30 posts tagged “work”
I always count my blessings that the Earth is—beyond a reasonable doubt—round and without end. Our ancestors put up with misconceptions about a flat planet for years, but could modern man even handle the notion of a “terminal edge”? We have evolved into a species that always fears the finish, and our habits verify this fact (when was the last time that television-watchers were satisfied with a series finale?). Of course, this idea is no better put to work than by our farewell customs: people these days would prefer a novelty e-card to the warmth of a genuine goodbye hug, and I’m no exception. This is one reason why it will be difficult to wrap up my internship at DailyMe come the end of the week.
Yes: by this time on Friday, I will be putting my seat in the full upright position in preparation to land at an airport close to college. But before I recede from the blogosphere completely, I’d like to reflect on some of the DailyMe team members who made my summer fun and informative (FUNformative!). The first word that comes to mind is “roast”, but those are usually done with permission.
The CEO/Founder a.k.a. The Founder/CEO: The dual-title alone explains why this guy got the corner office, but don’t think for a second that our fearless leader lacks humility. This is a man who shares a refrigerator with his employees, which says a lot more than “Please! Call me by my first name, and shorten that to a nickname if you’re promoted to management”…we have that policy, too. The Chief was never a stickler on time, but time was often cruel to him. Like the time he bought three atomic clocks for the office, only to find that they were out of synch. We did “eeny-meeny-miny-moe” to decide which one read correctly.
Mrs. Boss a.k.a. 20-Words-Or-Less: I’d like to keep this reflection short and sweet, because that was my direct supervisor’s style. She has plenty of fun things to talk about, but wait until lunch to hear about them. Always the champion of focus--Mrs. Boss can bring a meeting back to center from just about any digression (just about any digression), and sometimes manages to fit an eight-hour workday into six. She taught me a lot about Sales and Marketing (her two areas of expertise), and skillfully wore both hats throughout my internship (three hats, if you count the DailyMe manual-fit cap we produced for a convention). But seriously, goodbye to my partner in crime, and biggest fan (second to my grandmother).
The V.P.s a.k.a. The Veeps a.k.a. The Two Programmers a.k.a. Thing 1 and Thing 2: These guys only have one thing in common—their job--but it happened to be the only thing I was using as a basis for nicknames; this is why they have been aggregated for the sake of description. Not that they really mind, having spent months aggregating your relevant news with their well-tweaked DailyMe algorithms. You could almost say it brings things full circle. Either way, these are some very particular characters: they like their work hard, their lunches cheap, and their cubicles by the window.
At the end of the day, I’m happy to have worked with such a lively crew. These co-workers taught me both the written and unwritten lessons of working for a company, and the only ones I neglected to learn were in messy cursive. I will sign-off now, but not for the last time. I plan to make guest web appearances throughout the school-year, and cannot wait to keep you posted on all irrelevant things DailyMe. (And of course the actual launch of DailyMe, scheduled in the upcoming weeks!)
Goodbye all!
As always – Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
No less than thirty-four days ago, I promised all of my faithful readers (my mom, my grandma, and nine web crawlers) a DailyMe video production. The pain grew worse each day that I deprived you of our film debut, but can you really blame me for putting it off? The summer movie season is difficult to compete with, especially when blockbusters like I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry still loom large. We CHOSE to hold off release until the turn of the autumn tides, but that is not to say we didn’t have our share of production hell.
I may have also mentioned in an earlier post that our digital short was entirely no-budget (not to be confused with low-budget). This is no longer the case, however, as we ultimately hired a Miami editing studio to…well…smooth things over. For any disappointed purists out there, I have but two bits of consolation: first, we plan to release a later version on DVD titled John the Intern: RAW and UNCUT; second, the editing process gave me some interesting fodder for a blog post!
We’ll start with the drive from Point A – DM Headquarters to Point B – the Editing Studio, with a short-lived stop at a fast food joint. Getting there was a hassle…mid-day traffic, mid-day heat and mid-day South Florida drivers. Following Mrs. Boss on a 4-lane expressway was also no easy feat. As an otherwise no-time-to-spare-person, Mrs. Boss had no trouble traversing the highway at intense, controlled speeds; my car—never the fastest or most furious—was left in the dust.
