I love the fact that there are always two kids of everything in the world... the binary system is so neat and orderly.
There are two kinds of grammarians: the prescriptivists and the descriptivists. The prescriptivists lay down the rules, then want other people to follow them. When someone splits an infinitive, for example, or ends a sentence with a preposition, the prescriptivists get very upset.
I fall into this category most of the time. As an editor, I spend a lot of time putting commas in their correct places and mediating subject-verb disagreements.
Descriptivists, by comparison, say that language is whatever it is that people talk and write. That language changes, and it changes all the time. And different groups speak slightly different languages, and as they move between groups, people will change their speaking and writing patterns -- just as they would, say, change their workout clothes for a business suit.
If you were to pick any two language points on the planet, it is possible to move from sub-group to sub-group until you're no longer speaking one language, and speaking another. (Before mass media, this was even more pronounced -- every village would have its own language, an amalgamation of the languages spoken by surrounding villages, plus their own unique take. Now some of the border languages are dying out. Sad.)
When I'm not an editor, I'm a language relativist. Obviously, at work, I think that AP Style is the be-all and end-all of existence. But, off duty, I don't believe it has any intrinsic superiority over, say, the slang spoken by rap artists or the various creole languages created by immigrant groups.
I believe the purpose of language -- as the purpose of fashion -- is not just communication but also group affiliation. This is why words that communicate perfectly well -- like "ain't" -- are so soundly condemned (by, say, rich people): they signify affiliation with an enemy tribe (for instance, poor people).
Now, plenty of educated, rich people split infinitives and end sentences with prepositions. So I'm siding with the descriptivists here, and saying, "Let them split!"
But there is one line over which I will not step -- I mean, there's one line that I won't step over -- "between you and I" will never replace "between you and me" to me.
In politics and leadership there are prescriptivists and descriptivists as well.
The former group lays out the theories and the rules, and sticks to the theories even as things go to pot. And when they go to pot -- as they are wont to do -- they blame not the theories but the people.
Descriptivists, by comparison, are natural populists. They can tell what the people want, what the people need, and get out ahead of the crowd. They are often derided for not having the courage of their convictions. But they do have courage, of a different sort: the courage to say that they are wrong, that times call for different measures.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and today's current financial meltdowns are both examples of what happens when leaders follow their convictions, their ideals, their political and market theories even as they depart further and further from reality. And, at some point, all theories start to depart from reality.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I love my work -- do my employees?
My theory is, in China, the higher up you are the less work you do -- poor people on farms, in mines work the hardest.
If you're unemployed you scramble the hardest to feed yourself and family.
In the US and Europe, the poorest people don't work at all, get subsidies, the highest-paid people work super hard. I'm not saying that they do their jobs well -- just that they work a lot of hours.
In rich countries, work becomes its own reward -- a symbol of success and status. People complain about how many hours they work -- but, really, they're just bragging.
In China, I think, there's still the sense that people have to be forced to work, that it's low-status and demeaning.
In my office, my Chinese managers occasionally ask me why we don't fine employees for coming in late, not writing enough, stories, and so on.
Apparently, this is a common practice in Chinese companies (and in foreign ones here, too: see "Ghastly" conditions at HP, MS, Lenovo factories).
At first, I didn't understand this. What kind of horrible employer would dock employee pay for minor infractions? Safety violations, maybe, where the employees' own lives were at stake. And if you're an hourly employee then sure, you lose pay when you clock in late. You don't lose a day's pay -- you just lose the hour you're late. It's commensurate, not punitive.
I believe it will take time to change these attitudes but, most importantly, it will take the creation of a real safety net. Ironically China, even though a technically still a communist country, doesn't have many of the protections we take for granted in the US and Europe. There are no wholescale welfare support systems for the disabled, the sick, the elderly, the very young, the unemployed, or the very poor.
One of my European friends here said last week that his highest goal was to have influence. That's a pretty active goal. He wants to change things, to make an impact, and to be in a position where he can do this. Maybe the CEO or a VP of a company, he said. (I believe he's already reached this point -- but that's neither here nor there.)
