Yahoo! Earth Week is this week from April 16-20. If we can reduce Yahoo!’s climate change impact by 20%, Jerry and David will sumo wrestle for us on the green! So we need your help! Here is a sneak preview of the green themes that will be highlighted each day on Backyard. Monday - “Save power”, Tuesday - “Go paperless”, Wednesday - “Got Mug?”, Thursday - “Ditch your drive”, Friday - “Veg Out” Go to Backyard to find out what green deed you can do today! Join the Yahoo! Green Team!

Robert played a key role in determining the look and feel of [the timeline view of Yahoo! Calendar in Yahoo! Mail Beta] and the redesigned calendar emails. He ensured a high visual design standard for [the timeline view] by meticulously following through on his designs during QA and production builds. He did a good job exploring creative solutions to design problems and proactively thought through all sides of our user scenarios, often elucidating important potential problems that had previously gone unnoticed. He initiated discussions with and sought advice from his fellow visual designers to arrive at a look and feel for [the timeline view] that fits harmoniously within the visual language of Mail Beta.

His creative contributions to [non-public product] concepts have been an asset to the team. His blue-sky ideas help bring product management's frame of reference outside the traditional [non-public product] domain and into the more innovative potential for [non-public product]. His ideas also bring excitement and motivation to the engineering team. He was a key creative personality during team brainstorming, concept mapping, and ideation. His passion for the product inspires the entire team... His enthusiasm helped keep team morale high....

He delivered visual designs on numerous smaller but important projects with a positive attitude and in a collaborative process with other team members. He approached every project with passion and enthusiasm.... When project processes were unclear or not working smoothly..., He helped elucidate the issues while maintaining focus on delivery. He paid close attention to detail even when multi-tasking between projects.

Robert has proactively worked to foster a fun and creative community at Yahoo!. Among both his design teams and his colleagues outside of Mail/PIM, he is seen as approachable, creative, passionate, and fun. He encourages open dialog and listens attentively in a way that makes colleagues feel their opinions and ideas are respected and valued. He has taken initiative in sharing his personal passions with the Yahoo! community by spearheading the Y! Improv group and bringing leadership to the Yahoo! Green Team. These accomplishments are key to making Yahoo! a welcoming, fun, and rewarding environment.

He approaches his work with passion and enthusiasm, and colleagues enjoy his sense of humor and ability to lighten the atmosphere around a serious issue... Colleagues see him as a true Yahoo! whose creative passions are an asset to the company as a whole. His desire to keep an open dialog between colleagues helps ensure our teams are openly communicating and working together effectively.

According to peers, he “always has a big smile close at hand or is willing to lighten the discussion with humor. All this provides an excellent breeding ground for the more serious work values to take root among the people he interacts with.”

Peers also think of him as a “fountain of cool and interesting ideas,” and “an inspiration to people he works with.” Everyone enjoys his “unique perspectives” and finds inspiration in “his belief in the positive influence Yahoo! can have on its users.” Colleagues feel “his open-mindedness and enthusiasm are irreplaceable.”