We were rushing partly to grab a quick nearby lunch before our appointment time, which was one of our two meal options. Of course the studio had mentioned that they provided food to clients who were interested, but how many of you would have waited to see what was behind door number two? Evidently we should have, because their “modest office food display” included a 30-item silver-tray buffet served on china (but with plastic forks). Needless to say, I had fit two lunches in that day complete with coffee and dessert.
Fortunately, the forgone luxury was a sign of other good things to come. Our “Smoke Room” aka editing room for those of you not in the know, (myself included), was sweet – no pun intended. Huge plush couches, a well-stocked beverage spread and endless trays of chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate cake and anything else chocolate we desired. A far cry from the cubicle life this intern has lived thus far. Anyway…the overabundance of chocolate thankfully eased the otherwise tense Mrs. Boss, who kept her focus mainly on managing the time and budget, while ever so tactfully not interfering with the creative integrity of developing the actual video. (I guess someone has to do that right?)
But more importantly, the Smoke Room was equipped with a skilled veteran editor who was well versed in the language of laymen terms. Together, in one of the studio’s largest rooms, my vague sense of direction was transformed, scene-by-scene, into a cohesive product. All in all, this was definitely a day for the history books of my interning career at DailyMe.
Oh, and I hope you all enjoy the vid. You can call it that once you’ve made one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAbQff6nuhc.
Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
The average life follows a linear path: a person goes to school, moves away for college, joins the workforce, lands a spouse, and ultimately shifts focus to the next generation. In the board-game Life, you can fit that all into one afternoon…and you get to skip puberty. But, unless you steal play-money from the bank when no one’s looking, which journey is more satisfying? No matter how many times you roll a “10”, the simulation will always pale in comparison to the real deal—with all of its variables, emotions, and surprises.
With the same logic, though, I would even say that the real linear life leaves something to be desired. Not to say that we should completely buck convention on the path to maturity (our war-time ancestors didn’t have a choice), but a few twists and turns never hurt. My internship this summer was one such diversion—I got a taste of office life before matriculating to college—and the experience was beneficial. My only concern is that I’ll be too much of a stiff when thrust back into the student life come mid-September.
Even the simple things, like living with a roommate, will require some adjustment. I’ve been able to concentrate all summer within the semi-privacy of a cubicle, but it’s doubtful that my dorm room will insulate desks in the same manner. Would it be rude, bizarre, both, or neither to place a plastic wall between my roommates workspace and my own? And if it creates tension, will our RA resolve the problem as effectively as a corporate HR rep? I need to forget these luxuries.
I also run the risk of entering a classroom with flawed expectations. Though most universities boast a student-oriented faculty that is prepared to spend time with pupils outside of lecture, I doubt that any would want to compare work-hours with my boss. Seriously, this is a media specialist that is willing to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and overtime! I guess people care most about your quality of work when they are paying for it. (The same reason our building managers insist that the indoor gardeners water the plants for five whole hours at a time).
Perhaps the best thing I picked up at DailyMe was the art of professional decorum, but even this will be a mixed blessing in my new environment. It’s been a season of well-articulated greetings and firm handshakes, two tools seldom used amongst my peers. They say that giving a hi-five is like riding a bike, but my form is mechanical and out-of-practice. I shudder at the thought of re-learning higher level street skills like the shake n’ snap, the pinky swear, and especially the roundhouse kick.
As you can see, my successful release back into the wild will require some effort. But do I regret taking a quick break from the straight-and-narrow life’s usual order of events? Not even for a second. It was like a non-committal opportunity to try out different career cards, which is better than choosing one arbitrarily on the 21st space of your proverbial game board. I only have a couple weeks left!
Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
All my life, I’ve lived in a family within a neighborhood within a larger neighborhood within a city that people refer to as a neighborhood to make it sound more tight-knit. Fortunately, though, too much “community” is never a bad thing.
