While it lacks seating capacity, Matthew Boring’s home office has enough bandwidth to deliver live performances offered by the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

For serving as center stage for the live broadcast series, Boring’s space has earned Husker Home Office of the Week honors. The Lied Center started offering the Lied Live Online performances for free in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shows are featured on the Lied Center website and Facebook account on Friday evenings.

This week, the series features comedian Juli Burney at 7:30 p.m. May 29. An award-winning humorist, author and teacher, Burney lives in Lincoln and has been featured on HBO and Showtime.

The Husker Home Office of the Week award was launched April 10 to showcase how faculty and staff have adjusted to working from home as part of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s response to COVID-19.

The award repeats weekly until employees return to widespread working from offices on campus. Details on how to enter are below.

Boring has worked for eight years at the Lied Center and is currently the associate director for marketing and patron development. Read on for Boring’s takes on how working from home is progressing and a few tips for other faculty and staff to consider.

Why does this space work for you?

My home office has turned into the new broadcast center most Friday evenings for Lied Live Online Broadcasts on our Facebook page and website. It doesn’t have the seating capacity of the Lied Center or the same feeling of a truly “live” concert in-person, but it’s been a great way to end my Friday nights with a concert bringing people together from across the state and around the world. One unique feature about this home office space compared to the Lied Center is that I also keep all of my trumpets (10 in total) in this room and have enjoyed practicing over a lunch break or while enjoying my morning coffee.

What do you miss most about your campus space?

Staff members from different Lied Center departments all work together in fairly close proximity at our offices on campus. I miss the daily personal interaction with all of our staff and artists as well as being able to welcome donors and audience members from across the state to campus for performances and events.

What tips for a successful work-from-home day do you have for fellow employees?

It’s easy to get pulled into emails when I’m sitting at my computer most of the day working remotely. When possible, I’m trying to be mindful about setting aside separate time for collaboration with my team, work on individual projects and responding to emails. I also have been listening to more full albums of music or symphonies instead of playlists or skipping around while working and it’s helped me to stay focused.

To be considered for the honor, submit photos of your custom space via email to tfedderson@unl.edu along with answers to the the questions below. The award winner will be notified on each Thursday, with their space appearing in the Friday edition of Nebraska Today. For more information, send email to tfedderson@unl.edu.

Entries for the “Husker Home Office of the Week” must include your name, university position, home department, phone number (for contact, if necessary), years employed on campus, home address (to mail the award), and answers to at least three of these five questions:

- Why does this space work for you?

- What tips for a successful work-from-home day do you have for fellow employees?

- What is your favorite item in the home office space?

- What do you miss most about your campus space?

- Is there any process/concept/idea that you’ve experienced working from home that you hope to integrate when we return to campus?