This week I went to the party store and bought a dozen some balloons for a birthday. As I bought them at the register, I contemplated how I was going to get the balloons into an already stocked car. It means lots of stuffing and not seeing out the windows actually. This reminded me of a new year's eve party I was responsible for over 10 years ago in 1999.
I somehow got roped into throwing the Y2K new year's eve celebration for the technical application team at Limited Brands. The new year's eve party was actually thrown in July, because on the actual new year's eve, we would all be working, right? On New Year's Eve in 1999, most techies were huddled into small war rooms holding their breath (and bored) or "on call" and contemplating the demise of their career. Nothing happened and it was a wasted party night, but for our team of 150 or more, once we finished our projects we partied mid July.
The celebration was held at a saloon/bar party room. The bar had games (think skeet ball and video old school) but also room for a catered dinner and microphone. And alcohol of course. I strangely became the party planner for a few big events like this. I guess because I didn't suck at it and I could be spared. Anyway, I did have help for this particular event since it was so large. One of the ideas in decorating the party room was to have balloons tied to each chair, to fill the large ceiling tent with a festive look. So I ordered 250 silver balloons at the local party store and showed up clueless what this actually meant.
In hindsight it's comical to recall stuffing around 30 balloons into a Honda Civic and making 9 trips back and forth to the venue. Somehow it got done, and balloons were tied to chairs. It ended up looking nice, but frantic and over it I was. I have long been known for doing things the hard and slow way! This got me thinking that it's been 10 years since 2000, and I was wondering "How much has changed, and how much has stayed the same?"
In January of this year, I must have been paying attention to other news because ComputerWorld and other techie publications ran articles sounding like "Y2K: Ten Years Later" target audience moi http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/331221/y2k_10_years_later/?fpid=2. Obviously, the hype of a disastrous non-computer world did not happen and it was a non-event. But what it did bring into focus for those of us in the IT field, was that our technical skills gave us powers which were transferable. We went to the highest bidder. We expected "packages" and to be treated well. It also launched the global effort to contract associates with technical skills. This contract work world would have happened in time, but Y2K jet set it to take place rather quickly. That's because developers were making so much money, and once on the corporate payroll, upper-management strategized how to reduce the cost immediately.
The ballooning of the housing market, and the balloon events of Y2K in my personal life, seem to be an analogy, a fable, for this IT market-place. A market inflating too quickly is going to burst. Many of us counted on the exponential growth in the value of our homes, and many of us counted on salary growth as well. But when the competition for your jobs goes to H1B/international workers for 1/2 your hourly rate, then the bubble bursts. Refer to this article http://community.dice.com/t5/Tech-Market-Conditions/Have-U-S-Workers-Priced-Themselves-Out-of-the-Job-Market-Join/td-p/146574.
Bottom line, it's better to rent the tank and blow them up at the venue. Or have them delivered. If you are chasing the wave, or riding the bubble, that is fine, but don't count on it, know it's going to bust and don't bank of that salary hike, or home equity for retirement. This is sooooo better said than done, right?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Tangible
I like tangible things. You know, getting my hands on something and holding it. Even better is molding or creating something. In my line of work; this tangible factor is getting harder and harder to find. For example, when I first started working as on software development testing, I still touched the scanner, plugged in the peripheral, and had one masterful binder for each project. I once worked at a pharmaceutical company, where a large project was converting all the medical case files from paper to digital. Blacking out the sensitive information was done with a marker. The symbolism of going from paper to electronic was real to me with a start and an end. This lack of tangibility has moved to a more personal level as well.
Recently, I find I can hardly get a face to face with 80% of my team. Even if the developers are in the same continent (or "gasp" building), they like to multi-task through meetings by sitting at their desk. That is if they work in the office at home. Rare are the days when all-hands stand up meetings took place in the lab at the start and end of the day. Here are the days when tangible labs, or face-to-face meetings are the exception. I can no longer use strategies based on bagels or cookies, or the water cooler. Those were real project management strategies I assure you. Learning how to manage and guide without tangibility is a challenge. Obviously, I don't have three bullet points below.
I think this is why there was a scrap booking boom. As photography went from tangible pieces of paper to electronic mediums, those nostalgic of us turned to meaningful tangible objects. We created and decorated our way through meaningful pieces of paper. I collect pieces of ephemera from my great and grandparents, and sit beside my teenage daughter who prints out a collection of photos once a year but takes 10 digital's once a day. I belong to that generation whose parents made things for a living and children who will produce ideas. This younger generation has a desire for connections and has found a way to do that electronically. They have desired flexibility and have found a way to work electronically. So I wonder if this now young generation will get's nostalgic for something tangible.
Recently, I happened upon an unemployment uptown workshop for the displaced worker. This particular workshop was in an art studio and focused on the 3 figure salary finance manager having recently been displaced by recession fall-out and acquisition re-org. From the website it appeared the artists led the dis-placed managers through tangible creative projects to revive and encourage them. Would this only work for us Gen X work force that still longs for tangible things?
Will Gen Y value antique furniture when they embrace sparse?
Will Gen Y pay for conferences in order to have face-to-face when it is rare?
Although it's interesting to think about the marketing and business growth opportunities for Gen Y's; I am more perplexed when I consider the project management strategies that work with them. If a younger generation doesn't value year-end bonuses or bagels how to I negotiate?
Recently, I find I can hardly get a face to face with 80% of my team. Even if the developers are in the same continent (or "gasp" building), they like to multi-task through meetings by sitting at their desk. That is if they work in the office at home. Rare are the days when all-hands stand up meetings took place in the lab at the start and end of the day. Here are the days when tangible labs, or face-to-face meetings are the exception. I can no longer use strategies based on bagels or cookies, or the water cooler. Those were real project management strategies I assure you. Learning how to manage and guide without tangibility is a challenge. Obviously, I don't have three bullet points below.
I think this is why there was a scrap booking boom. As photography went from tangible pieces of paper to electronic mediums, those nostalgic of us turned to meaningful tangible objects. We created and decorated our way through meaningful pieces of paper. I collect pieces of ephemera from my great and grandparents, and sit beside my teenage daughter who prints out a collection of photos once a year but takes 10 digital's once a day. I belong to that generation whose parents made things for a living and children who will produce ideas. This younger generation has a desire for connections and has found a way to do that electronically. They have desired flexibility and have found a way to work electronically. So I wonder if this now young generation will get's nostalgic for something tangible.
Recently, I happened upon an unemployment uptown workshop for the displaced worker. This particular workshop was in an art studio and focused on the 3 figure salary finance manager having recently been displaced by recession fall-out and acquisition re-org. From the website it appeared the artists led the dis-placed managers through tangible creative projects to revive and encourage them. Would this only work for us Gen X work force that still longs for tangible things?
Will Gen Y value antique furniture when they embrace sparse?
Will Gen Y pay for conferences in order to have face-to-face when it is rare?
Although it's interesting to think about the marketing and business growth opportunities for Gen Y's; I am more perplexed when I consider the project management strategies that work with them. If a younger generation doesn't value year-end bonuses or bagels how to I negotiate?
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