Thoughts On The “Super Bowl” of Politics

Over the last few days there were some emails traded back and forth internally about the 2008 US Presidential race. We’ve got an international team and some of the folks who do not live in the US, as well as some who have relocated to the US were expressing some level of bewilderment about the way we do things here. The following was my email response, written while watching the Republican Debate and subsequent coverage during my flight from NYC to Seattle (on Jet Blue, love those TVs!): There is, without a doubt, a political “industrial” complex that feeds this style of our process. The networks could not survive without the advertising revenue created by political advertising. There are thousands of consultants and printers, and media buyers and autocall vendors and pollsters all who have a financial stake in the election being a very very big deal. Hailu also has a point about the “self importance” factor, but I think if you asked many candidates they would much rather debate and discuss the issues, not things like who shakes who’s hand, or who tears up, or what color tie or suit someone is wearing. Another thing to remember is that this year is, while not unique, a rare type of election: there is no incumbent and no presumptive nominee like a sitting vice president. Combine that with the front loading of the primary schedule, a strong field of Democrats, a week field of Republicans and no clear front runners after the first four contests (though obviously there are front runners now) and you have what we are now witnessing....

The Way We Work: Gregory Works From Anywhere

Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York… And the airports of those cities are just some of the places I’ve worked from in the last two weeks. I get through security and my eyes shoot furtive glances at the bottom 2 feet of walls searching (sometimes in vain) for a power outlet, preferably one that is next to a seat. Recently I have started seeing Samsung “charging stations” in some airports. A brilliant idea who’s time is long over due: multiple outlets on a bistro hight mini table. After dealing with spotty free, and sometimes pay wifi services while traveling, I broke down and signed up for Sprint’s mobile broadband and us ea Sierra Wireless card from Sprint. So far, I’ve gotten connected everywhere I have tried and the speed is pretty good. The other required hardware for airport working are my Bose Noise Canceling Headphones. In the past I’ve posted videos showing me working from improbable places: a tree, the side of the railroad tracks, and island in Canada, My tag line: If you work for CivicActions, you can work from literally anywhere. The truth is that most of my time I work from Seattle. And when I’m not in Seattle, I am sometimes in NY. Hardware and Furniture As you can see, my desk setups are relatively similar: Mac Book pro on a laptop stand (I switched from an IBM ThinkPad to the MacBook about 18 months ago) External Monitor to the right MS Explorer Optical Mouse Mac Slim Keyboard Legare FSC Certified Wood Desk Ergonomic Desk Chairs (an Aeron in NYC and a Chadwick in...

The Way We Work (Wednesdays)

At CivicActions we talk a lot about the lifestyle implications of the way we work. Many “remote” or “virtual” workers will rave about the freedom of working from home, or the benefits of not having a commute. But I think we all know that there are challenges that come with the benefits, and each of us who has worked like this has developed strategies, techniques, schedules and other “coping mechanisms” to to address them. In this series of blogs and interviews, we will explore how CivicActions team members around the globe live and work. What better way to start it off than with our man from the future, Bevan Rudge who lives and works in Christchurch, New Zealand, where it is already Thursday! Bevan’s Work...

Typing On An XO (OLPC)

I am at Jenn’s house for the upcoming project managers’ retreat, and have been playing with an XO (OLPC). After spending far too much time trying to open it, and far too much time trying to save a document, and far too much time playing with TamTamJam (the music program) I decided to try to browse our website, and now I find myself leaving a blog entry. The XO is definitely cute, but perhaps because I already have so many preconceived notions of how a computer works, and what certain icons mean, I have been finding the adjustment a little difficult. I remember reading a quote from Negroponte, something about poor kids deserving computers too, I can’t help but think that poor kids deserve FAST computers too. While the XO seems fun, and has lots of little applications like the ones that fascinated me on my brothers first Mac, it seems to me like some of it is overly complex, and not exactly the most useful thing. I mean the music ap, which i found to be the most fun is really really tricky to use! We’ll see what the learning curve is like as I continue to play around with...