I had this job for years and it was the making of me as a professional.
As usual, I started out learning the computer systems, then improving them. At that time, the company consisted of the president, me, and a manager. The manager and I worked in the president's garage; he had a loft above us. We lived in fear of him overhearing anything we said on the phone. He was a brilliant salesman and business strategist with a truly vile temper. The slightest mistake, or something he would have done differently, sent him into violent rages, yelling, slamming doors, and all that good stuff. Nonetheless, he respected my intelligence, and rewarded me with ever-increasing responsibilities, until I found myself supervising a staff in a large office suite in Bethesda, Maryland. Other managers came and went, but I had learned to work with the president, insulating him from others when he was angry and supporting his best ideas. It's not too much to say that I handled everything, from buying new computers and maintaining the network to editing dozens of annual print documents and shepherding them from concept to shipping. Eventually we found other employees to handle the details, and I managed the employees. We grew the company's flagship conference into three annual events, with up to 10,000 international attendees, an exhibit hall with hundreds of companies and huge booths from major tech players, and a week of seminars and events. I dealt directly with the registrants while the president was free to network, give speeches, and make deals. In time, I helped the president sell the company to a giant conglomerate, close to the peak of the tech bubble. I received a payout from that sale and took the opportunity to start my own business, writing from home and watching my kids. With only a few months here and there for longer term gigs, freelancing dad has been my job ever since.
Skills Acquired:
- Management of professionals, temporary workers, and contractors
- Accounting and budgeting, monitoring trends, projecting revenues and expenses
- Speech writing
- Editing multiple authors and incorporating client ads and copy
- Layout and design with Adobe Photoshop and Quark Express; full-color print production; large and small document design
- Custom database design in Filemaker Pro
- Dealing with the public
- Defusing office conflict
- Growing up
