Okay, rhetorical question aside...
It's been a month since my shadow last crossed the threshold of what I once referred to as "a really cool environmental non-profit" and I'm only just now getting into the groove and being serious about finding a job. I'm happy to report, though, that I've decided to go back to what I'm good at: publishing.I'm done with trade associations and non-profits. While I believe in a good cause and fighting the good fight, I'll admit I want to work for something with the suffix Co., Inc., Corp., LLC, or Ltd. at the end of the name. I want something where the goals and objectives are clear and the bottomline is the expected acheivement.
I'm tired of nabobbing and hob-nobbing, of gripping and grinning, of talking points and briefings. Gone are the days of talking ad nauseum about what we're going to do, then having meetings about meetings so we can have a meeting to talk about what to do with our executive committee followed by a meeting to strategize. I'm done with the secret handshakes and hoodwinks and passwords that turn the conversation or project around 180 degrees, leaving you spinning and seasick, and right back where you started 30 minutes, a week, two months, three quarters, a year ago.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not living in a dream of vague memories here. Publishing has its share of ups and downs. It ain't a party. But I was good at it. And I'm the only managing editor in the history of the now-defunct Miller Freeman who published the Pulp & Paper Factbook (now known as the Global Price & Fact Book) five years in a row. Prior to that, no managing editor published more than one edition each! (You may be saying to yourself, "What the f***?!? Pulp and paper?!" No, it wasn't travel guides or "Dummies" books or coffee table books, but it was a job and a nice way to make a living.)
So, good-bye good causes, hello corporate. I'm coming down the pike...
Photo courtesy of http://www.sookeharbour.com/images/news-printing-press.jpg.
2 comments:
Glad to hear you've got your groove back, J. Knew you wouldn't be sidelined for long. And kudos for getting clear on what you want and don't want in your next gig.
You are good at publishing--and scads of other things, too.
Want that nuckin' futs feeling all the time? Try planning a wedding. ;)
Good causes are overrated. Most of my causes are evil.
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