Behind the Scenes at ActiveRain

Yesterday evening, just before I left for home, I sent this email to the crew:

Hey everyone,

Our cupboards are looking a bit bare (except for the items that y'all apparently don't like - note to self: No Veggie Booty), so I thought I'd put it out there that I'll be doing a snack run here later in the week.
So...what do you want?  (Yes, I know, I know, Beef Jerky.)

Thanks!
Claire

Here is the resulting thread that seems to have come through while I was out:

need...dying...need...cashews.....help

That was a "Reply-All" email from Jerry, back to the list of people that I'd sent my original to.  Following it came:

yea, I don't think anyone really likes mixed nuts, I just pick out the cashews... the rest is garbage as far as I'm concerned.  Grab some picked asparagus too, thanks!

I'm pretty sure Glin meant pickLed asparagus, but at least now I know where all the cashews are going! (and why we have so much leftover dried fruit!!)

Everything in that cupboard was probably mixed and left remaining because the cashews were picked out.

cashews are the royalty of the nut kingdom. I want to eat them.

I swear none of this is editted.  I swear!  That last one was a reply back from Jerry; did you know cashews were royalty?  Finally, Bob chimed in:

if you are going to get pickled asparagus, you should go to Costco.....they have the big ones and they are wayyyy cheaper than anywhere else for the pickled asparagus....

That Bob, always thinkin' ;)  Save the company money: buy in bulk! *salutes* Copy that, base.  Condor 4, over and out.

Some people who live here in Washington State move because of the rain.  They hate the rain! They're tired of having to plan for it, even when the sky is blue in the morning.  Umbrellas are too cumbersome.  Who knows what their reasons are, really?  Seattle isn't for everyone, and that's the truth.

So while those frowny people move out, I moved back.  I love Seattle!  It's the only place in the country where, yes, it rains a lot, but that rain is warm.  When it sprinkles, people don't freak out and run for the indoors; they simply put on a hat or open their umbrella.  It's interesting how adaptable the people here in Seattle really are, and not just in relation to the weather.

I was considering this on the drive into work this morning; yes, the roads were a bit messy, but all in all, I saw no one smashed up against the barriers or laying on the pavement on stretchers.  It was a good morning.  The thought of Seattle's adaptability made me think about our agents and staff here at AR; these are, essentially, people who, regardless of age, background, work schedule, etc., have figured out how powerful the internet is, and how strong their voices are. 

I have always been a proponent of blogging.  I, myself, have been doing it for almost ten years now, and yes, I still remember my first hand-built blog engine.  It was clunky and took up too much bandwidth, but it worked for me.  I adapted because it was important to me for people to hear my voice.  I used the tools provided to me -- at the time, my own knowledge and the internet -- and crafted a way for people to hear that voice.

Our agents have done this too; using the tools provided (AR), their own know-how (real estate), and a little craftiness, I now know who that broker over in Louisiana is.  Who the realtor up in Michigan is.  What they specialize in.  I don't currently have a reason to move to either of these places, but I know who to contact when I do.  I know who to refer people to when I hear they're moving and need help finding a new home.

When I joined ActiveRain, I was surprised to see how passionate the staff was about the projects they were working on.  At first, I just did bills, kept to my office, kept quiet, and watched.  Jon's made jokes about how left-handers are more creative and how he hires a lot of southpaws, and I used to laugh, but recently (especially recently), it's been interesting to see just how these men's minds work when they're faced with problems or trying to figure out the Next Big Thing on the Rain.

In short, readers, it seems like this office is always plotting something to enrich your experience here.  The guys constantly adapt to the restrictions of the web, and, at the same time, seem to twist and somehow create something bigger and better than they had originally thought up.  Just the other day, I was privileged enough to sit in on a thinktank session between Jon and Bob, and although I was lost in transcription mode for a lot of it, I had to go back through the notes i took and organize them again.  All I have to say, folks, without releasing any big secrets, is that the Rain is going to pour.

Adaptability should be something we all prize; whether walking in a storm, driving in traffic, moving across the country, blogging or planning the next big thing, if you have the ability to evolve, use it to your every advantage.  It's the one thing you all have over those lame-o's who haven't quite figured out how to use a keyboard yet.

(This PSA brought to you by: Me!)

