Ticket Giveaway: DC4D:2

Did you know that there’s a second edition of the DayCamp 4 Developers event coming up in March? The daycamps are a chance for developers to invest a day in their careers, wherever they are, focussing on the soft skills we need to grow beyond coding monkeys and into accomplished and upwardly-mobile professionals. It’s a virtual conference, so you can join us from anywhere in the world!

In the new edition of DC4D, I’m giving a session entitled “Could You Telecommute?”. I have worked from home for three years and if there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s that it isn’t always easy! Telecommuting doesn’t suit everyone so if you think you’d like to work this way one day, then I hope to give some pointers for how to tell if it will work out, or how to make it work for you. The event is on March 5th but there are also video-only tickets for those people who would rather watch their sessions back at their own pace.

I have a ticket to give away, so if you want to be my guest, leave me a comment and tell me why I should choose you! NB the tickets are only $35 so this isn’t quite as impressive as it might sound, sorry!

I’ll pick winners on 26th February, with a week to go to the event.

Portugal and The Internet Cafe

Things may have seemed a bit quiet around here lately – that’s because I spent last week in the Algarve in southern Portugal. My sister is working in a hotel there as head nanny, I think she’s spent 8 days of 2009 in the UK so this is about the only way to get to visit her, a beach holiday!

Despite the holiday I still had a lot on my to-do list so I took my netbook with me, and got my sister to show me the local internet cafe – it was a great place and worthy of mention, so thanks very much to Hugo Beaty in Praia Da Luz for a stable connection and good coffee :) It was good enough to work from, I almost wished I’d gone for longer and not taken holiday (I telecommute, nobody would notice!)

If anyone is interested, there are a few photos in a flickr set of the trip.

Working at The Hub, Bristol

A couple of weeks ago I had some friends coming to the UK for a little while, but they were staying in Bristol and I live in Leeds. My weekends were pretty full so I wasn’t sure if I would get to see them – but since I telecommute I can work from anywhere with a decent connection and some quiet space. A friend recommended The Hub in Bristol, so I worked from there for the day.

Its a great place, I haven’t been to Bristol before and the views are rather good since the space is on the top floor. There was plenty of desk space and both wired and wireless connections available and they also have meeting rooms which were getting some good use the day I was there. The atmosphere was friendly and everyone had a smile for me, even though I was a stranger and only there for the day. The office is part-shared by sustrans so there were other nice ethical touches, like fairtrade tea and coffee and a good selection of recycling options.

I had a great day and will be looking out for opportunities to use The Hub again – either in Bristol or elsewhere. Thanks!