In China -- especially with the older generation -- it seems that the main driver is respect. Not the Aretha Franklin R-E-S-P-E-C-T kind of respect, but the Godfather kind of respect, where people come and pay you obeisance. Or give you bribes, if you will. And you wave a little finger, and flunkies rush around to do your bidding. It's a passive kind of goal.
I think it's changing. The younger generation, which has grown up with shows like Friends, is starting to embrace the idea that interesting work is its own reward, and is even worth a loss of status -- think of Chandler quitting his accounting job and taking an unpaid marketing internship.
In the west, people routinely take time off to follow their dreams. To write their novel, to travel, to start a business. As a general rule, they are admired for their bravery and respected for their passion. And people envy the fact that they're getting to do something that they love.
I have a hard time seeing a senior Chinese executive taking a year off to, say, try to make a go of it as a short story writer.
An American executive would have no problem doing that, and would probably blog or write a book about how he was able to connect with his inner self and forge renewed bonds with his family and friends. And his dog.
Until that happens, I'll have to find new ways of motivating Chinese employees. The status, say, of having their names in print in US publications. Or good old money.
If you're unemployed you scramble the hardest to feed yourself and family.
In the US and Europe, the poorest people don't work at all, get subsidies, the highest-paid people work super hard. I'm not saying that they do their jobs well -- just that they work a lot of hours.
In rich countries, work becomes its own reward -- a symbol of success and status. People complain about how many hours they work -- but, really, they're just bragging.
In China, I think, there's still the sense that people have to be forced to work, that it's low-status and demeaning.
In my office, my Chinese managers occasionally ask me why we don't fine employees for coming in late, not writing enough, stories, and so on.
Apparently, this is a common practice in Chinese companies (and in foreign ones here, too: see "Ghastly" conditions at HP, MS, Lenovo factories).
At first, I didn't understand this. What kind of horrible employer would dock employee pay for minor infractions? Safety violations, maybe, where the employees' own lives were at stake. And if you're an hourly employee then sure, you lose pay when you clock in late. You don't lose a day's pay -- you just lose the hour you're late. It's commensurate, not punitive.
I believe it will take time to change these attitudes but, most importantly, it will take the creation of a real safety net. Ironically China, even though a technically still a communist country, doesn't have many of the protections we take for granted in the US and Europe. There are no wholescale welfare support systems for the disabled, the sick, the elderly, the very young, the unemployed, or the very poor.
One of my European friends here said last week that his highest goal was to have influence. That's a pretty active goal. He wants to change things, to make an impact, and to be in a position where he can do this. Maybe the CEO or a VP of a company, he said. (I believe he's already reached this point -- but that's neither here nor there.)
In China -- especially with the older generation -- it seems that the main driver is respect. Not the Aretha Franklin R-E-S-P-E-C-T kind of respect, but the Godfather kind of respect, where people come and pay you obeisance. Or give you bribes, if you will. And you wave a little finger, and flunkies rush around to do your bidding. It's a passive kind of goal.
I think it's changing. The younger generation, which has grown up with shows like Friends, is starting to embrace the idea that interesting work is its own reward, and is even worth a loss of status -- think of Chandler quitting his accounting job and taking an unpaid marketing internship.
In the west, people routinely take time off to follow their dreams. To write their novel, to travel, to start a business. As a general rule, they are admired for their bravery and respected for their passion. And people envy the fact that they're getting to do something that they love.
I have a hard time seeing a senior Chinese executive taking a year off to, say, try to make a go of it as a short story writer.
An American executive would have no problem doing that, and would probably blog or write a book about how he was able to connect with his inner self and forge renewed bonds with his family and friends. And his dog.
Until that happens, I'll have to find new ways of motivating Chinese employees. The status, say, of having their names in print in US publications. Or good old money.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The new scarcity: valuable work
In the past, wars were fought over resources. The definition of power was the ability to collect a great deal of physical wealth -- land, gold, slaves -- and order people to work on your behalf to get you more.
Two rulers would go to war and the winner would have more of everything at the end.
It started to change a few hundred years ago as the colonialization period was coming to its end. Some wars began to be fought for access to markets, not access to goods. Instead of taking stuff away from others and forcing them to work, rulers wanted to give stuff away (in return for money which, is, basically, an IOU) and to have their own people work.
