Friends and Allies at Work

As a web worker - working corporate from home - it is highly important to keep communications up with those that you work with, and those that you work for. This becomes especially important when times of crisis occur, and you need support from your colleagues. Only those that truly understand your worth, both as an employee and as a person, will fight by your side to do what is right.

One way to keep up communications is to attempt to send an email and a phone call at least three times a day to those that you work closely with, once a day to those that you report to, and at least once a month to update those with hiring/firing power over your position. In addition, be sure to have extra-official activities with your direct superior at least once a year, including dinner, sports, or other social event. Online social networking can prove beneficial as well, including such sites as www.linkedin.com or www.spoke.com.

Meeting face-to-face is one of the most important factors in keeping up relations at work. Try to travel back to the head office a few times a year to be sure that all is well in the corporate world.

Of course, this practice may not apply to all web workers, especially if you do not work for a corporate office. However, these processes can be applied to many different circumstances to help improve communications and recognition.

My Blog-Fav

Having been a web worker for the past year, working mostly from my home and local cafes, as well as from out-of-state and abroad, I have grown to really appreciate the commentary on www.webworkerdaily.com. Blogging on everything from software apps (offline and online), working styles, gear, personal organization and communications, and much more, Web Worker Daily focuses on the daily life of all types of web workers - whether you work corporate from afar like me, or you consult/contract work for your own personal business in web design/development/graphic design/etc. This is a great daily blog site for inspiration, motivation and just plain fun.

http://www.webworkerdaily.com

Down with "The Music Man" - RIAA

Here's a great article on the witch-hunting of the greedy Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), posted on The Luddite, by Tony Long. This commentary does not discuss the legality (or illegality, rather) of violating copyright law by distributing music files online. The topic of this discourse focuses on the "Thieves stealing from thieves" where RIAA represents the people in the music industry that play no part in the music itself, yet reap all the rewards at the artists' expense. It also informs that some music artists are moving to a direct-publishing business model where they create, publish and distribute their music themselves, cutting out the middlemen.

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/theluddite/2007/10/luddite_1011

Gotta get started somewhere...

So I finally decided to start a personal blog. It's amazing it took this long, but I guess you gotta start somewhere.

I'm getting to the point in life where I feel the constant need to produce only "worthwhile" ventures - not to waste my precious time on little silly projects, like a personal blog. But it's these little silly projects where true innovation and creativity can spawn. I have to continue to remind myself to work hard at having fun, and to not be so serious all the time...

So here's to the kid in all of us... and this blog to the kid in me :)

First post... done!