Polymer Studios::Web Consulting

Making your own luck in a tight job market

8. November 2008

The headlines say it all: NYTimes: Jobless rate at 14-year high WSJ: Labor data show pain across economy AP: Running on fumes; GM could soon run out of cash By these accounts, we are headed toward a period of significant unemployment or are already there. Either way, if you don’t already, you will soon have a number of colleagues, [...]

Market recovery

6. October 2008

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At the exquisite Thai food blog of photographer Austin Bush, I found this video of the Samut Songkhram market, which is set up over the town’s railroad tracks! Watch how the vendors quickly get back to business after the train passes. Could this be a lesson on how to cope with disruptions in business? See the [...]

Is “it” in you?

25. September 2008

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My wife, who is a teacher at St. Paul Schools, has been working with Karen immigrants for the past couple years. These folks come from Burma, but have been chased through the jungles by the Burmese Army for more than 50 years. To a person, the Karen people my wife has met all have stories [...]

Social media: What’s keeping you from wading in?

15. September 2008

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There’s a fair amount of hand-wringing on the part of marketing execs over what to do with social media (aka Web 2.0, Social Web). It’s on the news and in the papers, so the CEO hears about it and asks the CMO, “should we be doing that?” And so the lukewarm potato gets handed downward [...]

The human jungle

12. August 2008

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I never would have step foot in the Amazon rainforest were it not for a failed trip to the mountains two years ago with my daughter. We went to Cusco, with the hope of making it to Machu Picchu, but instead met up with a case of soroche, or altitude sickness. Except for the World [...]

Some things you don’t see every day

31. July 2008

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Ad campaigns starring strange men in shimmering tarpaulin suits. Manhole cover advertising. Grass advertising. Scholarly books at Starbucks. Urgent appeals against public urination. (The sign reads: “PLEASE Respect the house of God! Don’t paint this wall. Don’t post bills. Don’t urinate on this street. Thank you.”)

The infirm leading the blind

31. July 2008

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One of the things I love about the Internet is how it makes possible the most improbable meeting of minds. Take Patrick “Barry” Barr, a Jamaican who spent his working years in New York but retired fairly recently to Lima, Peru, of all places. I met him on Flickr a few years ago and over [...]

A land with many faces

18. July 2008

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Over the coming weeks, the posts on this blog might take a turn for the exotic, as I’ll be posting stories and photos from the far reaches of Peru. On the agenda: Hunting for megalodon teeth with Desert Man of Ica, who was recently written up in the New York Times. (Fortunately, we made our reservation [...]

Chances of survival

14. July 2008

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Job security. Got some? Got enough? If you’re wondering about your prospects in the current economy, you might check out the Job Security Score. It’s a questionnaire that claims to tell you whether you should rest easy or revise your resume. I have no idea how accurate the score might be. I tried to complete it, but gave up [...]

Punching the clock

8. July 2008

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When you work for an employer, it’s usually a pretty straightforward contract. You trade 40 or so hours of your week in exchange for a salary and some sprinkles. What happens during those hours is between you and your boss. But when you cut the tethers of employment and became a free agent, what’s the agreement? [...]