Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Ode to IT



As I contemplated becoming a small business owner, I knew—before I hit that submit button—that I would be responsible for all aspects of the business: product development, public relations, marketing, fundraising, accounting, human resources, contract negotiation, etc. While I wasn’t proficient in these areas of business, I knew enough to manage and felt confident in my abilities to learn. 

Well ... in all areas except one—Information Technology (IT).     

For decades I have described myself as 'technologically challenged.' While this label probably contributed to my IT deficiencies, I stuck with it because I always had an IT department to back me up.  While I anxiously paced back and forth behind my desk, an IT team member would patiently assure me that everything would be alright. Sean, Mike and Sara excelled at keeping me calm when I lost a file or couldn’t synch my office calendar to my phone. Using melodic voices, they would hypnotize me into a quiet state while they solved my problem—they were the IT whisperers.

Oh, how I missed the gurus of technology as I struggled to create webpages, blogs and all the other 'techy' stuff I needed. I tried to read books on the subjects, but they only frustrated me.  I attempted to follow directions on-line, but they lacked detail. I even called the website company and they informed me they were only a host—whatever that meant—and I was on my own.  I had to work in isolation, even from my family, fearing my five-year old might learn some new colorful metaphor and take it to school for show and tell.  

Over the past few weeks, I immersed myself in a technological hell, drinking too much coffee and eating way too much fast food.  I struggled to learn a new language filled with widgets and abused my computer’s backspace key, screaming “Why is there a rice bowl with chopsticks on my webpage? I’m not a restaurant! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!” 

Eventually, I hit enough buttons to rid my page of that bowl of rice, and I am excited to announce the arrival of www.amandastonenorton.com

By the way, if you happen to notice problems with the site, then feel free to NOT contact my IT department, as it is on permanent vacation!

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