This is a very interesting look at you, the members of this network.   more »

Find yourself at home these days?  What does your pet think about it?

 

By Ned Lundquist, ABC

Editor and publisher of the “Job of the Week”

 

Many communicators are at home these days, either because they’ve become independents by choice or their employer made them so.   This has a big impact on pets that now have humans around during the daytime.

 

“What you humans fail to understand is how the basic cat mind works,” says Safira, whose business card says she’s a “Purebred Siamese-Dominant Cat.”

 

“The server of my food is forever asking me why I don't want her attention when she is not on the computer,” says Safira, who “belongs to” freelancer Cindee Lee Thomas of Woodbridge, Virginia.    “I would think that would be obvious.  If I demand attention when there is nothing else competing for it, there really is no triumph in winning it.  However, when that computer fires up, I can be pretty sure that, not only will I have some competition for it, but that said competition will be of fairly major significance.  Not like winning her away from marginal television fare.  Oh no, this is a task that she is fairly devoted to completing.  So, if I win her away from this I have won something truly worth winning.”

 

Working from home can be traumatic for people as well as pets.

 

The first time Sandy Nelson tried working from home was in 1999 after she'd been unceremoniously fired from a DC PR firm.  Nelson, vice president of public affairs for MemberWorks, was living with her best friend in a town house on Capitol Hill at the time.  Several of her clients asked me to continue working for them on a contract basis, so her roommate generously suggested I turn their dining room into a temporary office.

 

“What a total disaster!”  Her two dogs (name) a lab-Chihuahua mix and (name) and a 150 lb. Rottweiler agreed.  “The house was a mess.  Sandy felt that there's just no way to really get organized without a proper office, and we felt she had no right working when we wanted to play.  We found it terribly amusing to wrestle and make a ton of noise whenever she was on an important phone call.  Her office was in the middle of our house, and she always left that damn computer on.  She couldn’t walk by the PC without checking on it every time she went to the kitchen.  She lasted six months before she jumped at an opportunity in another firm downtown.”

 

“ We think she wanted to get out of the house more than she wanted a job!”

 

Bristow, Virginia-based freelancer Jim Parsons has been sharing a home with his VP of sales and marketing, Bob the Cat, for four years.  They’ve worked out a good partnership.

 

“As with most other newly minted freelancers, I had a lot of time on my hands during those early months, explains Parsons.  “I shared an apartment at the time, and my roommate had two cats.  One day, frustrated by a silent telephone, I told the cats that if they helped me get a new project, I'd give them some tuna.  Well, a day or two later, the phone did ring with a new job.  Being a man of my word, I doled out the tuna, which they happily lapped up.  When things slowed down again, I made the same offer.  Rrrrrinng...meow meow...lap lap lap.  I figured I was on to something.

”Not long after moving to my own place, Bob "joined" my household.  I immediately made him the same offer--new work for me means tuna commissions for you.  Now, it's become a bit of ritual/celebration; the Friday after getting a new project, Bob and I share a can of tuna at lunchtime.”

 

And when you think about it, Bob has a pretty good deal.  

 

“I get the title, the salary and the sales commission,“ says Bob.  “I get room and board, medical coverage, and a constant supply of toys.  And Jim doesn’t like to talk about this, but I also have I full death benefits when the time comes.”

Bob provides an additional benefit to Jim.  “There is more here than just rewarding a cat for sleeping all day,” says Parsons.  “As you know, Ned, our profession has a large percentage of women, who generally dig cats.  (I think it's a chromosome thing, along with their loving chocolate and hating the Three Stooges.)  Describing this little ritual with Bob has become an ideal icebreaker, and a source of conversation with clients and colleagues.  I get lots of "How's Bob?" questions during calls and at IABC. Bob is also featured on my website, and some new clients already know all about him when they first contact me. I sometimes think the critter is better known than I am.”

Bob usually keeps his own daily schedule of eating, sleeping, pooping, shedding, peeing, and monitoring activity in the neighborhood.  “He'll often come into my office looking to play fetch (he retrieves little nerf balls), or parade in front of my keyboard and monitor to remind me that he is one to be adored, or that he hasn't been fed in an hour or so,” says Parsons.  Other times, he'll plop down on my desk (usually atop the notes I'm working from) to provide what I suppose is his version of quality control.  