Studies show that once you wake up, you should get up, in order not to feel overtired throughout the day.  Why do I know this?  Like I said yesterday, I'm an insomniac.  So when I woke up at 5:30am this morning with the unjust (and very wet - stupid rain) parking ticket I received yesterday on my mind, I got out of bed.

And that, my friends, is why I'm in the office this morning so early.  The alarm wasn't set last night, which puts me in a foul mood, but I walked into my office and found...  Body scrub on my desk?  And a poof.  And lotion.  Guava and Lychee, even.  I imagine that it was put here because I'm the only female working for ActiveRain right now, but gifts at work always make me a little antsy.

My first thought was: Oh lord, what'd they kill yesterday that required a gift to me today?  Naturally, that's a kneejerk reaction from having several bad boyfriends over the years.  I'm sure that the boys were perfect angels while I was out.

Next, I thought: But there's no card!! Who do I send a thank-you to?  This, of course, was from years of summers spent with my affluent aunt, and finishing school training zipping back to the forefront of my mind.  "A thank you for every gift, no matter how insignificant -- well-penned and thoughtful," said my teacher.  I wanted to smack her with the book that she balanced on my head; didn't she know what email was?

After that?  I thought reasonably, finally: It's probably a gift from a vendor.  In which case, it was dropped by yesterday (thus, no box), looked at in confusion by the gents (no note means no addressee) and set in front of my keyboard (cause...I'm a girl. Surely, I can use Guava and Lychee body scrub!).

And so, I address this open letter to the nameless person who sent AR happy body stuff and kept me stocked in girlie soaps:

Dear ...you,

Thanks for the lotion and soap!  I'm currently going through a similar jar of Mango Peach (and lord, it smells good) but since I like to shower daily, it seems like I go through it as quickly as the last brownie seems to disappear from the pan!  I look forward to giving your gift a shot when I'm through.

With many thanks,

Claire

I tell you, though:  I'd rather be at work.

Being sick is never fun for me; I don't have cable television, I've read all my library books, I'm currently "borrowing" internet until Clearwire sends me a new modem, I have nothing sweet or salty to eat (just a bunch of fruits and veggies - who wants to eat healthy when they're sick?), and my cats are constantly ALL OVER ME with their eyes begging: pet me pet me love me love me aren't I cute? you know I am so do it, biatch!

Oh, and, I'm an insomniac, so there will be no sleeping this one off.  On top of that, I actually like my job.  I work with a bunch of crazyfun (just crazy?) guys who are so intelligent it blows me away sometimes.  The office is WAY more entertaining than my 375-square-foot flat.

The upside?  I'm finally getting back to reading the meme chain of the Cheaper than Therapy Meme that I started a few weeks ago.  I started this meme because AR has a bajillion (okay, 100K) members who are all also insanely intelligent and are obviously experts in their given fields, but...I didn't know WHO our members are. 

I think, sometimes, we get lost in our titles or our duties, and we forget that we have personalities and senses of humor and quirks that we tamp down to become this polished, buffed exterior that we show off to clients.  Naturally, everyone wants to hire someone who has a pressed, properly-pleated suit, hair that seems to be in place ALL THE TIME, and a smile that could outshine Las Vegas, right?  RIGHT? 

...well, okay, maybe not.  All too often, though, in the "Corporate" or "Business" environment, that is the definition of professional. That's a businessperson's own personal supermodel.  And if you don't fit the status quo, you're just one of THEM: those quirky oddballs who no one wants to associate with because your earrings don't match your shoes. GASP!  What, you can't see Mr. Hottie-Two-Offices-Over drooling about the woman wearing flip-flops at the water tank?

The bottom line is a simple question: Do we all want to be these robotic drones in our cubicles everyday pushing paper and hoping for something better?  HECK NO.  This is why telling your customers and the people around you who you are matters.  People don't trust the slick exteriors of those Suits I was describing. They don't trust people whose smiles don't reach their eyes.

They don't trust someone who talks ALL business ALL the time.  Why would I rather be in the office than under the covers today?  Because my clients (that's you, readers!), my coworkers, and I have personality.  Without it, I'd be looking for somewhere that someone with personality could fit in.  Thank you, AR Members, for making me wish I was at work, instead of watching Maid in Manhattan for the thirtieth time.

Update: It's an ear infection.  I haven't had an ear infection since I was two.  Ugh...my pulsing sinuses - why are they attached?!

Well, my dear AR Readers, if you haven't noticed, replies from the AR Customer Service have been a little slow lately.  Let me tell you what's up...

