Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Good Work ( if you can get it. )

I've been an online editor for a custom car club and motorcycle club and their magazines for about a year and a half now. It's hectic, part of a dying industry, and probably the coolest job I will ever have. I write about industry news, products, tech articles and several emails a week on all of the above. Here's an example.



A couple weeks ago I got to co-lead our annual member ride where a fraction of the 60+ thousand members get together for meet and greets, rides and basically spend face time talking to people you've only met online or not at all.



This year we all met in Deadwood, SD and toured the Black Hills, Wyoming, dipped into Montana and basically hit all the things in the Sturgis Rally two weeks before the event itself. We still got the T Shirts, destinations, dinner, drinks and sunburn - but without the crowds. ( You can always photoshop people into your pictures with the time you've saved not waiting in line 20 minutes for a lemonade. )



Forty Three people signed up but we were never able to get everyone in any one picture and due to the amount of things to see and do and the inability to actually keep a couple of dozen bikes at one gas station, road side diner or photo op everyone ended up breaking up into smaller groups with similar paces and riding styles.



It never ceases to amaze me how convenient, fast and streamlined electronic communication is AND how utterly incomplete. I get emails all the time from people like me, that type in fragmented sentences and say things they've been stewing on for hours and you're never quite sure exactly what they're thinking.

Catching up with many of these people I can see where they're coming from and how similar everyone is. My friend Walter came with on the trip. He and I went out to Sturgis fifteen years ago when I had just met my wife so I was reminded of that time off and on. Reminded when we drove through Needles Highway at excessive speeds, driving past the noisy bar I called her at from a pay phone because I wanted to hear her voice. All that sappy stuff. ;0)



We also had a couple people in the group in their eighties believe it or not. Still out on bikes and reminiscing of coming to Sturgis thirty years back when it was a fraction of what it is. It reminded me that being in the middle of life, a job and relationship is a good thing because there's plenty of activity behind and in front of you.



What are you in the middle of?