Filed under: About Us, J840 Week 1 | Tags: environment, green IT, Lenexa, Sprint, sustainability, wind turbine
I’m Victor Vijayakirthi and I’m working on my MBA at the Business school. I’m almost done with the program and I’ve learned a lot about what makes a for-profit organization tick, from new products development to marketing, finance, accounting, organization behavior, corporate strategy, etc. What I haven’t learned much about yet is how to give back, how to run a successful business while still being good stewards of the environment.
While I was thinking about how I can learn more about the environment and sustainability in a formal way, I heard about this course and it seemed like just what I was looking for. In this course I’m hoping to learn how I can apply these concepts at my work, and how to communicate this, within and outside the organization.
I work at Sprint, in IT. IT is among the most energy-consuming organizations in most companies today. Being one of the bigger companies in the Kansas city area, in an industry that by several accounts contributes to over 3% of greenhouse gas emission, Sprint IT has taken some serious initiatives to reduce its impact on the environment, including server consolidation and switching to energy-efficient hardware. Sprint as a whole has also invested in energy savings programs like installing a wind turbine at its campus, and actively pursuing a cellphone recycling program, among other things. 
I live in Lenexa with my wife and 3 cats. I like reading non-fiction (and occasionally the ABA journal), traveling, and watching old movies. I’d like to travel to South America sometime in the next 2 years.
-Victor V
Filed under: J840 Week 1, Waste + Recycling | Tags: Attraction sustainability, J840, KU, recycling
This is a very popular class and after having thought I’d missed the boat by getting admitted to school too late to join, I was excited and a little overwhelmed to find there was an opening last week!
I have a BS in Philosophy from KU and have just started grad school this semester at the Edwards Campus. A few years ago I thought I’d never make it back to finish my undergrad, so I’m still trying to beleive I’m actually here!
At work, the past eleven years have kept me busy managing the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. Social media networking has been a big part of how our participants keep up-to-date with auditions, promotions and each other as well as up-to-the-minute schedule changes. The entertainment department is really the best at it~I’m still trying to make it more a part of my daily communication system, so our guests are in the loop if they want to be!
I started a recycling program for our guests in 2007 that’s been getting more efficient each year. We go through a lot of cardboard and plastic. We’ve also reduced orders in printing a really focused on waste. About 14 tons a year now goes to recycling instead of the landfill. I’ve got a funny picture I’ll post later of me, my site managers and the man of my dreams in a twenty yard dumpster full of bottles.
I have a great kid who is also in school, down the way at Johnson County Community College, soon to be heading to Lawrence to finish her BA in something related to photography. We have two great dogs, a few cats and are baby-sitting a bearded lizzard and two turtles.
More soon! See you in class~ Carrie Shoptaw