First, we're down a Community Builder since last week, Bob's got the week off this week, and Brad and Rich are doing their best to pick up the slack but ... it's hard. WHY do you people always want something?! GARRGH! (No, I'm just kidding, really ;) We live to serve.)

The ticketbox has been overflowing, and so we're all pitching in to get it cleared up.  Even me!  Yes, the girl who supposedly "just" cuts the checks around here is actually in there, reformatting your HTML, resetting passwords, and deleting people off the face of the AR Earth.  Mwahaha, power! Nomnomnom.

In any case, I implore you all, for the sake of our limited sanities, please follow these simple rules when putting in a ticket:

1.  Do not send in duplicate tickets.  We got the first one you sent in, trust me.

2.  Do not repeatedly send in tickets about linkpoints.  Again, we got the first one you sent in.

3.  Be specific.  The more specific you are about your problem, the faster we can solve it.  If we have to come back to you for MORE information, that's just MORE of a delay for you to get back to your blog.  Specify your username, the link to the blog you're discussing (since we have several platforms now), and the nature of the issue.

4.  Understand that the ticketbox is backed up.  We're going as fast as we can!  I find it useful to actually call our members when working on a ticket and get any information I can to solve the process; trust me, I'm not the only one looking for more efficient ways to get these issues handled.

5.  This one is important!!  We will do our absolute, 100% best not to be rude to you in replies.  Please don't be rude to us! We love you guys!  We know you're frustrated and that you have better things to do than answer our questions about your questions.  Do unto others and all that jazz. 

6.  Also, keep in mind that text automatically removes all emphasis and inflection from the body of the email.  It may sound laughing and joking to you on your end, but we may not get the joke on ours!  Or worse, our response is teasing from our eyes, and on your end, it sounds like a slap in the face, due to poor word choice.  Whoops.

Deep breath, everyone! We're lying in the trenches now and will surface again soon.

This just in!  Apparently, AR is hiring Marine Action Figures now.  No one told me! But here's the conversation I overheard from Jerry's office:

Jerry: Hi, this is Jerry Van Galder from ActiveRain. Love the website, by the way. *pause* Yeah, it's very clean, fast, nice.  *pause*  Yeah, I'm from ActiveRain.  *pause*  What? No, no, not Action Marines.  ActiveRAIN.  R-A-I-N.  *pause* Right.  Haha, well, I won't hold it against you.

And, my dear readers, I kid you not, I choked on my root beer and had to clean my screen off from the soda spray after giggling at that.  That has got to be the BEST (and worst) mis-hearing of our name that I've heard yet!!

I'm a creature of routine.  Every morning, I come into the office, turn on the lights, grab any mail that managed to make it here after I left, take a spin through the kitchen to pick up, drop my stuff in my office, and then go to straighten the conference room -- all before sitting down at my desk.

You can always tell when the guys have put in a long night at HQ: the chairs are all spun in different directions, the table is strewn with papers, an errant presentation board is either on its side with pages ripped out or laid across the table as though it were a centerpiece.  There's usually one or two drink cups still there (one on the floor, naturally) and a soda can or two.

And then there's Jon's notebook.  Jon seems to shed these wherever he goes, and everytime I see him, he has another in his hand.  I just keep stacking them up on the console table inside the conference room, in hopes that, someday, he'll need them for something.

In the meantime, routine dictates that I straighten the conference room again, as it appears that our beloved AR staff did extra duty last night, complete with a mutilated presentation board, a miscellaneous notepad, and even an extra chair! 

It makes me laugh because, as far as I know, there weren't enough bodies to fill those chairs when I left last night.  You see, I come into the office, work eight hours, and go home.  That means that if I come in at 8am, I leave at 4pm.  Naturally, that means that the office is still full-up with the gents and they're still working hard, as they usually come in around 9am or 10am.

So either our staffers were having a wild party of musical chairs in epic proportions, or I missed meeting someone last night (dangit!).  The world may never know...

I broke my kneecaps when I was 16, playing volleyball on a hardwood floor without pads.  I dove for the ball, landed wrong, and that was the end of that star career.  In hindsight, probably not the best idea to play without kneepads.  On the bright side, however, now I can always tell when it's about to rain, because it feels like someone is repeatedly jabbing my knees with needles when the Barometric pressure drops.  Yep, that's right, just like a granny.

