Jobs/Occupations
Working Relationships
Aug 28th
As I believe I’ve written previously, all of us on Global Traveler‘s editorial staff (editor in chief Lisa Matte, senior editor Janice Hecht, art director Tracey Cullen and I) work from home offices. What’s more, we live in four different states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Oregon — and two different time zones. Through the wonders of modern technology, though, we’ve developed a very efficient process for producing a beautiful and informative magazine every month (as well as a number of supplements each year).
We’ve only all come together once, on the occasion of GT‘s fifth anniversary celebration, so you might think that ours are strictly business-like relationships. However, over the years we’ve interspersed work-talk with more personal matters, and shared aspects of our lives and interests apart from the magazine.
Working alone at home can be a somewhat isolating experience, so it’s nice to be able to develop a warm and friendly partnership with those linked to you by computer and phone. We swap stories involving families, trips and gardens and commiserate with each other over weather (too cold, hot, wet or deep!) and car and home repairs.
I especially enjoy the sharing of just-this-moment bits of interest. Earlier this summer Jan reported she was under a tornado warning (in Connecticut?!), and we waited to hear that she was in the all-clear afterward. This week, Tracey sent a great photo she’d just taken in her backyard. She reported having heard a lot of commotion out there in the preceding days, with the birds being literally all a-twitter over something. That morning she discovered the cause of all the ruckus: a hawk had been hunting, and she snapped him in a tree feasting upon an unlucky mole. (Tracey actually had little sympathy for the mole, as her husband had been trying to eradicate them from the yard for weeks.) Jan then replied with a possible identification of the bird (complete with a description of its cry) and stories of her own encounters with the raptors. I shared my own humbler version of backyard battles: I’d been distracted that day by aerial dogfights, that would have made the Red Baron proud, between two hummingbirds battling over the choicest flowers.
These little tidbits from our daily lives are hardly earth-shattering, but they comprise the building blocks of a positive working relationship between far-flung individuals. I have no doubt that this same kind of sharing occurs between business people on every continent all over the world – the exchange of children’s pictures at dinner, the swapping of battle stories across the aisle on a jetliner, a tip for a great place to visit as a meeting adjourns – bringing each of us a little closer to another.
– Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor
A New Chapter
Jul 15th
As I sit here behind my new, sleek glass desk at GT headquarters, it is finally starting to hit me. I’m no longer a college student waiting tables on the weekends for some extra cash or enjoying long, hot summers off. I am now a full-time employee, with a “real” job and even a “real” job title. Wow, the day finally came!
Having your first full-time job is definitely one of those moments in life you will never forget. Receiving the phone call and the job offer, saying yes (of course!) and walking into the office on my first day was nothing short of a roller coaster ride of excitement. Fortunately, it feels like I’ve won the lottery. I am part of a great team at Global Traveler, and I couldn’t be happier.
This new chapter of my life is going to be challenging and thrilling to say the least. I am starting to make footprints into a long career. I look forward to no more calculus all-nighters, but I might miss the pizza and Chinese food that would come along with the all-nighters.
With the weekend soon approaching and my first week almost behind me, I hope everyone has fun in the sun and makes some unforgettable memories!
– Amanda Smith, advertising and editorial coordinator
Off to Auckland
Apr 25th
I write this as I sit in the International Terminal at the San Francisco airport. By the time you read it, I will have landed in Auckland, New Zealand, ready to begin a fabulous week of explorations of the City of Sails (well, perhaps I’ll need a nap first after the 13-hour overnight flight).
This trip marks several firsts for me: First trek to New Zealand — or anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, for that matter. Therefore, it will mark my first crossing of the equator — and of the International Date Line, too. First trip as an official representative of Global Traveler. First solo international trip. First time having access to the lounge (I could get used to this!). Am I excited? You bet!
My host for the week will be the Langham Auckland property, and the itinerary planned for we media folk has a host of fun, interesting tours and activities day and night. I opted out of the bungee jump off the Auckland Harbour Bridge (much to the relief, I believe, of my family); but I plan to be an active participant of the winery tours, shopping excursions and cultural stops. In between all of that action, I’m looking forward to availing myself of some spa treatments at the hotel and indulging in its signature high tea at least once.
I think it’s safe to say that during my years as an English teacher, I never imagined that my writing and proofreading skills would some day lead me to travels to a faraway land I’ve always dreamed of visiting. Hey, moms and dads, try dangling that possibility in front of your kids when they want to know why they have to learn where to put a comma and what a dangling modifier is!
I’ll be sharing my adventures in upcoming blogs and perhaps in future issues of GT as well. Here I go!
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
What I Do
Mar 13th
I don’t write very often about the actual work I do for Global Traveler because, quite frankly, I doubt many people would find it very interesting. I telecommute, working thousands of miles from my coworkers, and I’ve actually visited only a small number of the fascinating places written about in the pages of our magazine. I truly enjoy my work (who wouldn’t love reading about all the amazing places we cover?!), but when folks ask what I do for a living and I tell them I am a proofreader, usually their eyes begin to glaze over and I imagine them thinking, “Oh, how boring, nitpicking all day about where a comma should go!”
Believe me, there are times when I wish I could wow someone with an exciting and unusual job description. Just the other day I was listening to an interview on NPR with a young woman who, as a graduate student, worked as a “date” booker for a high-end call-girl agency. Now there’s a person who I am sure provides plenty of stimulating conversation at parties! Conversely, her work might be an awkward topic around the family table at Thanksgiving; my profession might be terribly mundane, but it isn’t likely to cause Grandma to choke on her turkey!
However, my purpose goes beyond merely making sure punctuation is properly used, the right words are capped, spelling is correct and the rules of grammar are observed. I fact check and keep an eye out for inconsistencies and style issues. These are things which editor in chief Lisa Matte and associate editor Jan Hecht watch out for, too, and periodically we put our heads together and hash out a solution or answer to some issue which crops up as we’re reviewing an article. If you’re not asleep yet, let me give you an example.
Several pieces in each issue provide contact information for hotels, restaurants and places of interest in destinations all over the world. Whenever possible, we provide addresses, phone numbers and website addresses so that our readers might be able to visit those locations, or at least easily get further information about them, on their own. The question arose the other day as to what form we should use to present an address. For instance, in some cultures, street numbers follow the street name rather than preceding it, as we are used to here in the United States. Should we “Americanize” the address for the majority of our readers or present it in the form typical of the country of its origin? Should we use abbreviations and spellings familiar to English-speakers or use the form in the original language?
Such questions may appear to be so much dithering over unimportant details, but let me assure you that the editorial staff at GT seriously consider that our readers are real people who will use the information we provide to help them make travel plans and visit the places written about in the magazine. Our decisions usually are made against this final arbiter: What will make the most sense and be most useful to someone in a different culture who doesn’t speak the local language?
In this particular case, we imagined travelers jotting down the address of a fabulous restaurant that had been praised on our pages, eager to try the unique cuisine offered there. It might be on their first night in a city completely new to them, and they might not be able to speak the local language. Hungry, tired but excited to step out in this fascinating destination, they hail a cab and hand over the name and address of the eatery to the driver. What will make the most sense to HIM, the one responsible for getting his passengers to their destination? An “Americanized” version of an address, or a form familiar to him and used throughout his city or country? Voila! The answer is clear, yes?
It’s the attention to those little, seemingly inconsequential yet important details that I believe helps make Global Traveler an excellent, reliable source for the business and leisure traveler. And, while it ain’t very glamourous, I’m proud to do my part!
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
