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The Home Office
Feb 18th
Posted by Kim in Blackberrys
I believe working from home is the way of the day, age and future. With the world so well connected through wireless, laptops, phones, iPhones, BlackBerrys, BlackBerry Messenger, Instant Messaging, GChat, video chat, Skype and Internet cafes, connecting with a colleague or client has never been more convenient.
Additionally, with the closing of larger corporations, we are now entering an era of the niche service. People are slowly starting to realize how to customize their services to a specific niche. It is less costly, the relationships are stronger and there is less red tape and digging through large company directories to try to find the right human to speak with.
Of course, there are some downsides to not working in an office. Passing Joe by the coffee machines might remind you to follow up with that client you both met with last week. Seeing Amy at reception might remind you to put up an auto-reply on your email while you are in meetings all afternoon.
Here are some useful home office tips I have found very helpful in keeping myself organized in Brooklyn:
- Have a landline in addition to your cell phone. BlackBerrys and iPhones make life pretty easy, but a call through a landline will never drop on you or create static. I am used to using a BlackBerry for work and personal, but I also like having a landline, with a light that blinks for voicemails and a speakerphone. A landline can even change your presence over the phone.
- Have a large calendar over your desk. In addition to keeping track of things on your computer’s calendar and your phone’s calendar and, maybe even, a small planner you carry with you, have something large and visible over your desk as well. It’s an extra thing to write on, but writing something down three times will also keep you from forgetting.
- Keep a dry erase board for weekly and monthly goals. Dry erase boards save paper and they are a great way to keep your goals organized and color-coordinated.
- Purchase cabinets and shelves with closing doors. In a home office, it’s easy to get trapped between being home and being in the office. Having closing cabinets will help you close down on nights and weekends.
- Pick a spot in your home with good natural light. Plants and sunlight will also keep your mood chipper and your oxygen flow higher.
These tips can also apply to your workspace in your away-from-home office as well. I wonder how many global travelers work from home offices?
– Courtney Centeno, account executive
Some Student Travel Essentials
Jan 17th
Posted by patty in Budget Travel Alternatives
My younger daughter, Jenny, is just finishing her first week in Europe. While her primary purpose while there is to complete her community health nursing clinical in England, that program doesn’t actually begin for another two weeks. She and several of her classmates are currently traveling about the Continent, and her brief phone calls and Facebook postings indicate they are having a wonderful time. I think it would be difficult for anyone with such an experience before them to not enjoy it thoroughly, but Jenny and her friends did a lot to ensure their good time through solid groundwork in planning and organizing their modest version of the Grand Tour.
It’s possible that just getting 10 individuals to agree on their two-and-a-half-week itinerary consumed the majority of their planning sessions, but I know that all of them also spent plenty of Internet time researching where they were going and how (most economically) to get there. Most of the girls had friends or family members who had traveled abroad (and some, like Jenny, had already been overseas, but none on their own), and all of us were dishing out advice, as well. (I was able to pull out articles from the past few years of Global Traveler on every city on their itinerary, plus others covering everything from health insurance to travel safety.) Going forth with maps and directions steering them from every airport or train terminal to their hostels in each city boosted their confidence that they could navigate their way just about anywhere. With Madrid and Barcelona under their belts already and only a snow-cancelled flight from London to delay the start of their adventure, this merry band seems to be off to a great start.
Here are a few things we are glad are a part of this trip, and which we would recommend to any traveling student:
– An international cell phone: Jenny was able to rent one for an extremely reasonable fee and calling rates. At least two other girls in the group have one as well, so if the entire party splits up, they can maintain contact. Although the plan is to keep in touch with friends and family back home primarily through the Internet, we’ve already found cause to be thankful for the immediacy and ease of having phone contact available. Which leads me to essential item number two:
 – Automobile Association of America’s VISA Debit card: We hit upon this item several years ago when Jenny’s big sister, Sarah, studied abroad, and I used one myself last spring while cruising the Mediterranean. It allows one to withdraw funds in the local currency from any ATM, and although there is a small transaction fee, the convenience and other benefits the card offers are worth it. Because I also have access to the account with my own card, I can load additional funds if needed, and there is an emergency contact number in virtually every country in case of loss or theft of the card (which Sarah had cause to use). When Jenny accidently punched in the wrong PIN number in Barcelona (jet lag and sleep deprivation), she used that cell phone to call me to confirm the right code and unfreeze the card (a nice safety feature). But for those once-in-a-lifetime, special purchases or truly emergency situations, Jenny also has
– A credit card which doesn’t charge for non-U.S. currency transactions. We REALLY stressed the unique and/or emergency aspects of the use of the card (and the fact that those are HER purchases), but we wouldn’t have sent her off without one.
