Ron, Al and all, OK, I guess I should clarify. - I receive a paycheck for work accomplished from Elecraft, and they have my social security number on file so they can report my earnings. In my mind, that makes me an "Employee", but I am not an exclusive Elecraft employee. I am part time, and report my work on an hourly basis, but I still consider myself an Elecraft employee even though that is a part time position.
That flexibility is what makes Elecraft a great company to work for. I listen to the stream flowing through my property each day and hear the owls at night and the Red-headed woodpecker in the morning all from my "office" here in the woods of North Carolina - no traffic to fight and I can set my own hours. It is a nice life and a great business model - Thank you Eric and Wayne for making a relationship like this possible. 73, Don W3FPR On 3/11/2012 11:32 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: > Yup - it's the business model of the 21st century. I've written product > manuals for Elecraft since 2001 but I, too, am NOT an Elecraft employee and > live 600 miles north of Watsonville on the Oregon coast. In addition to > handling most of Elecraft's manuals I have handled international training > and business studies for some of the big tech companies working on a daily > basis with teams in Japan, Europe South America and Africa using the VOIP > and video conferencing, as well as doing sales training and marketing > support for local businesses. > > Instead of sitting in a cubicle after driving to work every morning, I get > to listen to the surf pounding below my house after commuting 30 feet from > the coffee pot in my kitchen and I only need to put on a shirt and comb my > hair before a video conference (no video below chest level, just like the > anchors on TV!). The downside includes occasionally being "at work" at 11 > p.m. or 3 a.m. when working with international teams or pulling an > "all-nighter" to support a disorganized client's deadline. > > This is a revolution in working that Elecraft and other innovative companies > have embraced. It's something that will likely expand tremendously in the > future as more companies understand the benefits of a flexible work force > because we don't get paid for "showing up" - we're paid only for benefits > delivered. And we are not limited to the challenges (and dangers) of only > one source of income. > > But as I'm quick to point out to everyone who dreams of self-employment, > understand that, when self-employed, the employee has the most miserable, > demanding boss in the world, and that boss has the laziest employee in the > world. They do deserve each other, Hi! > > 73, > > Ron AC7AC > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > Actually I'm not an Elecraft employee. I work on a contract basis from my > home here is Santa Rosa, about a three-hour drive north of Aptos. > Elecraft has a number of employees and others like me working under various > arrangements and scattered all over. Even one of the principals > (Wayne) does not physically work in the plant. > > This kind of business model is one of the changes made possible by the > arrival of the Internet. When I was still working at HP/Agilent I was on > several design/development projects with engineers located at other > divisions in Japan, Korea, Scotland, and Idaho. The projects were tied > together with lots of emails and phone calls as well as occasional > video-conferences and trips to the other plants. > > Alan N1AL > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