I didn’t realize this until I began working at DailyMe. The company has put a continual emphasis on the term throughout product development, and social networking is now a major selling point of our service. Less obvious, though, is that the team is similarly passionate about stressing community harmony within the office environment. To see this, one must bring “community” back to its sandbox connotation—when “sharing” and “playing nice” were all that was necessary for group harmony. I’ll examine the little things that go on each day, because they are what set an office’s tone.
I first look to our lunch situation. On a given day, at least three of us will eat lunch together. It usually takes less than thirty seconds to pick a place, despite each person’s often-myriad dietary quirks. Sure, we may only agree because everyone shoots for the place with the best deal (Pizzarella on Tuesdays!), but there is no denying its effect on both harmony and efficiency.
There’s also a wealth of data in our citchen (kitchen + closet). Everyone in the office is entitled to a portion of any item in the mini-fridge, liquid or solid. It may sound more like communism than community, but this egalitarian policy has many advantages. As an intern especially, I had the opportunity to remove much more than I ever packed into the device. Plus, systematically trying all of your co-workers’ favorite drinks is a great office bonding experience.
Even our espresso machine reflects preparation of a warm office atmosphere. The boss realized early that everyone in the office drinks caffeinated coffee, and was therefore able to spend twice as much on only one machine. The result: everyone enjoys the same fancy, foreign brew as their cubicle neighbor, which serves as a comfort AND a conversation-piece. Oh, and we put up a “Decaf Need Not Apply” sign.
In sum, I guess the team does highlight community on the micro scale. The sometimes-conscious group effort may not benefit our office life in the same manner that it does our customers, but the two are related. I’ll get back to you when I figure out how.
Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
I find it difficult to deny today’s man-made environmental problems, but it’s even tougher to remember all of the trendy, new ways to minimize my carbon footprint. Never before were eco-friendly suggestions so ubiquitous, and this leads me to fondly remember a youth when the truth was a bit more convenient. One ozone-saving precaution has been advertised since at least the 90’s, though, and to good effect: carpooling.
But in the urban sprawl of South Florida, do any of my co-workers actually live close enough to conserve-n’-swerve? Even if they did, it would be nearly impossible to agree upon radio pre-sets. Sure--the gang consolidates into one vehicle on the way to lunch, but this is usually thrown out when individual errands need running afterwards. Since I began working, there has been but one exception to this pattern: when one DailyMe staffer dropped his car off at the shop after lunch, we consolidated into my “whip” for the ride back to headquarters.
Admittedly, this was the first time a respectable, non-relative adult sat on my passenger side. And even though I had more than a fair warning, it didn’t strike me until the door opened that there might be a code of conduct for this sort of thing. Not that I hadn’t done the obvious housekeeping—I cleared trash from the floor, and even turned off my guilty-pleasure music (Devo, obviously)—but I figured that wasn’t enough. In an impromptu attempt to satisfy my co-worker, I blurted out those famous words:
“Is this an all right level for the air conditioning? Oh, and that seat reclines.”
As a long-time car passenger, I’d formerly wondered WHY people ask those two rapid-fire comfort questions. I mean: if human bodies are all comparably sensitive to temperature, can my notch-of-choice really damage the guy? Plus, the passenger seat in a sedan always reclines. The experience taught me that these quirky inquiries are necessary only for the driver’s peace-of-mind. Much like the restaurateur lavishes a food critic with a nice table, I had to offer comfort to the passenger before his time came to judge my driving skills. Because that is the real underlying fear.
My driving skills were well-honed, however, and my living cargo seconded that. I was left with only one concern. My “faux-lleague” (as an intern, I’m hardly an equal) was only given an estimated time to pick up his car, and we ran the risk of getting back to the store too early. I knew that waiting with him would only cut deeper into my daily break-time, but did my obligation to the man extend farther than a quick drop-off? After all, we’d already been through so much together (6 traffic lights, two times a-piece). I ultimately decided to stay with him until the job was done, but this verdict lacked moral foundation. His “car place”, it turns out, was attached to one of my favorite wholesale retail stores…you know, the type that gives away food samples.
So whether or not I made the right decision, the real winner was the environment (and driver/passenger conversation). When the environment gets the gold medal, we get valuable rain. Keep it up!