I knew two days ago that it was going to rain.  And no, that's not just the Seattlite in me, not a lucky guess (I mean, when DOESN'T it rain in Seattle?).  August is well-known for being the best month all year in Seattle proper, with high temperatures, warm sunshine, and not a cloud in sight.

So when I woke up this morning to grey skies and a strong wind slapping the ugly, uniform miniblinds around, I was hardly surprised.   Today is going to be one of those long, bluesy Mondays here in at AR HQ.  Bob's on vacation all week, Jon's going to be insanely busy with meetings, Yi, Glin, and Aaron tend to stick to their own territories, and I may or may not see Jerry.

On top of it, judging by the angry black sky, I'm guessing we're in for thunderstorms.  It may not rain more than a sprinkle, but there will be lightning.  I wonder if Barometric pressure affects headaches...  I haven't slept well the past few nights because it's been so blindingly hot, and I woke up this morning with a migraine; everything's too loud, too bright, too much.

With any luck, the office will stay quiet.  Thankfully, the admin side of the office won some major victories for AR and my to-do list slimmed admirably.  This week, it's all about clearing out the priorities.  With Jon busy in meetings and Bob MIA, I'm hoping to knock this to-do list out of the park!

But for now, I think I'll put some John Campbell, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or Kenny Wayne Shepherd on.  Monday morning blues...

Scene: Me, at a "CEO Dinner" in Bellevue on Wednesday evening talking with two world-reknowned experts: the founder of the second-largest domain name registrar, and a very well-known CEO who founded many successful companies in the domain and hosting space.

Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "I have a question about reselling domains; You guys both seem to know a lot about domains names."

Them (in unison): "*slight chuckle* Yeah."

me: *Silently realizing the credentials of who I was talking to, as though I had just asked Bill Gates for help with a computer problem I was having.*

Apparently, I set off the alarm this morning in the office and didn't realize that I had.  The ironic part is that the building management guy came over to ask about ants and cars in the parking lot, but said nothing about an alarm going off.  I typed in the code! Isn't that supposed to stop it? Grr.  At least the policemen are nice.  Note to self...move faster.

Anyway.... A new meme has surfaced, and I am passing it on.

The "Cheaper than Therapy" Meme

I am...easily distracted, like a ferret.
I think...everything happens for a reason.
I can...enjoy even the most boring task.
I want...my debts paid off.
I have...a wonderful guy that I'm interested in keeping around.
I wish...more people realized their blessings every morning.
I hate...spinach. It's really bitter and makes my mouth twist up.
I miss...being able to go to the Islands whenever I want.
I fear…big, hairy spiders, and Bob scaring me in the morning.
I feel...at peace, for once in my life.
I hear...a really bad pop song on the radio.
I smell...the mocha sitting on my desk.
I search...for sleep.  Constantly.  Stupid insomnia.
I wonder...in what other ways AR will benefit my career and my writing.
I regret...never being extroverted enough to make those lasting relationships in school.
I love...my kitties to DEATH.
I care...for little kids when they're hurt or sad.
I always...have eight fires to put out, and I love every minute.
I am not...going to buy new sandles this season.
I believe...that everyone wants peace, but has different opinions on how to achieve it.
I dance...when no one's looking, while loading the dishwasher. LoL!
I sing...in the car, with the windows rolled down.
I don't always...wash an apple before I eat it.  I tend to trust the fruit tenders.
I write...the first thing that's on my mind.
I win...people over as a matter of pride after they've gained the wrong impression about me.
I lose...my temper when I'm tired.
I never...trust a person until I know "their people".
I listen...to multiple people at once.
I can usually be found...with a laptop in my lap, typing away.
I'm scared of...loving anyone.
I read…(right now) home decor books.
I forget...to eat every now and again because I'm worried about feeding others first.
I just...shook a patrol man's hand, turned bright red, and stuttered a lame apology for my incompetence.
I am happy about...it being Friday.  FRIDAY IS THE BESTEST DAY EVUH!

I'm tagging the last five people who commented to this blog:

1.  Richard McCord for his comment on Be Vewwy, Vewwy Quiet

2.  Deb Brooks for her comment on Feeding the Troops

3.  Brad Andersohn for his comment on It's Friday, Do you Know Where your AR Staff Is?

4.  Miriam Martir for her comment on Feeding the Troops

5.  Kevin McGourty for his comment on Feeding the Troops