Today’s my last full day at PCMag, after working there for five and a half years. It was my first (paying) job in the media, and my boss, Vicki, was the one that hired me. And, incredibly unusual for a media company, our PCMag.com team has changed very little in the past five years–most of the people on the PCMag.com online team were there when I started, or were hired soon after. I think that’s a real testament to quality of the workplace and the quality of the work the team does.
As with any group of people that have spent so much time together, we’ve built some tight bonds and our own culture, which I’ll really miss. I’m leaving PCMag of my own volition, but it’s still going to be hard to leave the friends and the job behind. So I thought I’d make a list of all the things I’ll miss about the place. It’s mostly for myself, but also so the people I’ve worked with will know how I feel upon leaving. Here’s the list:
The Lunchtime Music Jams
Almost every day, a group of us eat lunch in my office and listen to music on GrooveShark.com. We choose a theme each day, and go around the circle picking songs that fit with the theme. We have the snobbiest of indie music snobs (Brian) and the poppiest of American Idol fans (Jen), so the playlist we create is bizarre and delightful. It’s like a midday party every day!
The Creative Mischief
Creative people have fun in creative ways, and I’ll never forget the pranks and games we played in our downtime. Office laser-tag wars. An office filled to the ceiling with balloons. A 50X-scale recreation of the PCMag.com homepage on Vicki’s office wall. Epic Rock Band and Karaoke nights. The Battle of Hello Kitty vs. Bobblehead Michael Miller. The many, many one-joke websites we launched. The mischievous idea that morphed into a full-blown podcast with thousands of listeners (oops!)
The Toys
We are literally surrounded by toys in the office, and encouraged to play with them. We have PR people emailing us, begging us to accept new toys to play with. That’s quite a nice situation to be in.
The Smart People
Top to bottom, PCMag is full of smart people. Those analysts in the PCMag Labs know everything, and it’s fun to associate with guys like that. And of course I’ll miss the intelligent, fun editorial and production teams.
The Nerds
Seriously, PCMag has some NERDS. You think I’m a nerd? Get Brian Heater, Eric Griffith, and Whitney Reynolds together–it’s like they’re speaking a different language (probably some mixture of Klingon, high-elvish, and parseltongue).
The Creative Freedom
Vicki has always left me to my own devices, to a large extent. When I wanted to launch a software blog (AppScout), she and Jim Louderback both encouraged it and facilitated it. When I wanted to write a fun story or review a cool new game or attend a nerdy tech conference, she’s always given me the green light. And she was very supportive of the PCMag After Hours podcast, even when it became more like PCMag Workday Hours. That kind of freedom at a workplace is rare, and I’ll miss it very much.
The Grammar Fights
Words cannot express how much fun it is to have it out with co-workers over grammar and usage. Hashing out the perfect wording of headlines might actually be my No. 1 favorite workplace activity, and I love that there are plenty of other people at PCMag who feel the same way. I hope my successor discovers the trove of good headlines that is Whitney Reynolds (she’s not technically an editor, but more than once I’ve given her dull headlines or dreary copy which she miraculously made fun and interesting).
The News
It’s fun working in the media. You get to meet interesting people and always be in the know on the cool tech stuff that’s happening. I love the churn of the daily news cycle, and though I wouldn’t call myself a *real journalist*, it’s been fun to participate in the news world in the limited capacity that I did.
The Events
Even more than the daily news grind, I’m going to miss covering events. I’m seriously going to be depressed come early January when half the world is in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s stressful, it’s exhausting, and I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite four days of the whole year.
Web Surfing
Facebook? Twitter? Digg? It was my job to check them regularly/obsessively. :-)
I’ve only highlighted the fun stuff, of course. Here’s my list of things I didn’t like about PCMag:
Just kidding. I’m not blogging about that.