And here's the topper, says Bob.  “When our day's work is done, and if it's still daylight and warm outside, Jim takes out the leash.  I walk him.” 

 

Eccentric?  It may explain why Parsons is still single.  “But,” Jim admits, “it's also another story that wows clients and keeps me in their mental rolodexes.”

Pat Valdata, a communicator from Elton, MD, thinks people who work at home should have animals. One of the big pitfalls, to working at home is the tendency to work more than 9-to-5.  “It's very easy to merge personal time with business time and to spend more time than you should in front of a computer screen. I am lucky to have a dog with a good internal clock.”

Chunks, her black standard poodle, lets her work all morning with no
interruptions.  “If she hasn’t taken a break by mid-afternoon,” Chunks says, “I swat her with my with her paw to remind me that it's break time. After we go outside and throw the toy of the day, I let her continue working until around 6
pm, at which time I swat her again to say ‘enough already.’”

As I sit here at my computer, my son’s cat, Thomasina, is sitting on my lap and biting me each time I use the shift key.  Our dog, Pua, is looking out the window, ready to warn us of people walking down the street.  My daughter’s cat, Cappucina, is asleep on the pillow.  She couldn’t be bothered.

 

***  Ned Lundquist, ABC, (lundquist989@cs.com), who writes this column when he gets mad about something, also writes the free Job of the Week networking newsletter for communications professionals from his home in Springfield, Virginia. (To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: JOTW-subscribe@topica.com.  To read this list on the web, visit: http://www.topica.com/lists/JOTW.)  He will be leading a seminar at the next Ragan Communications Conference for pets on working with humans.  This column was prepared while wearing a U.S. Navy Supply Corps Bicentennial (1795-1995) “Ready for Sea” T- shirt; The Sopranos/HBO/IABC ball cap; and drinking coffee from a Fox News Channel – “We Report – You Decide – Easy Decision” travel mug.

 

“Intangible Assets and Communication”   more »

Lundquist learns life’s lessons

He built his own job-seekers network without blueprints

 

By Ned Lundquist, ABC

 Like any worthwhile journey in life, I’ve learned a few important lessons about job hunting, networking, and positioning since I began publishing the Job of the Week newsletter in January 2001.

 

I’ve learned quite a bit about and from the other people who are on this journey with me, and I’ve learned a lot about myself.  I’ve learned about recruiting and recruiters.  I’ve learned about despair and hope.  I’ve learned about position descriptions, both truthful and otherwise.  And I’ve learned about the very positive value of unanticipated consequences. I’ve learned how lonely it can get when you’re out of work.  I’ve learned there is some truth to the point of view that espouses that HR people are bred without the humor gene.  Finally, I’ve learned there is always an opportunity for success, but success is not always a fair thing.

 

To begin, let me tell you about my own personal despair that prompted me to start JOTW.  I lived with job security for 24 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy.  I retired from active duty in 2000 to join the hot job market. 

 

I had been working for a dot.com for less than five months when I suddenly found myself looking for a job again.  I was not prepared.  I had friends, however, who I admired that always seemed to have knowledge about job opportunities.  They would share them with myself and others in their networks.  They found out about these opportunities, I reasoned, because they shared what they knew, and people sent them opportunities in return.  I resolved to be the center of such a network, and so, as my New Year’s resolution in January 2001, I started sending the Job of the Week to about three dozen colleagues, mostly drawn from the my military career or from involvement in IABC. 

 

The experiment worked.  Some very good leads came my way, almost instantaneously.  In time I had several good offers, including a VP position I eventually accepted.  I continued my newsletter as I started my new job, with almost 150 JOTW subscribers at the time.  After 9/11, however, my association eliminated some senior staff.  I was the last hired, and so first to go.  But by this point in time, my network had grown to more than 500, and while many leads didn’t pan out, some did and I was working again a few months later. 

