The dreaded 'what is it you do' question. We went to a party last night, and a colleague of Sasha's had brought a friend, who I believe was in that weird 'temporary job'-type place. When the inevitable 'what do you do' question arose, he was at something of a loss. In the states we have built so much on this opening gambit that for those that can't answer it well it can be a real killer. I quite enjoyed, when I first came back from Japan, responding 'I'm unemployed, and living with my parents', but it was a real mood-killer for those trying to get a conversational opening. How do you respond? On some level that response (and responses like it) seem a personal tragedy - in a world where you are defined by your work, if your work is meaningless, then so is your life. But since many of us are not brilliant conversationalists, we continue to use the age old openings - in the same way that pickup lines never really change (and for the same reasons!)

So the question was posed in my comments, and I suppose I've never really mentioned what I do in direct terms. This is partly a generic fear of being dooced, and partly because it seems so dull to talk about work on one's blog. But I'll give it a shot.

The organization I currently work for is interested in uses of technology in higher education. They attack this subject in several ways. New programs that might be used in a higher education setting are installed on their servers so that people in higher ed can evaluate them, use them for a while, see whether they like them, and find new ways to do one of the oldest jobs in the world - teach. I administer the servers and the software for those programs - generally speaking they are pseudo-web-2.0 type programs, i.e. programs that are intended to form communities, which give everyone their own login and their own space to be creative, as well as communal space where people can work together.

In addition to this very technical aspect, there is also an element of teaching which goes on - it's all very well and good to offer lots of technology, but if noone can use it, it really isn't going to help, really. So the organization also offers classes to people to help them learn new (and not-so-new) technologies and software. Hence my trip to Minnesota tomorrow, to teach people how to use SPSS to analyze data. Neither the program nor the concept (statistical analysis) is new, but a lot of educators still aren't there, and as statistical analysis continues to expand its role in the humanities etc., it becomes more and more necessary for people to be able to use these tools.

And finally, as with any small organization, as one of the technology people I am expected to do all those little things that tech people do, like making the printer go and somesuch. It's funny, because no matter what role I have at an organization I will always have that responsibility, I think. It simply happens to those with the know-how.

So there it is, in a not-so-small nutshell. You may now go about your business. Move along!

Derek (Erb) commented:
Such a typically American question especially when asked to complete strangers one has never met before: "What do you do?" I remember my (British) wife's face when she was first asked the question on her first, and only, visit to the States. I'm sure she wanted to answer: "And what business is it of yours?". But being impeccably polite she didn't and proceeded to overwhelm the individual with a completely incomprehensible, to an American, explanation of what an international intergovernmental organisation is... What do you do? 10 Get up in the morning 20 Breathe some more 30 Eat 40 Do things I want to do 50 Do things I have to do 60 GOSUB 40 70 GOSUB 50 80 Eat 90 GOSUB 40 99 GOTO 10
on Sun Jun 18 13:39:07 2006

Derek (Erb) commented:
Right... can't edit comments eh?

Does HTML coding work

Only one way to find out:

10 Get up in the morning
20 Breathe some more
30 Eat
40 Do things I want to do
50 Do things I have to do
60 GOSUB 40
70 GOSUB 50
80 Eat
90 GOSUB 40
99 GOTO 10

Let's see!

on Sun Jun 18 13:41:49 2006

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