Ah, MPOW, I hardly knew ye…

This Friday is my last day of work at my current job and I’m galloping through an assignment… well, it’s more like gallop, canter, stop and stare; gallop, canter, stop and stare.

Anyone following my job moves since we left California is likely getting whiplash at this point. She’s interim head of systems at an ARL! No, she’s freelancing as a writer/presenter! No, she’s writing internal reports for a statewide network! No, she’s the soon-to-be Community Librarian for an open-source software company!

I spent five years at the same job in California, and could have done it a couple more years, except Sandy found work here and it was definitely her turn. Since then things have been a bit more up-and-down. But I’ve spend close to a year in a very nice organization I will sincerely miss, filled with nice, smart people who are the cream of the crop of LibraryLand.

Best things about this job, from a workabee point of view:

Average IQ of its employees. (High, just to be clear.) It’s nice to work with smart people.

Average diplomacy skills of said employees. A friend commented that their Place Of Work was filled with people who are rude. People here are overwhelmingly not rude to one another. I once observed to a friend that it is far easier to take a group of nice people and guide them in an area they need to grow in than it is to take a group of mean people and make them nice.

Humane working conditions. Offices and cubicles are pleasant — not fancy, but not pre-Glasnost-drab, the way some libraries are. Staff technology needs are supported well. When I’ve had technical issues, someone shows up and helps me and checks back to make sure it works. When I said I had trouble syncing my Curve, nobody pulled out a union card and shouted “We don’t support Blackberry!” Instead, the support folk came in while I was gone and upgraded my client software.

Humane leisure conditions. How many places have I worked where the “staff lounge” reminds me of a juvenile detention center waiting room (and just to be clear, my experience there comes from working for a Juvy)? Here, the staff lounges are comfortable and attractive — a place where people enjoy sharing their breaks and meals, which builds collegiality.

Good travel care. If you travel a lot, you know this can be huge. The travel person here is friendly, caring, and detail-oriented, and doesn’t make me feel like a moron for making errors in the system. Reimbursements — electronic, thank you — are prompt. None of that is an accident. This organization believes in doing travel right.

Bye, ol’ MPOW… you all keep rockin’ on!