 – A student discount card. Jenny and her friends used the Student Travel Agency to book their hostel stays and a few flights and get their rail passes. They found this simplified paying for those items, although the fares weren’t always the cheapest to be found. They expect to make great use of the STA’s discount card, which will provide them free or reduced entrance to an enormous number of museums and attractions all over Europe, in addition to all kinds of percent-off deals at a wide range of businesses in the cities they’ll be visiting. A side note: so far they’ve been very happy with the locations and cleanliness of the hostels they booked through STA, and all have had WiFi access.
We’re thrilled that Jenny’s trip is off to such a good start, but as any experienced traveler knows, all that preparation and the recommendations of those who’ve been there before certainly had a lot to do with it. Happy travels, ladies!
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
Musings on Deadline
Dec 19th
Posted by patty in Advertising
Yesterday afternoon, the Global Traveler editorial staff completed work on the January 2010 issue of the magazine. As usual, it was a fast and furious push to get the final approved files to the printer by deadline. That is not to say that we aren’t well organized, but it is the nature of the business that there may be last-minute changes to the layout due to the purchase of additional ad space and late-breaking news that requires changes to content. Generally, too, the editor’s and publisher’s letters are written close to deadline to allow for timely commentary.
Allow me to draw aside the veil on producing an issue of Global Traveler, from my somewhat limited perspective:
Sometime in early fall, editor in chief Lisa Matte produces the editorial calendar for the coming year. It outlines the proposed major features and destination articles, aiming to provide an interesting mix of subjects from around the world relevant to our readers. Nothing is set in stone, however, to accomodate events which may affect travelers. For example, late in November of 2008 Mumbai suffered attacks by terrorists on sites frequented by foreign visitors. Six weeks later, contributing writer Patrick Adams was in Mumbai, and his article in the February 2009 issue of Global Traveler described the city’s reaction to and recovery from the assault.
While Lisa and associate editor Jan Hecht may receive the raw text for articles well in advance of the deadline for the issue in which they will appear, most of the work on an issue occurs within the four weeks prior to the “files to printer” date. Plying their red pens, they address length and formatting issues, edit for clarity and focus and confirm facts and details. The text then passes on to art director Tracey Cullen, who fits the words and accompanying photos and graphics into the allotted space for each piece. Often, if the writer has not done so,  she must chase down images for obscure places and activities. I don’t pretend to know how she works her magic, but I am always impressed with the results!
Generally, Lisa or Jan look over the first pdf of the proposed article before it is presented to me. I then do my grammar-teacher bit on punctuation, spelling and sentence structure as well as checking for consistency in style and format (bold this, italicize that) and confirming facts, web addresses and the like. I send my list of edits to Tracey, and she then sends back an amended pdf reflecting those changes. We continue that dance until I send a final “No correx” message, and Lisa gives her final seal of approval for release to the printer.Â
Most of this occurs via email, as each of us lives in a different city (and I live in an entirely different time zone). Although it may sound quite dry and isolated, we actually have established a very lively communication. While we debate style issues and confer on editorial content, we also share personal anecdotes and the occasional silly photo from our pasts. It makes for a friendly, fun and intellectually interesting working relationship that I very much treasure.
I will enjoy a bit of a lull now (and hopefully my co-workers will, too) before work begins on our February issue. I’ll spend the next week catching up on my Christmas to-do list, but I look forward to reading the next batch of articles coming my way — and yours – soon!
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreaderÂ
The Power of Print
Oct 8th
In this day and age of Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Bing, Yahoo (the list could go on forever), handwritten letters sent through snail mail are few and far between. So whenever I receive a letter in the mail, I take the time to sit down and read it, as opposed to whizzing through my email every morning.
My father loves to write. He has the penmanship of a calligraphist and collects rare fountain pens for pleasure. As I was growing up, he always told me that there is nothing like a handwritten letter. I went to college a mere 30 minutes from my hometown, and my father still wrote me at least once or twice a month. Even in New york I know my dad is just a phone call away, but taking the time to write a small note takes just enough effort that the person on the receiving end feels genuinely cared about.
Thank-you emails are quick and efficient enough so that one can easily follow up after meeting someone. Perhaps the person you met will be more likely to remember you if you shoot them a quick email later that day. But a handwritten note is rarely forgotten.
I feel the same way towards print and online. We are all beginning to see publications dwindle in numbers (T & L Golf, Gourmet) as we are overwhelmed with new blogs and online information. My friends and I communicate frequently through email, and we often share articles and blogs we’ve read online with one another. With a click of a button, I can share an article with my friend before I’ve even finished it. However, on several occasions where I have received an article in the mail that was torn from its publication, I’ve truly felt touched.
These days, we can achieve tasks so quickly and efficiently that the few extra steps of stamping and addressing a letter have much more meaning. With publications becoming a rarity, we will start to see the true value with the print that remains. Like a handwritten note, information seems to carry more weight and value when you can physically hold it in your hand.
– Courtney Centeno, account executive
