Thanks for Letting Me Join You WebJunction! (Part I)

The Location:
Despite the famous Seattle rain (which has never really seemed as bad as it is made to sound), my recent move back to the Pacific Northwest for my new Community Associate position here at WebJunction has been a joy.  Seattle is home in so many ways and it is difficult to put into words how happy I am to live in this wonderful city.

The Community:
Or course, the reason the job is here is because of you, the library community.  It is beyond exciting to have a part in shaping some of what happens here for us (us being you, me and Libraryland in general).  So can you all do me a favor?  Tell me how you want your community to grow and be shaped!  I’ll get right to work!

The Office:
In addition, there is the distinct pleasure of being able to come and work in such a positive environment with some of the brightest people I know.  Sure, it sounds like I’m buttering up my new coworkers up, but it really is true.  Walking in here sometimes feels like coming to a mini MENSA conference or something.  In fact, I’ve been wondering lately if they weren’t trying to even the IQ quotient a little bit by including me in their big brained office pool.

There’s one guy here, let’s just call him “Dale” that can properly configure any printer manufactured anywhere on the planet in the last 15 years. Without even seeing the printer.  It’s like he wrote all the manuals and then memorized them or something.  Seriously, he’s freaking me out.

Then there’s a lady, oh, let’s call her “Betha”, who seems to have memorized every WebJunction message board post ever submitted ALONG WITH the names of the posters.  And I mean their REAL names too.  We’re not just talking screen names here, people!  No pressure, no pressure!

This could go on and on, but suffice it to say that while there may be a certain amount of hyperbole in the two previous paragraphs, the folks here are amazing and care a great deal about their fine work.

The Motivation:
In addition to being super smart (or at least convincing me they are super smart;) the folks here at WebJunction seem to all have another thing in common: their professional motivation.  Everybody knows that they are using their big brains to accomplish work related to something important, something they believe in.  And they are all working very, very hard.  It’s a very inspiring thing to walk into each morning.

The Verdict?
So what’s the verdict so far?  The folks involved with WJ (this means *you* mostly, but naturally includes that big brained staff I mentioned as well.) are inspiring, motivating and honorable.  There are expectations of my new role here and that makes me feel even better about joining the team on a more involved level.  I hope as time goes by these impressions grow and evolve in the same positive ways I envision our WebJunction community growing and evolving.  It’s a great opportunity, responsibility and quite frankly, a bit of a thrill.

Now, if only I could get my home internet connectivity issues solved.  What’s that?  No Internet connection at home yet, Libraryman?  I know!  It really is an issue.  One I wonder about WJ members struggling with as well.  So my next post (likely tomorrow) will talk a bit about that.  It’s gonna be called…oh, I don’t know, how about:  “What I’ve Learned From Not Having the Internet at Home for Three Weeks. (aka Part II)”.  See you then!

Your New BlogJunction Contributor,

-Michael Porter