in-house versus hired guns

I had dinner with a friend last night who mentioned an acquaintance that is leaving his private practice to join a corporate government affairs shop. Maybe it's just what I've seen in the insurance government affairs world, but it seems like corporate government affairs would be my last choice of employment options.

When corporate leadership changes, the government affairs folks may not be as necessary to the new leadership. The new leaders may want to bring in their own folks, or there may just be compatibility issues. I've also seen mergers and acquisitions where the new owner already has a government affairs shop which then leads to job cuts.

I suppose there are benefits (literally and figuratively) why folks would want to work in a corporate shop, but my personal opinion that is if you can do well enough financially, that should be a last option.

Just my opinion.

Work week

It's funny. I had lunch with the missuz yesterday and I ran into a couple of friends on my way in to her office. Both asked me what I do during the week. It's funny. Honestly, the work week out of session involves some work for the clients, but it's obviously not nearly as busy as when the legislature is in session. This experience has made it awfully difficult for me to imagine going to sit in an office and gazing into a computer monitor for 9 hours a day.

I remember at a previous job the boss was pretty strict about the work day. You were to be in the office by the starting time and you weren't to leave before the official end of the day. In fact, I was approached at one point for leaving right at the end of the work day (even though I always arrived early). Apparently I was to hang around a little after the official end-point of the work day. I never really understood that. I would sit there at the end of the day and piddle around. If you have work due...of course you stick around and get it done. I'm also not saying that there isn't value in a normal work schedule, but good grief!

I love getting things done for my clients. And I like doing it at 4 a.m. when I wake up, or 3 in the afternoon after going to the grocery store or whatever. Mostly, however, I love not having to stare at my computer screen all day.

Client visit

So a client is in town this week. Pretty good so far. They are interested in meeting with different folks around the state and I'm responsible for getting the meetings set up. It still continues to amaze me that I get to do this for a living. I absolutely love what I'm doing and couldn't imagine doing anything else.

I have another client interview at the end of the month, then a nice weekend of camping and fishing with some friends right after the interview. Picking up this additional client would be swell as it fits in with my area of expertise (should I put expertise in quotes?).

In any event, other than the long overdue heat, things are going well...just not much to update during the summer months. Summer study committees start next month.