Virtually speaking

Like many other office workers (or is it just the media industry?), I have never met the people I work with every day. In fact, I wouldn't know them if I smacked right into them on the street, or probably even remember where I knew them from if they introduced themselves.

The majority of my working day is spent in my email account. I converse with colleagues, friends, PR managers, other departments and even my real estate through the instant medium. Shooting off an email is much quicker and easier than personally visiting the desks of the people I need to speak to, although it's perhaps not as beneficial in the exercise domain. I have met a few of the PR people I work with - mostly music PR at industry events and launches - but there are so many I will probably never meet.

In fact, when I receive an email from someone informing me of their resignation, with all those lovely good bye's and "been great working with you" comments, it's hard to be genuinely sad to see them go. In reality, it just means I will need a different email address when I need to speak to someone from that company. As horrible as it might sound, I don't even know what they look like so it's hard to get all sentimental.

I wonder how the world ever operated before the days of email (and it wasn't that long ago). I know it would almost certainly double my working day with the amount of communication I go through! Could you live without email?

Notes on Glossy Paper