Give me flexibility or I’ll stay in school forever

At the beginning of this quarter, one of my professors asked each student “why are you here?” in his evolution and trends class, in the master’s program.  My simple answer, “I’m not ready and don’t want a full-time job.”

It’s the among the best decisions I’ve made, especially now that I hear from former classmates and friends who chose to enter the workforce. My list of reasons why I’m not ready and don’t desire a full-time gig are plenty. But one in particular is that too many employers are still focused on passé rules of the workplace and don’t recognize that flexibility is perhaps one of the most desired benefits of recent generations. I’m simply not willing to trade my life, sanity and happiness right now for a paycheck and health care.

Still, most .orgs engage in one-way conversation

“In the modern era, almost every interest group finds the Internet an appropriate medium for advocacy. What’s not to like about disseminating information and mobilizing at a fraction of the cost of other techniques of communication? Groups of all beliefs and resource levels have taken to the Internet.” — Robert J. Koltz, Politics of Internet Communication

In the early days of the Internet, scholars predicted nonprofit organizations would most definitely benefit from the direct, deliberative democracy that the new technology would bring to citizens. The bottom-up, side-to-side, interactive, social and easy to use medium would aid nonprofits that rely on volunteerism and relationship.

The problem? Joe Trippi, the man behind Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign might say:

Most of ‘em still just don’t get it.