The Conical Glass: What I'm Up To

Sunday, January 11, 2009

What I'm Up To

Twice a year, in January and in mid-summer, I take on what is essentially a full-time contract job: updating and maintaining the web site for a group I'll call the Association of Journalists Reporting on the Widget Industry (AJRWI). The journalists gather for a couple weeks so that widget-makers can update them on the latest, hottest, newest widgets. It's sort of like a 14-day dog-and-pony show.

I took the job a couple of years ago after a friend of mine who sat on the board of directors of AJRWI recommended me. The main problem with the job is that it is quite stressful. If anything goes wrong, I have to make it right -- at any time of day. On Thursday, I left my post for a few hours so I could attend Shotgun Players' one-night-only fundraiser to bring their kickass production of "Beowulf" to New York, and when I got home I had to stay up 'til 12:30 AM catching up.

A lot of the AJRWI membership is very web-savvy -- many of them write for online publications -- but there are also a bunch of folks who write for dead-tree newspapers and have been dragged kicking & screaming into the 21st century. For years, the industry promotional materials and transcripts of the conference panels were provided in hardcopy format, but nowadays, it's all posted online, and not everyone is happy about that. It invariably happens that someone will email me in a panic, saying that they can't access the web site, and it turns out to be a problem with their computer settings, not with the site. Even so, I have to try to help however I can, and to be calm and polite. And since I'm not there at the conference, I have to do everything remotely.

Every time I do it, there comes a point where I threaten (just to Joe, not to the AJRWI) to quit, that this will be the last time I put myself through this. And yet I keep doing it. Why? Because even if some people are invariably whiny and difficult and complain that the web site sucks, there's always someone who winds up saying thank you and that they appreciate my efforts. I feel better and I move on. Plus, I used to be a journalist myself, and I worked in a building full of journalists. I know how those folks just love to gripe, and that most of them fear and loathe change.

Also, I found out a couple days ago that the board voted to give me a bonus. Sometimes, especially in this economy, nothing keeps you going like the gift of hard, cold cash.

posted by 125records @ 1:59 PM

2 Comments:

At 1:39 PM, Janet A said…

Yeah for the bonus. Now you can buy lots of sun blocking clothing. Or go to dinner at Flora.
At 6:10 PM, yellojkt said…

Glad for your bonus. Our company gave everybody a bonus bonus. That was a great treat.