My office in Panglao, Philippines.
My twitter profile reads: “my office is where I can plug in my laptop”. That’s not just a cute turn of phrase: I’m a professional travel blogger for About.com, so my life isn’t just affected by technology, it’s driven by it.
I’m lucky to be doing a job I love, just when technology has advanced sufficiently to fit my interests. I have a digital camera to take pictures with, a laptop to research and write with, and wherever I go, I have a good chance of hooking onto a WiFi connection to get work done.
And it’s not like I’m ahead of the technology curve - my gear is, on average, between 3-5 years old. But even with my semi-outdated gear, I get to do some stuff that would have been impossible just ten years ago:
- I buy cheap airfare online, without ever having to visit a ticketing office.
- I research and book hotels, tours, and roadmaps long before getting to a destination.
- I keep my friends informed on my whereabouts, by posting Twitter updates (both text and photos) from my cellphone. (My Twitter updates automatically become updates on my Facebook page, too, killing two birds with one stone.)
- And within hours of finishing a trip, I can post pictures and articles on my travel site, updating About.com’s knowledge base for the benefit of its 60-million-odd readers.
It’s not easy (spending weeks away from one’s family never is) but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fun.
Read more…
From: CEO, Hack-O-Matic Advertising
Re: New Member of Management Team, Qualifications
Owing to difficulties encountered with Creative leadership, the Management henceforth defines the ideal qualities necessary for the job.
CD’s creative product must be consistent with the goals laid out by the CEO.
Creative Director must acknowledge the creative supremacy of the CEO, with nary a peep.
Creative Director must follow the directions dictated by CEO. Under no circumstances must CD take the lead in any venture.
Creative Director must be motivated solely by the desire to please CEO. Further motivation may be provided in the form of little one-bite treats.
That will be all.
From: CEO, Hack-O-Matic Advertising
Re: New Hire, Management Team
Valued Employees, may we introduce your new Creative Director. Read more…
One of these days I’m going to write about how much sex is going on in the advertising industry.
But I’m not really the best person to chronicle it, because first, none of that rumpy-pumpy is happening to me, and it always transpires too late for me to get a “Breaking News” perspective on things.
That said, there is a lot of that going around. I bring this up because I just heard – and nonchalantly pretended to be in the know – about one of our artists and an account executive, who were rumored to have come together, much to the titters of the people in the know.
Which reminded me of the time a few years ago that my old boss was fucking one of the producers (or was rumored to be), which accounted for said producer always being at the office even when there were no jobs going round. Read more…
Dear Sir:
It doesn’t feel so bad writing it. Already I know what I’m going to say next. Cut to the chase, man.
I am officially tendering my resignation –
There, it wasn’t so bad, was it? No need to go over the insults, the aggravation, the feeling of being chained to the desk. The heavy feeling of going to work in the morning. The ragged sense of relief, dragging myself home in the evening. The bad dreams that wake me at 4:30AM. And back to the heavy feeling. In a nasty cycle that’s driving me to an early grave. Read more…
I’m happy that my ex-officemate Bing has left, though I miss her somewhat. She was almost tippy-toeing in glee as the last days to her final resignation date ticked away; seated, as she was, next to my desk in our cheery little cave, I could see that she didn’t regret bailing on us. Not at all.
Will I feel the same way when I file my own resignation? I hope. I also hope I leave this place on my own terms, as Bing did: resigned, not fired, not because I snapped and raised hell like my id is suggesting I try on a boring Thursday afternoon like this one.
This is why Bing was happy to go: every so often, the rat maze we call the office puts you in a dead end. I’m standing at one right now.
God knows how Bing’s dead end arrived, but this is how I found mine: Read more…
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