Today, most wars are over markets, not resources. The US occupied Iraq -- but handed the oil fields back to the Iraqis. The main US beneficiaries of the war were defense contractors, who got the chance to work.
The most powerful, influential people I know -- Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, the guys at Google -- aren't known for their hoards of physical goods or armies of servants taking care of their every personal need. Sure, they may have these things but nobody would care, or, worse, laugh at them.
They do create interesting and popular products but there are plenty of people out there who who make things that everybody plays with -- Rubic's Cube, anyone? -- without getting the same degree of respect.
I would argue that the respect comes more from these guys' ability to create valuable jobs for large numbers of people.
Valuable to society, in the sense that society is willing to pay for their work.
And valuable to the employees themselves, as the jobs are challenging and interesting.
As birthrates continue to fall across the world, as expanded industrialization drives prices for commodity goods lower and lower, and as the market for virtual goods such as music and movies, as well as goods that exist only in virtual worlds, continues to expand there will come a time when everyone has everything that they need.
Even today, in some western countries, a person can opt out of the rat race, through age, disability or emotional problem or simply a well-crafted excuse and live on government subsidies. Their standard of living may be lower than average as a result, but the payments are usually enough to cover basic needs. I have relatives and friends in the United States who live on government pensions or disability paychecks and live better than royalty did a couple of hundred years ago.
After all, they enjoy modern conveniences -- hot and cold running water, electricity, television, radio -- that weren't even available a hundred years ago. Their health care needs are covered. They can lie on their couch. Pick up the phone any time and order takeout. And watch TV.
A couple of hundred years ago, only the nobility could afford to lie around, have food brought to them, and be continually entertained.
It was the pinnacle of existence.
Today, in most civilized countries, it's the bottom.
I know some people who do little if anything to support themselves and spend their time drinking, flirting, watching television, playing around with hobbies to pass the time.
A few centuries ago, they would have been considered the luckiest people in the world. Today, they're lazy bums.
In the past, workers would riot and rise up when they were forced to work too much by their overlords. Today, workers riot because they don't have enough jobs.
Jobs are today the only real scarce resource. The men and women who are able to create jobs are the new heroes.
We're already starting to see situations where people are competing to work for free: internships at high-profile media companies and in politics pay little or nothing at all, and can be extremely competitive. And freelance writers are often paid in copies of the magazines for which they write, and, on occasion, are asked to buy a minimum number of issues.
There are also places where people actually pay to work. For example, you can have a working "vacation" on an archeological dig, or a family farm, or in some non-profits.
There are companies that charge students significant amounts of money to place them into internships in China.
This is a very new phenomenon, but as the basic standard of living continues to rise (temporary economic blips notwithstanding) -- and there's only so many physical things that you can buy before you run out of storage (and of time to play with them) -- then we might start seeing even more of these "paycations"? Reverse jobs? Fee-based internships? Trial careers?
I like that last one. Trial career.
For example:
BE A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT FOR ONE, TWO, OR THREE MONTHS!
For just $1,990 a month, you too can be a foreign correspondent! You get your correspondents' visa, ten hours a week of intensive Chinese language lessons, and actual reporting assignments in China. Our bureau chief will help you come up with story assignments, find sources, and organize the story. Our copyeditors will get your story ready for publication. And your byline will appear in magazines in China and around the world: you will be an actual foreign correspondent.
In your downtime, you will be encouraged to enjoy the many perks of being a foreign correspondent, such as the ability to drink, unembarrassed, in bars and pubs around town. You will be able to ask total strangers deep, penetrating questions.
Journalist visa, lodging and language classes included. Transportation extra.
No foreign language skills necessary! Reporting experience helpful but not required.
Two rulers would go to war and the winner would have more of everything at the end.
It started to change a few hundred years ago as the colonialization period was coming to its end. Some wars began to be fought for access to markets, not access to goods. Instead of taking stuff away from others and forcing them to work, rulers wanted to give stuff away (in return for money which, is, basically, an IOU) and to have their own people work.
Today, most wars are over markets, not resources. The US occupied Iraq -- but handed the oil fields back to the Iraqis. The main US beneficiaries of the war were defense contractors, who got the chance to work.