--John the Intern
Every child’s dream is to become a video game beta tester, and I think this is the closest I’ll ever come. The DailyMe team has—at long last—completed the new site, and the programmers selected me to participate in the “QA” process before it goes public. Though not quite a nomination for a Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes, you can still imagine how honored I was…and am.
My only worry is that I seemed under-whelmed when initially recruited by Mrs. Boss. This was mainly because I didn’t know what “QA” stood for (much like I don’t know how to end that sentence without a preposition). I first mused that I was being invited to a “Question & Answer” session about the site, but this theory was just as soon thrown out: I know nothing about the site to answer, and I doubt that phrase is ampersand-optional. The team quickly explained that it stood for Quality Assurance, which leads me to where I am now: a “practice” consumer, viewing our product with a critical eye before someone less forgiving does so. I’m not going to lie: it feels pretty cool to tell my friends that I’m “QAing” today, but the incurably pedantic ones need time to get past the “Q not following directly by U” thing.
My main area of focus on the site is in the keyword search field. Our server uses a set of precise algorithms to match up a user’s keyword preferences with later articles, and I want to assure that this process is accurate. You can imagine a customer’s dissatisfaction upon feeding the “word” baseball and receiving only obituaries (though I’d say the two topics are equally boring), and that’s what I want to avoid.
Other aspects of QAing are equally important, but far less exciting. I’ve made sure that DailyMe arrives where and when a customer’s preferences suggest, and the rest of my time has been spent searching for broken links. The latter is tough, because such links are never obviously messed-up to the naked eye. Fortunately enough, my eye usually wears undergarments…which explains why I was chosen for this task.
In due time, all users will be able to give our site the ole’ college try. And I hope it’s soon—because I’m getting lonely(grl15) on dailyme.com.
Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
Every child’s dream is to become a video game beta tester, and I think this is the closest I’ll ever come. The DailyMe team has—at long last—completed the new site, and the programmers selected me to participate in the “QA” process before it goes public. Though not quite a nomination for a Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes, you can still imagine how honored I was…and am.
My only worry is that I seemed under-whelmed when initially recruited by Mrs. Boss. This was mainly because I didn’t know what “QA” stood for (much like I don’t know how to end that sentence without a preposition). I first mused that I was being invited to a “Question & Answer” session about the site, but this theory was just as soon thrown out: I know nothing about the site to answer, and I doubt that phrase is ampersand-optional. The team quickly explained that it stood for Quality Assurance, which leads me to where I am now: a “practice” consumer, viewing our product with a critical eye before someone less forgiving does so. I’m not going to lie: it feels pretty cool to tell my friends that I’m “QAing” today, but the incurably pedantic ones need time to get past the “Q not following directly by U” thing.
My main area of focus on the site is in the keyword search field. Our server uses a set of precise algorithms to match up a user’s keyword preferences with later articles, and I want to assure that this process is accurate. You can imagine a customer’s dissatisfaction upon feeding the “word” baseball and receiving only obituaries (though I’d say the two topics are equally boring), and that’s what I want to avoid.
Other aspects of QAing are equally important, but far less exciting. I’ve made sure that DailyMe arrives where and when a customer’s preferences suggest, and the rest of my time has been spent searching for broken links. The latter is tough, because such links are never obviously messed-up to the naked eye. Fortunately enough, my eye usually wears undergarments…which explains why I was chosen for this task.
In due time, all users will be able to give our site the ole’ college try. And I hope it’s soon—because I’m getting lonely(grl15) on dailyme.com.
Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
In the 1997 cult hit Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, two ditzy heroines claim to have invented the Post-It Note in order to impress their former classmates. A good choice in office supply: just consider the ubiquity of the product, and the rarity with which its origin is questioned. But who’s to say that these little squares of “caution” yellow shouldn’t be given more thought? I’ve discussed the “parking spot” people—and generalized that everyone gets hung-up with some type of weekday minutiae—but I consider the Post-It to be more universal than previous examples. If you’ve never written a Post-It reminder, then you’ve at least received one from someone who has; and if you’ve never received a Post-It reminder, then you won’t appreciate what I’m about to describe.