 

The JOTW network continues to grow today, and is now more than 5,000 strong.  It comes out every Monday.  And most Tuesdays, and a lot of Wednesdays and/or Thursdays.  Each newsletter is about 20 pages long with 10 to 35 jobs posted, as well as a lot of chatter about our existence in and out of work. When I take a rare vacation, I have to tell everyone in advance.  I still get e-mails and phone calls from people who want to know if I’m okay or if there’s a problem with their subscription. 

I have become a shoulder cry on, someone to vent upon, someone to complain to, and someone to laugh with.  Along the way a lot of communicators have found job opportunities that became their jobs because of the JOTW network.  Many more find hope because they see so many listings.  If nothing else, JOTW gives the frustrated members of our group a friendly forum to spout off and get valuable feedback.

 

First of all, communicators as a whole are a great group of people, and they tend to be supportive and cooperative with one another as one or more of them look for work.   And communicators are some of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

 

They're also pretty darn good editors (excluding me), and catch little typos.  One person was discussing how she used nice “Crane stationary” to respond to HR recruiters, and several people quickly pointed out that it should have been spelled stationery.  I printed those, of course, including one which had requested anonymity but which I pasted into the newsletter in haste.  So now I had a pissed off person who was asking for advice and just got a heap of editorial criticism, and another person who was pissed I revealed his identity along with his petty comments.  And you know what?  They're both right.  I was wrong.

 

I've learned that when people ask for advice and assistance, communicators are quick to respond, and helpfully, with a smile.  But, as I said, they still can't put down the editorial pencil.  When one recent grad asked for some direction about finding a job, I received this in response:  "If she is hoping to find a communication job anytime soon, she must pay more attention to sentence construction, grammar and spelling.  I hope -- and expect -- that her cover letters, resumes, and even her face-to-face interviews don't contain the kinds of errors I found in her one-paragraph question to you."

 

That critical reply can be tough to swallow sometimes, especially for someone starting out, but it is the right advice – and something one needs to hear -for someone coming into the communication field.

 

But, what's a few misspelled words among friends? 

 

When one subscriber brought up the subject of “worst songs ever recorded,” I had a month's worth of feedback from people who dredged up some of the most gut-turning tunes ever pressed on vinyl or digitized onto CDs.  Many of these could be classified as "Party Killers of the Seventies," but you’ll find there's crappy music from every decade. 

 

There are the periodic e-mails from subscribers who want me to upgrade the newsletter with links from the contents to the jobs, or sorted by geographic location. 

 

One irate reader ranted about the ad that Topica, the company that manages my free list, placed on the newsletter.  “I haven't read the rest of this JOTW.  I got stopped at the cigarette add!  Appalling that you would post a cigarette ad in your newsletter, with all the known effects of cigarettes.  If you decide to smoke, that's your decision.  But please don't promote smoking in your newsletter.  I'm really disappointed.  And also with Topica.  Dee”

 

And there are those who say cut the banter and get to the jobs.  I love this one because I then get dozens of responses, by about a five-to-one ratio, that say I should leave it the way it is.

Carolyn Z. pleaded with me.  "One suggestion (and I'm begging!) – Please relegate all the blah blah (your travelogues, songs reports, and the likes) AFTER the job listings!!!

 

I don't have the time to shift through all the 'blah blah'!  I would love to recommend your newsletters to others but find this area very annoying and will not recommend you unless that is changed.

Larry Bearfield responded.  "Hell, you're doing this for free and then Carolyn gripes because you're wasting HER time????"

 

Many others commented, correctly, that the chit-chat is the best part of JOTW.  Communicators, in my view, especially those who are out of work, need and respond to a sense of community and a sharing of ideas, humor and observations.

 

JOTW has become a great forum for asking questions about the job quest.  Do companies want resumes as attachments (Word or PDF), or in the body of the e-mail.  One person said she gives a link to her website, encouraging recruiters to go their and read her resume.

 

Mary Shafer figures "if the receiving party is too darn lazy to even click a hotlink to my website, they would probably be too annoying to work for/with, anyhow. I spent a lot of time and energy on my resume and my website (www.thewordforge.com), and I didn't expect to have to keep sending it out as an attachment or doing the copy-and-paste thing. This is one way to weed out the digitally challenged companies I really don't want to work with anyway."

