focus, yet interestingly enough that is what drives our passion and why it is so important for us to have a culture of innovation.  Our core mission at Ergotron is simple, We are committed to greatly reducing the cost of ergonomics and bringing it to millions of people because we understand that by doing so we will make the lives of millions of people better – A very noble mission and from 2 feet away these are not just words. 

Back to Beth Ewen and her editorial for a minute, she ended her editorial with this question, “How many ideas for new products would you get if you watched customers using what you make?” and my answer to her question is – A LOT when everyone is engaged, in fact we call this our proliferation of innovation.  A perfect example is our recently launched WorkFit C-Mod sit-stand family of workstations for computers which are direct descendants of our Neo-Flex Mobile WorkSpace family.  Sit–stand capability should not just be part of the work flow in hospitals, it should be in every home and office throughout the world because simple and affordable sit-stand workspace solutions will make the lives of millions of people better and it is our job at Ergotron to make this happen.

There is one very important step in our innovation process that I failed to mention previously, which is: we must use our own products so we are the experts and not just words during a sales presentation.  Everyone at Ergotron uses our products every day, at home and in the office.   I happened to be lucky enough to have one of the first WorkFit C-Mod Combo sit-stand workstations installed in my Ergotron HQ office.  OK, I might have used my influence as CEO to make this happen, but from 2 Feet Away, I can tell you this, I’m making my life better every day because of my recently installed WorkFit and I can’t wait to tell everyone all about it!

Check out our short Video – CubeLife 2.0: The Uprising to learn more!  

And to all those past installs out there – THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR GREAT FEEDBACK ON OUR PRODUCTS – FROM 2 FEET AWAY

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Paul Isaacson, Sales Support Representative @ Ergotron

I installed Ergotron’s LX Dual Desk Mount Arm for Aaron at Border Foods, Inc. in Golden Valley, MN.

Aaron had this to say about the installation: The product is amazing. It moved just about every possible way I could imagine and is solid as a rock on my desk.

Betty Grogan, Director of Channel Sales @ Ergotron

I visited the Wellness House in Hinsdale, IL, and installed a LX Grommet Mount Arm for Marie in the Reception Area.

I got a hug from at least one of the volunteers. She said that in the past, she’d go home and have to put a heating pad on her shoulders, due to the strain of working on the computer. That day, she’d worked for over 3 hours and had NO PAIN.  The fact that this computer is shared by many volunteers makes the ergonomic arrangements even more important.

Found that grommet mounts and light colored pants are not a good mix when doing an install! Thanks to Dan Hallburg for the remote, on the spot, technical support. Tip: Try and download mfg. specs on how to remove base before going out to customer!

Stephanie Campbell, Sr. Account Manager @ Ergotron

I installed the LX Desk Mount LCD Arm for Ken at Allgood & Misemer, P.A. I have done many installs for my account. This one was different because it really felt good to see the space I was able to free up for him and be able help someone that I knew personally. It was fun and a good experience.

Ken is a lawyer with an enormous amount of paperwork in his office. We were both amazed at the space that was opened up by just installing the arm. I explained to him that he could share information with his clients by swinging the arm around to be viewed by multiple people. I also explained that the arm could be pushed away so that if he had private client information on the screen and someone else was in his office he could leave it up on the screen and go back to it without closing down to hide it. This seemed to be a big selling point, as client confidentiality is very important in the legal vertical.

I picked Ken because he is the father of my long time friend Sam, but in addition to that he is a member of many influential local and regional organizations. Ken serves on the board of directors for Morton Plant Mease North Bay hospital, as well as acting as legal counsel for the West Pasco Board of Realtors. Ken is also a longtime member of the New College of Florida Board of Trustees. 

Nancy Gregson, Sr. Channel Marketing Manager @ Ergotron

I installed a Neo-Flex LCD Lift Stand for Dr. Bauman at Westview Dental Care on Hasting, MN. Wow! It took less than 10 minutes to install, the longest time taking to unhook his old stand from the monitor. The directions were easy to follow with great pictures. The Dr. was there with me setting it up and we just laughed as he was so giddy to have a “cool” new mount. He loved the way his new stand could move up and down and tilt. He just kept thanking me over and over. Thank you for the opportunity to make his day with a product that I am proud to stand behind.

Jim Fischer, Sr. VP Global IS & Troy Maki, Network Administrator @ Ergotron

We installed a Neo-Flex Mobile Workspace cart for Mark at US Internet. USI had one of our older carts from about 10 years ago. They nicknamed the cart “Johnny 5” from the movie Short Circuit. I knew I must be getting old as I knew exactly the movie he was talking about.  

You can notice in one of the pics, the aisles are very narrow. The small foot print of the Neo-Flex MWS is great.

Mark had this to say about the cart: Our customers love the Ergotron cart. They are solid, convenient, reliable, and space saving. Customers always smile when I point out the cart on tours through our data center.

David Munger, Quality Assurance Engineer @ Ergotron

I installed a LX Arm (45-179) Fairview Southdale Medical Center in Edina, MN. Chris M. was very pleased!! Showing it off to everyone.

I found the installation to be quite easy. Only problem was with the grommet mount. If the long screw gets pushed up into the base/pole, you need to take the bottom plate off to get the screw back through the hole in that plate.

Sorry, no pics.

Betty Grogan, Director of Channel Sales @ Ergotron

I installed the Neo-Flex Combo Lift Stand for Dawn G. at Dedmon Insurance in Mokena, IL. It was easy to install; learned a bit about non-port replicator impacts (cables coming out the side). The new version of the product coming out in July will help eliminate some of the issue as we’d want, in this case, to install the notebook on the other side.

Dawn told me she absolutely loves this. This product allowed her to eliminate having to work on two computers! First two pictures are the “before” – notebook on desk, desktop on credenza; hunched over to work on laptop; last two pictures are the after.

Lynne Johnson, Sr. HR Representative @ Ergotron

Sam, Diane and I all were there to install the LX Dual Desk Mount Arm for Kelly and it went very well.

Kelly had this to say about the installation: The installation went very well! My desk space is very small, but the installers identified ways to make my workspace more ergonomic to suit my needs. Although it took some getting used to, I love having my monitor and laptop off of the desk surface. My coworkers may get jealous and request a similar set-up!

Tim Hager, Sr. Channel Account Manager @ Ergotron

Approximately one month ago I installed the Neo-Flex Dual LCD Lift Stand on the desk of David Thorman, President of NetMicro.  David is 6’ 5″ tall and was accustomed to looking down at his displays.

David loved the NF dual desk stand and was most impressed by the ergonomic height adjustment. He had this to say:  “I became use to looking down on my displays and accepting the discomfort.  With the Ergotron stand I can now easily adjust the screens height and now feel more comfortable in my day to day computing.  My displays now adjust to me vs. me to my displays, what a concept!”

Don’t accept fatigue and undo discomfort at your workstation.  Feel the difference!