The most powerful, influential people I know -- Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, the guys at Google -- aren't known for their hoards of physical goods or armies of servants taking care of their every personal need. Sure, they may have these things but nobody would care, or, worse, laugh at them.
They do create interesting and popular products but there are plenty of people out there who who make things that everybody plays with -- Rubic's Cube, anyone? -- without getting the same degree of respect.
I would argue that the respect comes more from these guys' ability to create valuable jobs for large numbers of people.
Valuable to society, in the sense that society is willing to pay for their work.
And valuable to the employees themselves, as the jobs are challenging and interesting.
As birthrates continue to fall across the world, as expanded industrialization drives prices for commodity goods lower and lower, and as the market for virtual goods such as music and movies, as well as goods that exist only in virtual worlds, continues to expand there will come a time when everyone has everything that they need.
Even today, in some western countries, a person can opt out of the rat race, through age, disability or emotional problem or simply a well-crafted excuse and live on government subsidies. Their standard of living may be lower than average as a result, but the payments are usually enough to cover basic needs. I have relatives and friends in the United States who live on government pensions or disability paychecks and live better than royalty did a couple of hundred years ago.
After all, they enjoy modern conveniences -- hot and cold running water, electricity, television, radio -- that weren't even available a hundred years ago. Their health care needs are covered. They can lie on their couch. Pick up the phone any time and order takeout. And watch TV.
A couple of hundred years ago, only the nobility could afford to lie around, have food brought to them, and be continually entertained.
It was the pinnacle of existence.
Today, in most civilized countries, it's the bottom.
I know some people who do little if anything to support themselves and spend their time drinking, flirting, watching television, playing around with hobbies to pass the time.
A few centuries ago, they would have been considered the luckiest people in the world. Today, they're lazy bums.
In the past, workers would riot and rise up when they were forced to work too much by their overlords. Today, workers riot because they don't have enough jobs.
Jobs are today the only real scarce resource. The men and women who are able to create jobs are the new heroes.
We're already starting to see situations where people are competing to work for free: internships at high-profile media companies and in politics pay little or nothing at all, and can be extremely competitive. And freelance writers are often paid in copies of the magazines for which they write, and, on occasion, are asked to buy a minimum number of issues.
There are also places where people actually pay to work. For example, you can have a working "vacation" on an archeological dig, or a family farm, or in some non-profits.
There are companies that charge students significant amounts of money to place them into internships in China.
This is a very new phenomenon, but as the basic standard of living continues to rise (temporary economic blips notwithstanding) -- and there's only so many physical things that you can buy before you run out of storage (and of time to play with them) -- then we might start seeing even more of these "paycations"? Reverse jobs? Fee-based internships? Trial careers?
I like that last one. Trial career.
For example:
BE A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT FOR ONE, TWO, OR THREE MONTHS!
For just $1,990 a month, you too can be a foreign correspondent! You get your correspondents' visa, ten hours a week of intensive Chinese language lessons, and actual reporting assignments in China. Our bureau chief will help you come up with story assignments, find sources, and organize the story. Our copyeditors will get your story ready for publication. And your byline will appear in magazines in China and around the world: you will be an actual foreign correspondent.
In your downtime, you will be encouraged to enjoy the many perks of being a foreign correspondent, such as the ability to drink, unembarrassed, in bars and pubs around town. You will be able to ask total strangers deep, penetrating questions.
Journalist visa, lodging and language classes included. Transportation extra.
No foreign language skills necessary! Reporting experience helpful but not required.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A walk down the fake DVD lane
Back in the old days ... 2004 ... we had to buy our foreign-language books in hotel shops -- and had as many as five different novels to choose from, if we were lucky, right next to the tour guides and "Your first 1,000 Chinese characters" and "Chinese in 1 million easy lessons."
There were fake DVD shops on every street corner, but they all usually had the same dozen or so foreign movies, and half the disks didn't work. Foreigners in the know went to the Ka De Club, located on a succession of small side streets.