 

Connie Mayse, a recruiter for Comcast, replied:  "So I'm lazy?  As a recruiter who receives hundreds of responses to each ad I place, I think YOU are lazy for not (a) following the instructions I set out in my posting for applying and (b) adding one more task to my already overwhelmed desk.  Why should I consider you over the dozens of talented candidates who have submitted their CV's in a format I've requested?  I think YOU are digitally challenged when I request that you submit your CV via our website and you want me to go to yours instead. .I will not make your job application for you - if you want the job, you will have to come to me.  Read this newsletter often enough and you will learn that there are many qualified and talented individuals who are looking for work - they are willing to send me their resumes!"

 

Hey, we need to know this.

 

I've learned not to take life too seriously.  My 5,000 friends help me achieve that state.  I published a March 32nd special issue, which was published on April Fools Day.  I even had a parody of Larry Light's Job Coach newsletter.  I'm on the East Coast, and Larry is in California, but he was on the phone to me within an hour or two of my posting the parody issue. He was upset that I had posted a column in his name that he didn't write.

 

"Larry, I'll be straight with you.  It's April Fools Day, and the entire issue is a spoof."  There was a pause.  He apologized for getting in my face.  Before lunchtime Larry had sent an all-points-bulletin to everyone on his mailing list inviting them all to see the funny JOTW rendition of his newsletter.  Larry learned to take life not to seriously, too.  I made a joke about the Ragan folks, but I never heard from them.

 

I had a contest for people to guess when the total number of active subscribers in the JOTW network reached 5,000, and 43 people submitted entries.  Most of the entries were grounded by some important date, like an anniversary, wife’s birthday, or something to do with Jerry Garcia.  The winner received a pair of Tabasco boxer shorts, submitted by a faithful reader.

 

I've learned, yet again, that no good deed goes unpunished.  When one individual had sent e-mails to her own "network" of contacts, asking for referrals for an opening she had, someone sent the e-mail to me and I posted it.  That's networking.    Then I got a response from one of my readers.  "I sent a resume and cover letter to a contact on your list and received what sounded like an annoyed response. The person said she is only entertaining candidates personally referred to her; that she doesn't know how she got on your list; and that she's asked to be removed."

 

The poster of the original e-mail was upset because she had asked for “referrals,” and by that she apparently meant personal contacts from people she knew, and only personal contacts from people she knew.  I interpreted "referrals" with a slightly broader definition.  She was indignant with me for not admitting I was wrong, and that she wouldn’t want to hire someone unknown to her or one of her colleagues.  But, you know what?  It all ended when she did hire someone who actually responded to that posting seen in the JOTW.

 

Some of the people on the list would comment that the newsletter is skewed towards the DC area.   My response to those kinds of comments is that the JOTW is a cooperative service that relies on the contributions of everyone in the network.  It stands to reason that I’m here in the DC area, as are many of my fellow communicators.  My job search, when I was searching, was focused on this area.  But I strive to have a mix.  The listings vary from graphic design to internal relations, from broadcasting to print journalism, from PR to IR, as well as a geographic mix, from Korea to Canada, from Kensington to Katmandu.  As JOTW is a cooperative, the jobs come from the members themselves.  In theory, it should reflect the distribution of the membership.  I go out of the way to list openings that are from distant locations.

 

Some jobs spark a discussion, or in some cases a limerick contest.  Here’s Jack Duggan’s entry in the contest to incorporate the name of a trade group.

 

“Not my best effort,’ said Duggan, “but "The Soap and Detergent Association" won't fit any limerick rhythm.”

 

There once was great application

For a job with no recreation

You scrub for statistics

With lots of specifics

For a soap scummy association

 

I like this entry from Katy O'Grady even better.

 

Though detergent is my inspiration

I won't the call the soap association.

The pay is first-rate,

The location is great,

But there's only one week of vacation!

 

I was asked to run personals, and so I did.  I called the feature “Kommunicators In Search of a Special Someone,” or “KISSS.”  I didn’t get very many submissions.  One male inquired about posting a KISSS, but was concerned he might come across as a guy without a girlfriend. 

