I’m indulging my new writing hobby by compiling a collection of personal experiences of WAHM’s, workshifters, web workers, and other telecommuters. I’ve found correspondents through helpareporter.com, as well as Google searches, and met some fascinating folks virtually over the web.
A couple of weeks ago I found graphic artist Dave Bryant’s blog “Grumpy Old Tomcat”. I wrote the following email to Dave to request an interview:
Dave,
I read your "Grumpy Old Tomcat" blog post about telecommuting on livejournal.com, and your background is precisely the kind of human interest story I'm seeking for a book project. I'm a former Bay Area resident (Mountain View and San Jose) who's now living in the Central Valley near Fresno.
I’m compiling a collection of interviews with people who have improved their quality of life by “workshifting”, telecommuting or working remotely.
So far, I’ve interviewed the following people:
Wendy Peck, author
Gwen Gulick, senior marketing communications manager at Harvard Publishing
Meieli Sawyer Detoni, fashion writer
Bruce Curtis, Director of International Development for the World Institute on Disability
Gina Kleinworth, an independent contractor with hirebetter.com.
D'anne Hotchkiss, Public Relations Director for TeraData Corporation
I’m hoping you’ll consent to an interview. Thanks for your time and consideration; I hope to hear from you at your earliest possible convenience.
Dave soon responded:
I don't think I'd be a good candidate: I honestly can't say I've improved my quality of life by going freelance. In fact, right now I'm experiencing the worst poverty of my life, and I have no idea when or whether I'll pull out of it. Moreover, my average annual income since I went freelance is in the range of twenty thousand a year -- in one of the most expensive places in the US -- and this year will pull that average downward noticeably.
I answered:
I'm sorry that you're having a rough time right now.
I wish there was something I could do to help you get more business...
And Dave sent back:
Thanks very much -- I appreciate the concern. If you have any suggestions for advertising that don't require any budget to speak of, I'd welcome them. And, of course, word of mouth can be useful as well. My difficulty isn't in doing the work; my clients are always quite satisfied. The trouble is in finding the clients in the first place.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve wondered periodically how I could help Dave. Having resurrected my custom application TweetieBot, I thought I’d use it to let the good people on Twitter know about him. Here’s his website with contact information and samples.
This is NOT a request for a handout or charity on Dave’s behalf. He seems like an independent, self-reliant sort of chap, the kind of person who’ll do a great job if given the chance. So if you’ve got some print or web graphics work that you need, why not consider requesting a quote from Catspaw Desktop Publishing?
From Dave’s blog:
“…I would like to post my résumé as widely as possible. I’ve done work for businesses across the country, after all, and I would like to be able to reach potential clients everywhere, at least in the US…I need to cast my net more widely than a single region, especially in these trying economic times.
There are other ways of defining communities than spatial proximity; one of the most lauded things about the Internet is its ability to bring people together regardless of distance. After all, isn't that what “telecommuting okay” is supposed to be all about?”
So, consider this a challenge to you, my fellow tweeters; an experiment in doing some social good, in testing the proposition that the Twitter community can be motivated to come to the aid of a hardworking, fellow human being.
Help a Grumpy Old Tomcat out?
