Web Worker Daily

I’ve been looking at DeskAway lately as a free alternative to Basecamp for managing client projects.

DeskAway is a project management solution from India-based Synage. Discovering Basecamp was a revelation, but I’m paying over $24/month for the service and am running out of the alloted Active Projects (15). I figured I should look at other options as my business grows.

Although it will take me more time using DeskAway to give a detailed assessment, a few things stood out for me immediately after signing up for and logging into my DeskAway account.

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As a former designer who still dabbles in the odd piece of commercial or hobbyist work, I’m sometimes stuck at the inception of a project, trying to discover the initial creative sparks that ignite a design, for those fragments of inspiration that set out the path from a blank Photoshop document to a living design.

Nine years ago as an interactive designer in a multimedia agency, designers would post various items we liked -magazine clippings, flyers, business cards, websites - onto a physical noticeboard that we could glance up at for inspiration. Over time, this grew organically into a wonderful design resource for the studio.

These days, my equivalent is a folder on my MacBook desktop called ‘Design Bin’ - I screenshot or scan a design I think might be inspirational in future and dump it in my design bin. However simple, this resource is growing in volume but diminishing in context - and in a connected era - is strangely unsociable.

Enter Scrnshots, a web-based service that lets designers share their inspirations by posting screenshots of interesting designs to a Flickr-esque web site.

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MicroISVs, software developers who have fired their bosses and clients to start their own software companies, work on the bleeding edge of online technology. They are the earliest of adopters, among the fastest to jump on a new tool, idea, process or site that let’s them wring another .01% of effectiveness out of the long hours they put in.

Recently, I took an informal poll among several dozen microISVs I know, fishing for the absolute newest, best, shiniest way of being more productive. I got back all sorts of answers, from specific apps to bludgeon email into submission to doing absolutely everything you do on a computer in a text editor. I’ll explore more on those topics in future posts.

But right away I began to notice a common thread in their answers: they say simplicity and ruthlessly combatting distractions is key to building your productivity skills.

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By Jake Kuramoto

Back in 2003, I worked in a cube farm at Oracle’s corporate headquarters in Redwood Shores. I had been commuting an hour and a half each way, five days a week, since 2001, and I really wanted to work out a telecommuting arrangement with my manager. I started out working from home a couple days a week, and eventually, I grew into a permanent web worker.

After five years of working remotely, the one problem I’ve yet to solve is the conference call. Or more accurately, the conference call where I’m the only one on the phone. If you telecommute, you’re savvy to this problem, and even if you don’t, you can probably relate.

Here’s the scenario: it’s a handful of people sitting in a conference room and one person on the phone. The more people in the room and on the phone, the bigger the problem.

All typical meeting problems become amplified when you’re on the phone.

(Photo credit: Flickr user morecoffeeplease)

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By Kyle West

Editor’s Note: Around here, “switching” isn’t just changing operating systems. It can also be about leaving a more traditional work environment behind and switching to web work. Kyle made the jump a couple of years ago and shares with us the lessons he learned along the way.

A little over 2 years ago my partner and I packed up our offices, sold all our office furniture and officially joined the full-time web-working crowd. Since then we’ve made plenty of mistakes, but we’ve also cleared our fair share of hurdles. The hardest part of the switch? Communicating effectively.

Communication is tough enough when everyone is in the same room. It’s exponentially more difficult after you end all physical interaction. Gone were the days of huddling around the whiteboard, brainstorming over carry-out and getting instant feedback on your work.

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Are you happy with your cell phone? Do you feel you get enough value from your landline provider? What’s next in the communications world?

These and many other topics are up for discussion at the Emerging Communications (eComm) Conference next month in Silicon Valley, California. Industry heavyweights such as Skype, Google, Yahoo!, Twitter, and more are scheduled to present at eComm; making it both an intriguing and stellar lineup.

The eComm Conference takes place March 12-14. I was able to interview Lee Dryburgh, organizer of the conference. We discuss:

• How mobile communications are about to be revolutionized
• How VoIP is just the beginning of synchronous voice communication
• Ways web workers can benefit from connected internet telephony
• How open devices and open spectrum will benefit a distributed team

Check out the 25-minute podcast below. We look forward to reading your comments.

Additionally, when you go to eComm’s website to register, use code “GIGAOM08″ for a 15% discount.

Jonathan Lane worked side contract jobs as a web developer until he grew his business enough to freelance full-time. Then he moved to Mayne Island, a small island off of Canada’s west coast, a place he had visited as a child. Now he takes on diversified projects including web design and development, e-commerce, and textbook co-authoring.

Jonathan’s personal web site is located at www.flyingtroll.com and his business site is www.industryinteractive.net.

Describe your job/career/business

I do a bunch of things. I’m a strong believer in “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, so I do some web design and development work for clients, I’m starting up an e-Commerce site, developing a “Web 2.0 app”, and starting up a locally targeted online/offline combo service. I’m also in the process of doing a graduate degree, co-authoring a textbook, and contributing a series of articles on web development.

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Chuck Brotman is the Director of Sales Engineering for ON24, a webcasting and rich media marketing company based in San Francisco. He’s seen the web impact the sales organization in terms of convenience, speed and productivity.

Describe your job/career/business

I work as the director of sales engineering at ON24, a webcasting and rich media marketing solutions company. My responsibilities include running our proof-of-concept program, prototyping and building custom demonstrations for prospects and channel partners, and managing RFP and RFI responses. I also work as a liaison between sales and product management/engineering.

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