 

I received a quick response from a female JOTW reader who said,

 

   “If the guy interested in KISSS is cute, honest, decent, respectable and has a fabulous sense of humor not to mention a full head of hair, has baggage but doesn't mind putting it down once in a while, loves life, likes to daydream, etc. please slip him my e-mail address in a completely covert fashion.  It was a guy, wasn't it?  And he's single, right?  You never know these days.  Should we call you pimp daddy then?”

 

I thought she had made some unreasonable requirements.  Maybe she has some baggage about baldness?  After all, I don’t have even have a “full” head of hair, technically.  Okay, she countered, full set of teeth, then.  Well, even I don’t meet that requirement.

 

The JOTW features a quote at the top of every issue.  These have become a welcomed feature.  Some evoke a response from my readers around the world, like this note from Meryl David, ABC, in Australia, originally from South Africa.

 

“What a gorgeous quote!  ("I pointed out to you the stars and moon, but all you saw was the tip of my finger."  -  Sukuma (Tanzania) proverb).  Perhaps it's the African in me that causes it to really resonate.  Thanks for keeping up with this great tool.  Even though I can't use it now - who knows when I may need it.”

 

Exacly, Meryl.  Who knows when you may need a network of fellow communicators to get you re-employed?

 

I particularly like this quote from Jane Howard, because it sums up the JOTW on-line community:

 

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

 

 

-30-

 

Ned Lundquist, ABC, publishes the JOTW newsletter from his home in Springfield, Virginia. 

Let’s face it – e-mail can be too much of a good thing

By Edward Lundquist, ABC

 

(Chicago) - Researcher Dr. Gerry Goldhaber has found that workers spend a lot of time sorting through their e-mail.  Too much time. 

 

“There are four trillion e-mails sent annually from 600 million mailboxes,” says Goldhaber.  In 1995, we averaged five e-mails a day, and now we average 30 or more, a 600% increase in six years.

 

Goldhaber, speaking about the use and abuse of e-mail to the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) at a session hosted by IABC’s Research Foundation in Chicago June 12, cited an “Online Business Communication Study” he conducted with his firm, Goldhaber Research Associates, LLC (of Amherst, New York) and its Australian Partner, Rogen, Intl.  Dr. Goldhaber is also on the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

 

The study included more than 7,300 e-mail addresses in seven countries and various industry sectors.  More than 1,400 executives responded to the web survey.

 

“Many of these e-mails - about a third - are irrelevant to the respondent’s jobs.  They’re junk.” Goldhaber says. “And that translate into dollars lost.”  A company of 100 workers would lose 15,000 hours equating to nearly a half million dollars and company of 1,000 workers would lose 150,000 man-hours a year, a cost of more than $4.2 million USD, he estimates.

 

“Most people have no idea how many e-mails they send and receive and how much time they spend doing it.  We learned that in our sample, the average estimate by the respondents was that they sent and received 42 e-mails each day, but in fact the number was 50.

 

Executives spend two hours a day using e-mail, according to Goldhaber, and that usage is increasing.

 

Supervisors can rapidly share breaking news with employees by e-mail, and then follow up with a face-to-face opportunity, agrees Angela Sinickas, ABC, a communications researchers from Costa Mesa, Calif.

 

E-mail moves a large amount of information and moves it fast.  Goldhaber cites e-mail’s mass communications capabilities, the ability to exchange files, and the ability for record keeping as real advantages.  These are also problematic.  It’s too easy to send too much to too many people. Crippling computer viruses can be unknowingly carried as attachments.  And, he says, there’s always a record of the conversation.  “There’s no privacy on the Internet.  Anything you write in an e-mail can appear on the front page of the New York Times.”

 

While e-mail may have created a time drain, the vast majority of respondents felt that e-mail led to improved communications within their organizations, but not necessarily as a replacement for face-to-face communication.  This is especially important for news that’s really important, whether it’s really good or really bad.

 

“E-mail may be more efficient, but not necessarily more effective,” he says.  Goldhaber says his research suggests a balanced approach.  E-mail is useful, but not instead of face-to-face communications for important news.

 

What’s important?  That’s subjective, but really good news might be a promotion or a bonus.  Really bad news might be a demotion or a layoff.  This kind of news is best delivered in person, Goldhaber says.

 

From facial expression to eye movement to hand gestures and posture, the non-verbal communications count for a large majority of the meaning of what is being said.  “That’s not present on the Internet.”

