Olympics Postponed
I'm going to finish the Olympics series tomorrow night. I hope that doesn't inconvenience the guy who asked me why I worked at Widgets. That person is my most loyal reader and likes to ask everyone if they've read my blog. Thanks for spreading the word! I would like to talk instead about my orientation day last Friday.
Imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago I got an email invitation to a Technical Organization new employee orientation. Hey, I've been there for months! Apparently, they haven't had one in a while so this was a catch up session.
The session lasted all day and included snacks, lunch, and some swag. We heard presentations from not one but two Chief Technical Officers, had a question and answer session with some long-timers in important positions, had the head of employee engagement encourage and challenge us and then finished with a presentation by the head of global projects. Amazingly the presentations were all interesting and all the speakers answered any question that was thrown at them.
I thought the most important point they made was that my organization is the technical center of a larger corporation. The research and development for the corporation is being done in my building and the rest of the company is adopting the new technologies. They really stressed the opportunities to move into new areas as they open up, both here and around the world.
People at my company are always forthcoming with information. I asked a question at the panel session about the potential use of Akamai at my company. The head of procurement gave a detailed answer with all the pros and cons of the situation, probably more than I really wanted to know. At Widgets keeping secrets was the main communication method--wait, that doesn't make sense!
The executives also used their presentations to challenge people to make the most of the opportunities at the company and find jobs that we really like and that make coming to work fun and challenging.
I got one of those insulated lunch boxes for asking a question at the global business presentation. I wanted to know if we were moving into the China market and got a maybe. There are a number of people in my building in the global projects group that are working weird shifts so they can manage projects with team members on three different continents.
I also had a small world moment. At a receiving line at lunch I came face to face with a familiar looking guy. He looked at me and said "You're from Not Big Blue, aren't you? I was in the Blah Blah Blah group." Sure enough, he was a lead technical guy at the time and is now a vice president at Lawyers R Us.
That was a nice day. I do appreciate the company's desire to show how committed they are to making everyone successful and their patience with new people. One of the VPs ate lunch at my table and talked about how hard it is to learn all the acronyms and groups and said we should speak up, ask questions, and take the time to learn all we need to know.
Take my time? I can handle that.
Imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago I got an email invitation to a Technical Organization new employee orientation. Hey, I've been there for months! Apparently, they haven't had one in a while so this was a catch up session.
The session lasted all day and included snacks, lunch, and some swag. We heard presentations from not one but two Chief Technical Officers, had a question and answer session with some long-timers in important positions, had the head of employee engagement encourage and challenge us and then finished with a presentation by the head of global projects. Amazingly the presentations were all interesting and all the speakers answered any question that was thrown at them.
I thought the most important point they made was that my organization is the technical center of a larger corporation. The research and development for the corporation is being done in my building and the rest of the company is adopting the new technologies. They really stressed the opportunities to move into new areas as they open up, both here and around the world.
People at my company are always forthcoming with information. I asked a question at the panel session about the potential use of Akamai at my company. The head of procurement gave a detailed answer with all the pros and cons of the situation, probably more than I really wanted to know. At Widgets keeping secrets was the main communication method--wait, that doesn't make sense!
The executives also used their presentations to challenge people to make the most of the opportunities at the company and find jobs that we really like and that make coming to work fun and challenging.
I got one of those insulated lunch boxes for asking a question at the global business presentation. I wanted to know if we were moving into the China market and got a maybe. There are a number of people in my building in the global projects group that are working weird shifts so they can manage projects with team members on three different continents.
I also had a small world moment. At a receiving line at lunch I came face to face with a familiar looking guy. He looked at me and said "You're from Not Big Blue, aren't you? I was in the Blah Blah Blah group." Sure enough, he was a lead technical guy at the time and is now a vice president at Lawyers R Us.
That was a nice day. I do appreciate the company's desire to show how committed they are to making everyone successful and their patience with new people. One of the VPs ate lunch at my table and talked about how hard it is to learn all the acronyms and groups and said we should speak up, ask questions, and take the time to learn all we need to know.
Take my time? I can handle that.
posted by changingagain at 9:08 PM
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