Back to The Office

The last time I worked in an office, GHWBush was president and I was living in Manhattan. That was 14 years ago.

Since then, I’ve worked as a journalist and then an entrepreneur in basements and bedrooms and the dusty corners of friends’ offices. Since 1998, I’ve also spent lots of time in my company’s Budapest office.

But last month, having hired Anthony and with another hire on the way, I rented a small office. A very small office. I cut my capitalist teeth in a Wall Street bond trading firm where all the partners and staff were crammed elbow to elbow in a space some firms would devote to a single executive’s washroom.

Sitting elbow to elbow, we listened to learn and we learned to listen. And we had more fun.
So, as you can see, we’ve adopted pretty much the same attitude here. Here’s a photo taken by Peter, who is visiting from Budapest.

This week I’ve been watching the BBC version of The Office. I haven’t laughed harder in years. David Brent, the completely solipsistic boss is astonishingly true. He’s the caricature of the Cluetrainless company. All talk, no listen. All power, no touch. All smiles, no joy. All toadies, no friends. God save Blogads USA from David’s fate as we move into our own little office.