 

Goldhaber says that face-to-face communications, while it may take longer, saves time in the long run.

 

“This is something we all assumed,” says Les Potter, ABC, a strategic communications consultant from Vienna, Virginia, about the research.  “Now we know.”

 

Mary Hills, of the Northern Trust Co., of Chicago, Ill., said the research underscores the basics of communications, which she learned as a student from Dr. Goldhaber’s textbooks.  “Determine the message and decide the channel.  E-mail is just one of the channels, and it may not always be the appropriate one.”

 

E-mail will continue to be a necessary part of business communicating, so let’s do it better.  Goldhaber says we all need to manage our inbox.  “Deal with a message once.  Block or filter unwanted e-mails.  Use the subject line effectively.  Keep attachment size below 500 KB and keep your recipients carefully.  And get your address out of e-mail distribution lists that you don’t want to be on.”

 

Online research such as web-based surveys can work well for little time or cost, says Goldhaber.  “There are real benefits.  You can come up with a timely survey.  Respondents can complete the survey when they want, and the completed surveys can be immediately tabulated.  You can broadcast your survey to a large number of people, but it can also be highly targeted.” 

-iabc-

 

Edward Lundquist, ABC is an Accredited Business Communicator and a member of the IABC International board of directors.  He is a communication director with Anteon Corporation’s Center for Security Strategies and Operations in Arlington, VA.

 

 

 

 

Leaving your job -- There’s a lot of baggage in that box of stuff

 

By Ned Lundquist, ABC

Editor and publisher of the “Job of the Week”

 

 

It happened on the first of every month.  When I worked at the Pentagon I would watch just-retired military people walking out of the building with a box of plaques and nameplates and a few other items.  A whole career reduced to a box. 

 

These days lots of people have had to leave work with their stuff in a box.

 

You’ve been laid off, too?  It’s judgment day. What to put in that box? 

 

“The first time I was laid off, the box had already been prepared for
me,” said Chicago-based communicator Michael Rubin. It contained "personal" items of mine like a photo, pen cup, mug, and an inspirational wall poster of Cal Ripken, Jr. that read: "PERSISTENCE."

In his second and most recent layoff, Rubin says, “I was immediately
escorted out the building and not allowed to pick up anything other
than a copy of Fast Company magazine and some
medical receipts. They were afraid I was going to "steal" data on the
company laptop I had been given. “

 

Camilla Stroud of Falls Church, Va., recently went through "the box" from her last job, and found some really strange stuff.  “Where on Earth did I get a Bugs Bunny Pez dispenser and Pez refills (unopened)?” she asks.  “And why did I pack the little chocolates, instead of just eating them?”

 

When Jack Duggan left his job in Seattle for a life in the Oregon countryside, he packed carefully if sparingly.  “First, I made a disk with all the good jokes I've been saving. Then I removed all the awards, certificates, pictures, pins, and decorations
from the walls. Finally, I threw in one small sticky pad to mark ads in
the newspaper.”

 

For Craig Jolley, a communicator from Springboro, Ohio, It would have been literally impossible for him to put all the accumulated stuff from nearly two decades of a career into one box.  “I needed five large banker's boxes plus several egg boxes pilfered from the local grocery store.”  He share’s with us his haul:

 

Various knick-knacks of speaker presents, awards, samples of direct
marketing campaigns collected over the years, letter openers, clocks, coffee
mugs, etc.
* Several framed pieces of artwork used in a very successful product launch
a decade ago.
* My library of business books, reference material, industry journals, etc.
* Accumulated samples of articles, speeches, presentations and white
papers
* My bankers lamp.
* Samples of work projects I'm particularly proud of and/or could be of
value in the future.
* The company laptop computer – on loan until I found my next job.

What wasn’t in his box, but most valuable of all:  “New skills, capabilities,
knowledge and contacts to add to my professional toolkit.”

 

For Floridian Jay Magee, whose position was eliminated the sour demand for IT software and professional services, “the Facilities staff thought I'd be carting away eight boxes, and they dropped eight large cardboard monsters off at my cube. But I had the last laugh -- I only needed one!”

