Web Worker Daily

itsjustelise says: May 8th, 2008 11:40am

I know that my organization is about to start more stringent travel rules. I’m all for that because I think we travel needlessly most of the time. We have enough video teleconference technology, but no one uses it. People insist on hopping in a vehicle and going to the site. I think that’s insane and a waste of resources personally.

Dave says: May 8th, 2008 11:59am

I work for a large company and will have to disagree. Though I’ve been the biggest proponent of virtual communication tools such as h.320 video telecom, WebEX types of tools, etc… The reality is that personal interactions which build strong relationships, project/task understanding, buy-in, etc… is the BEST way for effective communication. However, I will have to back up and say that “a communications MIX” is best.

blogdog says: May 8th, 2008 12:48pm

I’m happy to say that my company “gets it” with regard to commuting or the elimination thereof, and in adopting alternate forms of collaboration and networking — including meetings in Second Life. I used to have an office on either coast and flew between them regularly, but was grounded (along with most of the other non-executives) in 2001 when the economy went south.

I used to love to travel, but the whole process has just become so hateful that it requires a crowbar and a huge incentive to get me farther than driving distance any more.

Kevin says: May 8th, 2008 3:00pm

My business partner and I have a small software development firm (Esomnie Software) with an office about 17 miles from my home. While the cost of gas hasn’t impacted travel too see clients, it has caused me to work from home more often of late. Today is my second day this week. Normally, saving the commute time has been the primary motivator to work from home. But the cost of gas has also begun to play into the decision making.

Paul says: May 9th, 2008 3:21am

“Gasoline approaching $4 per gallon in the USA” – consider yourself lucky, its averaging about £1.11 per litre in the UK at the moment, which is approx $8.19* per US Gallon! Admittedly average commuting distances are probably shorter here, but that’s still over double the cost per gallon! How come fuel is so cheap in the US? Less tax on it?

* (1.11*3.785*1.95)

Mike Gunderloy says: May 9th, 2008 4:20am

@Paul: Yes, that’s why I was careful to specify “in the USA” – I’m well aware that Americans are conditioned to expect gas at a price that looks incredibly cheap to the rest of the world. Taxes are a big part of the difference; in the UK you pay on the order of $5 per gallon in excise & VAT, while in the US the average tax (it varies by state) is around 50 cents per gallon.

Chris says: May 9th, 2008 5:21am

Interesting to read this.. I stayed home today and plan on doing more in the future. It frustrating to travel into work (though my commute is not that long) when I only talk to people over the phone and have little interaction with coworkers. I agree that face to face interaction with coworkers is vital to good relationships. But I could easly see compacting the amount of time spent on campus in favor of a “blended” solution. I am soon going to be launching out on my own and then I will be home entirely. I am looking forward to the gas savings.

Matt says: May 9th, 2008 7:12am

Great article! At eLearningZoom.com, we are helping customers everyday to leverage the Internet to work at home or anytime anywhere through our online training portal and web meeting.

Why paying high gasoline costs with all the headaches in traffic jams?

http://www.eLearningZoom.com

Scott Blitstein says: May 9th, 2008 7:24am

My office is just minutes from my home so it isn’t really affecting how I often I go in.

What is changing is the number of outsourced service call offers we are passing on now that we aren’t willing to travel as far. We used to take quite a few “fill in” jobs but are now much more conscious of how much we need to recover to make them worthwhile.

SB

Victor Vogelpoel says: May 11th, 2008 2:50am

For a Dutch guy like me, those prices are heaven. In the Netherlands, we pay EUR 1.54 per liter which calculates to $9.03 per gallon… A very large part of this price are taxes.
Fortunately enough, I drive a company car and have a company gasoline card.

My partner has her own (little) car, but she uses mine whenever possible.

HelloChrisSmith says: May 12th, 2008 8:33am

I hate the idea of having to stay home because of rising gas prices but I also realize that the less I use, the less strain it puts on the overall demand. Over the last four or five weekends we have stayed at home a lot more.

John Swaringen says: May 12th, 2008 11:57am

I know I’m staying home a lot more when I go somewhere with my wife and exclaim. Wow, where’d that shopping center come from? The price of gasoline is bad, and in places like Texas (here) and California where we don’t have much in the way of public transportation it can be extremely hard on people. Especially the poor who have to drive to work.

Jeremy Pepper says: May 12th, 2008 5:59pm

Moving to LA, I made sure that office to home was a walkable commute, and pretty much trying to walk to work every day.

It hasn’t rained so far, so that’s good. And I’m only using Zipcar in LA. I liked living in SF and walking everywhere, for the most part.

And, where I work (Boingo), we see having a Boingo as another way for the Web Worker Daily to be able to thrive and be productive: tons of hotspots through a subscription to the service, including cafes, coffee shops, restaurants and more.

Janice Greenberg says: May 13th, 2008 5:34am

I just got back from NC where gas prices are up to $3.70. Here in NJ it’s about $3.55.
We plan to go down to NC by car at the end of June. That will be interesting–gas price wise.

dre1988 says: May 13th, 2008 11:26am

I can’t as my line of work doesn’t allow telecommuting but I’m definitely going out less in my spare time. At close to $4 a gallon, I’ve got to set my priorities.

Sharon says: June 1st, 2008 7:00am

I work with Dallas school district and they recently took away our gas stipend. I travel across the city from school to school and the loss of the gas stipend left a whole in my budget, particularly now with the gas prices increasing. So, on weekends, I stay home now and do garden work, read a book, etc. anything that doesn’t require me to drive.

Jay says: June 16th, 2008 11:14am

In my case, I’ve been unemployed and marginally self-employed, and have increasingly moved to a conscious search for work that would have me at home as much as possible, or otherwise as local as possible. For non-work, gas prices are a factor in where and when we drive, jokes about if the car actually will run aside. I see a big opportunity for price undifferentiation by local retailers. That is, if Wal-Mart is 10 miles and a more local alternative is a mile, it takes a pretty huge discount at Wal-Mart or a well planned large trip to maximize savings, or else it’s more worthwhile to pay a little more closer to home. I can see a complete reshaping of how people conduct their lives and how we orient ourselves geographically. The farther distances remain most viable in a virtual way and will become more of a factor, but at the same time, local hubs of commerce, etc. will become more important. Perhaps a return of the small downtown as an attractive destination. Even if that’s off, we’re in a phase change. A historic or cultural discontinuity, if you will.