Its location was a closely-held secret, passed around by word of mouth. You would walk through a bland doorway into a small dingy room with an old TV set, a tiny middle-aged woman eating noodles, and a shelf of dusty Chinese DVDs. She would stare at you blankly until you said "Ka De Club?" Immediately, someone would appear to whisk you out the back, down a dark hallway, and into a new room -- brightly lit, packed solid with foreigners, with shelves lining the walls filled with all the latest movie and TV releases, music CDs, and tables stacked with thick binders in which you could find almost every classic movie that Hollywood -- or Europe -- ever made. You'd flip through the books -- each page full of movie covers -- and write down the code numbers. Then staffers would disappear with your list and return with your stack of DVDs. There were little piles of scrap paper and pencils on each table.
The DVDs were pricey -- 10 yuan each -- but the Ka De Club had a fantastic return policy. No receipt, no problem. In my experience, they would gladly refund the money or replace the DVD, no questions asked. Well, not my experience personally, of course, but in the experience of certain friends with much looser morals than mine.
But for the most part, all the DVDs worked. And when a particular DVD was known to be bad -- for example, a movie that just came out and was only available in a lousy camcorder version -- the staff would warn you about it.
For the record, I was horrified -- horrified! -- to learn that there was fake DVD selling at Ka De Club and followed the store from location to location for entertainment purposes only, and not to support the piracy industry in any way.
At one point, Ka De Club landed on Dagu Lu, a short stretch of street parallel to Yanan Lu, one block north, running one way from Chengdu Lu (with the north-south elevated highway) to Ruijin Lu No. 1.
This was vastly more convenient than other locations -- I could walk there from my apartment. So could a lot of other people. And at this point, it seems, the authorities stopped caring. The store was wide open -- no back hallways, no secret codes.
Eventually, Ka De Club moved again, but this time I didn't follow it to its new location. Ka De Club was replaced on Dagu Lu with Movie World and, directly across the street, Even Better Than Movie World! -- the two surrounded by an Indian restaurant, a Middle Eastern place, a gay and lesbian bar, and cafes. The selection was almost as good as Ka De Club, and the prices were lower -- just 8 yuan per disk. (From what I hear.) And with all the cafes and restaurants, it was a good place to hang out for an afternoon.
Today, I returned to Dagu Lu, walking over from the Cantina Agave on the corner of Changle Lu and Fumin Lu (the salsas tasted a bit funny, and the atmosphere so-so, but a step up from Taco Popo at any rate).
Ka De Club was back! Now, with a fancy new "Le" in front of its name. And it was huge. It had replaced the Movie World that was there before -- but Even Better Than Movie World! was still across the street, and joined by Big Movie and Movie Planet (I might have the name of this last one wrong). So now there four -- four! -- giant DVD shops, starting to look like those big book warehouse stores in the States like Borders and Barnes & Noble. New releases. Old releases. TV shows. Music. I even saw pirated books. Everything arranged nicely on shelves, covers out, easy to browse.
But for some reason they were all missing Mythbusters, my son's favorite TV show.
Ech store had a computerized catalog at or near the checkout counter, so it was easy for the clerks to check. And the prices -- just 7 yuan for a standard DVD. Sure, still higher than the street-side vendors. But there's a certain indescribable joy in being able to walk up and down aisles full of big, bright DVD collections and know that you can buy any of them -- or all of them -- depending on how much you can carry. The entire Friends collection? Forty DVDs -- less than 300 yuan. Compare that to the list price of $300 on Amazon (and even on sale it's $170).
I might be tempted -- except I've already switched to watching all my TV on surfthechannel.com.
There were fake DVD shops on every street corner, but they all usually had the same dozen or so foreign movies, and half the disks didn't work. Foreigners in the know went to the Ka De Club, located on a succession of small side streets.
Its location was a closely-held secret, passed around by word of mouth. You would walk through a bland doorway into a small dingy room with an old TV set, a tiny middle-aged woman eating noodles, and a shelf of dusty Chinese DVDs. She would stare at you blankly until you said "Ka De Club?" Immediately, someone would appear to whisk you out the back, down a dark hallway, and into a new room -- brightly lit, packed solid with foreigners, with shelves lining the walls filled with all the latest movie and TV releases, music CDs, and tables stacked with thick binders in which you could find almost every classic movie that Hollywood -- or Europe -- ever made. You'd flip through the books -- each page full of movie covers -- and write down the code numbers. Then staffers would disappear with your list and return with your stack of DVDs. There were little piles of scrap paper and pencils on each table.