 

The box included his framed Dale Carnegie Course Certificate of Completion; pictures with his friends at Spring Break, his own Sharp electric calculator (the company’s cheap standard-issue hand-held solar-powered one never worked); various pre-acquisition corporate contraband items -- license plates, annual reports, business cards -- whatever wasn't confiscated and burned; the obligatory University of Florida paraphernalia items, including the coffee mug, post-it pads, gaudy football and basketball posters, and the mini-football (for nailing the FSU grads in the adjoining cubicles).  Jay also found some slightly used paper clips.  “I think they were in the boxes when I got them.”

"On my last day in the office the news had already leaked out about pending layoffs,” says designer Brian Terr.

 

“In fact, I had been given a heads up the day before and had moved most of the personal items out the day before -- plaques, directories, AP Style Guide, etc.  This was especially
helpful since my pass card was turned off the next mourning when I arrived to work -- another sure sign you have been laid off.

"Some of the things I left behind, which I wish I still had, albeit not in a box, were some really good people.  From a more practical standpoint, I had a change jar on my windowsill that had probably more than $20 in it.  This was accumulated from the lunches we ate at from the restaurants across the street from the office.  Since severance was what it was, I wished I had the extra $20. 

"Since most of the journalists are keenly aware that as a communications person you know where all the bodies are buried, they had a tendency to come to me and ask for the inside dirt on the company and executives.  While it may have seemed like a good idea immediately following the type of exit interview I had, compromising your own integrity for the actions of other is not a good practice to get into.  I am glad I kept all those pieces of information tucked nicely away in the bottom of the only box I took out
of the office on my last day."

Sure, he took his Rolodex, card files, and samples of his work, but Gregg Feistman also had his priorities straight when he packed his stuff.

 

“I took items that would help me in my job search, such as sample clips, a copy of the strategic communications plan I wrote and a sample press kit I put together, etc.  Let me also note that everything I took was a duplicate.  All the originals were left behind.  Everything else I left for the next person to occupy my seat.  But most importantly I brought my plush racecar that makes vroom-vroom noises when you tap it.

When I left the Naval Media Center in 2000 after four years in command and the culmination of a 24-year career, the movers took the better part of the morning.  I had one box that was just mouse pads, and another box that’s mostly post-it notes (like my ones from the Associated Press that I got at the RTNDA convention, or those ones for some medicine used for yeast infections).  I haven’t even unpacked all those boxes yet.

 

But when I was laid off from a trade association in October 2001, I had less to contend with.  What did I leave behind?  No loose ends.  Everything accounted for.  Like a professional.  But I did have the box of stuff.  My daughter recently got into it and took some of my wax lips, and the dog probably got the others.  She’s been playing with my kazoo and now I can’t find it.  The handle to my Naval Officer’s Sword letter opener is broken.  Although nobody, not even the dog, took those nine-month-old purple marshmallow Easter “Peeps,” I am nevertheless deathly afraid the dog will swallow my bouncing balls that light up and make eerie noises.  I’ve got my really good New Orleans beads and my Pawtucket Red Sox miniature baseball bat and bright neon “Electric Co-Op Today” plastic slinky.  There’s my Jake Wittmer Award and my little carved figurine from Tobi Atoll along with my desk set that has the “Surface Warfare” and “Command Ashore” emblems engraved on it and the words “E.H. Lundquist, Commanding Officer, Naval Media Center.”

 

I had a few coffee mugs and my magnetized paper clip holder.  But I never really moved into that office.  I hadn’t even hung my prints because I was supposed to move down to the corner office.  So I was waiting before I seriously decorated.  That never happened.  Too bad, I’d picked out my couch.

 

Hey, here’s my wax lips!

 

***  Ned Lundquist, ABC, (lundquist989@cs.com), who writes this column when he gets mad about something, also writes the free Job of the Week networking newsletter for communications professionals from his home in Springfield, Virginia. (To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: JOTW-subscribe@topica.com.  To read this list on the web, visit: http://www.topica.com/lists/JOTW.)  This column was prepared while wearing a USS Richard S. Edwards DD-950 Pearl Harbor T- shirt; Sony DVCAM ball cap; and drinking coffee from an IABC/Washington purple mug.