Gainful employment
I’ve been going the freelance route, doing work for Computerworld, some trade pubs, Kiplingers, even Women’s Day (!).
A couple of weeks ago, though, our Realtor in Roanoke called. “I was in a car with some people I work with,” she explained. “And one of them said, ‘I just lost my writer. Anyone know any writers?’ And I told him yes, I did. ‘In Richmond?’ Yep, in Richmond.”
So I called, had a couple of interviews, and now I’ve got a job. And it’s not just as a writer — despite the title, it’s really an editor-in-chief position at a trade magazine, something I’ve done before.
The great thing about it: At the moment it’s long-term freelance, which gives them a chance to try me out, gives me a chance to see if I like being an editor again (I suspect I will), and can eventually lead to a full- or part-time office position.
Right now we’re still undecided whether I should be working full-time or not, so this is the perfect way to test out the work/Sam balancing act.
And the icing on the cake: These folks are very, very into new media. And they don’t just pay it lip service, or think that throwing a few videos on a Web site makes them cutting edge. They’re experimenting with member-driven blogs, Webcasts, message boards, a strong print-Web connection, Twitter and Facebook, and anything else they can think of.
In other words, they aren’t (like some places) doing “new media” because someone told them “this is the future.” They’re doing it because they see it as a great tool for connecting to their members. And when your attitude is “media as a tool” you do a lot better than when your attitude is “media for media’s sake.”
I start next week, and I’m looking forward to working with a company that really gets the whole Internet/social media thing.
Admiral says:
Your forgot to mention who you are working for…