The DVDs were pricey -- 10 yuan each -- but the Ka De Club had a fantastic return policy. No receipt, no problem. In my experience, they would gladly refund the money or replace the DVD, no questions asked. Well, not my experience personally, of course, but in the experience of certain friends with much looser morals than mine.
But for the most part, all the DVDs worked. And when a particular DVD was known to be bad -- for example, a movie that just came out and was only available in a lousy camcorder version -- the staff would warn you about it.
For the record, I was horrified -- horrified! -- to learn that there was fake DVD selling at Ka De Club and followed the store from location to location for entertainment purposes only, and not to support the piracy industry in any way.
At one point, Ka De Club landed on Dagu Lu, a short stretch of street parallel to Yanan Lu, one block north, running one way from Chengdu Lu (with the north-south elevated highway) to Ruijin Lu No. 1.
This was vastly more convenient than other locations -- I could walk there from my apartment. So could a lot of other people. And at this point, it seems, the authorities stopped caring. The store was wide open -- no back hallways, no secret codes.
Eventually, Ka De Club moved again, but this time I didn't follow it to its new location. Ka De Club was replaced on Dagu Lu with Movie World and, directly across the street, Even Better Than Movie World! -- the two surrounded by an Indian restaurant, a Middle Eastern place, a gay and lesbian bar, and cafes. The selection was almost as good as Ka De Club, and the prices were lower -- just 8 yuan per disk. (From what I hear.) And with all the cafes and restaurants, it was a good place to hang out for an afternoon.
Today, I returned to Dagu Lu, walking over from the Cantina Agave on the corner of Changle Lu and Fumin Lu (the salsas tasted a bit funny, and the atmosphere so-so, but a step up from Taco Popo at any rate).
Ka De Club was back! Now, with a fancy new "Le" in front of its name. And it was huge. It had replaced the Movie World that was there before -- but Even Better Than Movie World! was still across the street, and joined by Big Movie and Movie Planet (I might have the name of this last one wrong). So now there four -- four! -- giant DVD shops, starting to look like those big book warehouse stores in the States like Borders and Barnes & Noble. New releases. Old releases. TV shows. Music. I even saw pirated books. Everything arranged nicely on shelves, covers out, easy to browse.
But for some reason they were all missing Mythbusters, my son's favorite TV show.
Ech store had a computerized catalog at or near the checkout counter, so it was easy for the clerks to check. And the prices -- just 7 yuan for a standard DVD. Sure, still higher than the street-side vendors. But there's a certain indescribable joy in being able to walk up and down aisles full of big, bright DVD collections and know that you can buy any of them -- or all of them -- depending on how much you can carry. The entire Friends collection? Forty DVDs -- less than 300 yuan. Compare that to the list price of $300 on Amazon (and even on sale it's $170).
I might be tempted -- except I've already switched to watching all my TV on surfthechannel.com.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Rebranding
A Massachusetts court signed off on my divorce last week - after about three years of separation in which my ex and I weren't in the States long enough at the same time to get it done.
This means that, on January 30, I officially become Maria Victoria Korolov again. And I am never changing my name again -- in the new Internet age, its becoming harder and harder to maintain a consistent identity if you keep changing names, email addresses, Twitter accounts....
There's probably a way to cross-post to both Twitter accounts... maybe through FriendFeed or Facebook.
My personal email address is now maria@korolov.com, but I'll probably continue to maintain the old one -- maria@trombly.com -- for the indefinite future. In any case, both are simply forwarded to my company account, maria@tromblyltd.com. A bit of advice for married female entrepreneurs -- think twice before naming your company using your husband's last name!
But it works out, irony is conserved, since my ex took my maiden name as his middle name when we got married, and now its too much of a hassle to change it back, so he's stuck with Korolov.
Meanwhile, I've already set up the Korolov Group as a separate US entity affiliated with Trombly Ltd. by virtue of the fact that I own both of them, to handle the US side of operations.
I've got the korolov.com domain as well -- if there are any other Korolovs out there who want to have a @korolov.com email address, just let me know, and I'll set it up. The email for the domain is hosted by Google, so it only takes a couple of seconds to do, and there's no additional cost for me.