That being said, I think we have to be a bit more cautious with the device. The habit of leaving Post-Its for oneself and others is obviously contagious, but communities have done little to encourage safe sticking. My boss pastes about 10 on my cubicle each day, and I come home to read a similar number of pasties from my mom. It’s difficult to digest such quantities. In the long-run, their bright color (now in several different hues) loses its edge, and the collective body of Post-Its sinks into a dull background. One hundred notes convey fewer messages than a distinct one.
I theorize, however, that accessibility is to blame for this over-use of Post-Its. Just decades ago, great physical labor stood between us and an adhesive piece of paper: if we wanted to seal an envelope, we had to lick it. But saliva is not a necessary component of the product in question, and so there is much less discretion involved. People will always be too trigger-happy with cheap, easy, sticky notes, and only an intentional price floor can change that.
There is a way to make high-frequency messages more effective through such a medium, though; Mrs. Boss put it into action just last week. She began taking advantage of a Post-It’s stainless glue, various sizes and colors, and started fixing them to creative, “contextually relevant” places. No longer bunched together on my least favorite cubicle wall (it’s pleasant and considerate, but sooo two-dimensional), the notes instead pop up at various, unexpected times of day in unexpected places: my chair, my monitor, my phone. I have since learned that the Post-It program was installed on my computer so the option exists to leave one on my desktop. (It’s actually one habit of the highly effective Post-It-er, and is perhaps the best solution I’ve heard.)
So I say this with affection for Mrs. Boss, who shares in a good laugh with me about her being my window to the working world. By the way, let us know if you find out who really did invent our beloved Post-It!
Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.
-John the Intern
P.S. Don’t rebut that one larger Post-It, filled with ALL of a boss’s messages, would be superior to several separate little sheets. There is something alarmingly pleasurable about crumpling one of the squares into a closed fist and aiming for the trash can, because it symbolizes completion of a task. Nonetheless, I don’t condone the exclamation of basketball terms when a shot lands in the wastepaper basket (e.g. “For two!”, “And it’s good!”, or “Swish!”).
I used to wonder why my co-workers were so fussy about keeping the office locked, but that was before I met yesterday's odd intruder. It was an experience worth sharing, but one that has also made me wiser. That's not to say, of course, that my prior stance was unjustifiable. Though I can't think of physical obstacle besides the lock that would stand between an ill-willed stranger and Suite 135, the random-osity of such a hypothetical has always kept my fear at bay. Plus, I'd imagine most strange visitors are into the "go big or go home" thing. The answer to that question entered the premises at around 10:41 yesterday morning, accompanied by a stack of loose papers and not much else. He cleverly introduced himself with all the boring words known to thwart further inquiry ("deputy", "inspector", "appraiser", "property", "tax", "local"), and subsequently showed me his files. Comprised of only an out-dated list of building tenants and some scrawled notes in the margins, the literature—and visit--felt alarmingly unofficial. My sentiments were compounded moments later when he entered the conference room to interrupt a meeting between the CEO and our editorial consultants. It was here that he requested only a business card, declaring that he was just "scouting" for his "group". We probably would have pressed our "scout" to reveal more about his group, but he had already switched into consumer mode. I'm usually flattered when someone develops an interest in the product upon hearing its name, but this was a bit much: he began dancing towards the table, bellowing, "Is this one of those online companies?!" He may have gotten an abridged explanation if no theatrics were involved (and if a meeting wasn't in progress), but was instead met with a polite request to leave. He departed, leaving me the rest of morning to analyze his behavior. It didn't take long for me to conclude the guy was creepy, but I also constructed two scenarios to explain his "boogying": On a side note, I'm pleased that someone finally made use of the chairs in our mini-lobby. Our inspector friend enjoyed the leather guest seats both before and after his ad-hoc meeting with the staff, and praised the lumbar support in particular. Comfort is one of the few areas where you can trust a stranger, so I accepted his review at face value. I now know how easily something bizarre can seep into the white-collar working day. Hopefully this newfound insecurity won't approach mania, because it would be tough to wire my cube with an alarm system. Peace, Love, Personalized Media. -John the Intern
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