This means that, on January 30, I officially become Maria Victoria Korolov again. And I am never changing my name again -- in the new Internet age, its becoming harder and harder to maintain a consistent identity if you keep changing names, email addresses, Twitter accounts....
There's probably a way to cross-post to both Twitter accounts... maybe through FriendFeed or Facebook.
My personal email address is now maria@korolov.com, but I'll probably continue to maintain the old one -- maria@trombly.com -- for the indefinite future. In any case, both are simply forwarded to my company account, maria@tromblyltd.com. A bit of advice for married female entrepreneurs -- think twice before naming your company using your husband's last name!
But it works out, irony is conserved, since my ex took my maiden name as his middle name when we got married, and now its too much of a hassle to change it back, so he's stuck with Korolov.
Meanwhile, I've already set up the Korolov Group as a separate US entity affiliated with Trombly Ltd. by virtue of the fact that I own both of them, to handle the US side of operations.
I've got the korolov.com domain as well -- if there are any other Korolovs out there who want to have a @korolov.com email address, just let me know, and I'll set it up. The email for the domain is hosted by Google, so it only takes a couple of seconds to do, and there's no additional cost for me.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Finally -- email inbox success
I've finally found a system that works for keeping my inbox at a manageable size (one screen or less), a variation of the GTD system.
Step 1: Do I need to respond to this email?
For example, in my inbox is a reminder from my business manager to call the consulate and check on my visa. There's no particular time I need to do this, but I do need to take care of it in the next couple of days. Once I do, I'll archive that email.
Another email is a draft of a story from one of my writers, and I need to go through it and get my questions back to her within two days. I don't have to do it right now, but I might work on that later tonight.
Hey -- I just took care of another email, by deciding not to do anything about it.
Down to ... drumroll, please ... seven emails!
Life is good.
Step 1: Do I need to respond to this email?
Many emails are sent to me for my reference -- or are spam. If they're spam, I lick Gmail's spam button and they go away. If they're reference, I click on the "archive" button. I don't bother about labeling reference emails -- I can always find them later by searching by keyword or date.Step 2: Can I take care of an email quickly?
Many emails just need to be forwarded to the appropriate person, or briefly acknowledged and archived.Step 3: Can I take care of this email as one of the group?
Some require me to do something at a particular time in the future -- to conduct an interview, for example, or write a story. All this requires is a calendar entry, an acknowledgement email, and, if necessary, an addition to the workflow database.
With some emails, it's easier to take care of many at once rather than do them one at a time. For example, when I receive a business-related invoice, I need to print it, add it to my accounting database, and file it away. Doing this one at a time is a pain, so I save them up and do them all at once.Almost all my emails fall into one of these three groups. The rest usually have to do with stories I'm currently working on, and may require a little bit of thought, or some hard work.
For these emails, I set up a label -- "Print and file" or "Add to Website" or "Pay" -- and then archive them. When I'm ready to print -- or work on the website, or pay bills -- I open that folder, handle these emails one right after another, and then take off the label to get them off the to-do schedule.
To keep myself reminded of them, I also mark them "unread" -- that way they show up nicely when I'm checking my email, a regular reminder that I've got tasks to do in these categories when I'm ready for them.
For example, in my inbox is a reminder from my business manager to call the consulate and check on my visa. There's no particular time I need to do this, but I do need to take care of it in the next couple of days. Once I do, I'll archive that email.
Another email is a draft of a story from one of my writers, and I need to go through it and get my questions back to her within two days. I don't have to do it right now, but I might work on that later tonight.
Hey -- I just took care of another email, by deciding not to do anything about it.
Down to ... drumroll, please ... seven emails!
Life is good.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
More on WordPress -- it's starting to look pretty ... pretty
I checked out SquareSpace -- nice web interface, but seems a little lacking in functionality.
Then Ottawa-based web guy Gesman pointed me to a WordPress design site specifically for magazines and news organizations.
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for - thanks, Gesman!
The designs are gorgeous and don't look like blogs at all. I particularly love the way the categories are organized on the front page.
Then Ottawa-based web guy Gesman pointed me to a WordPress design site specifically for magazines and news organizations.
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for - thanks, Gesman!
The designs are gorgeous and don't look like blogs at all. I particularly love the way the categories are organized on the front page.
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