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A New Workforce is Brewing
By Daniel Casciato

February 26, 2008


Who needs an office when you've got a cafe? A new wave of employees and entrepreneurs are using Wi-Fi to re-invent what it means to go to work.


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Since 1989, Andy Abramson has been working on the road. He was one of the first virtual account managers in the ad world after his agency equipped him with a fax machine and credit card to work from a small desk in his bedroom.

Today, Abramson still works virtually, relying mainly on Wi-Fi networks in cafés, hotel lobbies, airline clubs, and even wine bars, to run his marketing communications agency, Comunicano, "based" in Del Mar, Calif.

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Taking it to the Streets: Run Your Business from the Road
By Daniel Casciato




By relying on Wi-Fi connectivity at RV campgrounds and other hotspots around the country, one entrepreneurial couple from Maine has taken their Internet-based business on the road so they can enjoy everything America has to offer.



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With Wi-Fi hotpots proliferating in cities and towns everywhere, a new class of workers has emerged. Today, more people are running their professional lives from cafes and hotspots as neo-bedouins—named after Arab nomads who wander the desert. Unlike many of their itinerant counterparts, Richard and Angela Hoy of Bangor, Maine, exemplify how a bedouin lifestyle truly should be lived—on the road.

In March 2004, Hoy and his wife were searching for the most economical way for their family of six to visit relatives in Wisconsin and Texas.

"Flying is cumbersome, not to mention expensive, with that many people," said Hoy who discussed several options with his wife, including buying an RV. "Buying an RV made the most sense because at least we'd actually have some equity in something rather than just paying it out to an airline."

The Hoys planned to buy an RV to travel the country when they retired anyway.

"We were itching to get on the road and were about 20 years from retirement," said Hoy. "Everyone we ever talked to about full-time RVing told us that they regret not doing it sooner. You wouldn't believe how many times we heard, 'My wife/husband and I were planning to travel around the country in our RV, but then he or she died.' Or, 'he/she got sick before we could see everything.' We decided that life is too short."

Because their print-on-demand publishing company, Booklocker.com, is Internet-based, the Hoys could hit the road and bring the business along for the ride.

"It didn't really matter where we were," said Hoy. "Our business is entirely online. As long as we have a connection, we could run the business. Even when we were exclusively flying or driving in our van, we always had our computers, cell phones, and assorted business-related gadgets. We've automated many of our business processes, and since it is Web-based, we just need to monitor everything and respond to customer e-mails."

In 1999, Hoy's wife launched a Web site for freelance writers, WritersWeekly.com, after both of their previous jobs with Internet start-ups went belly-up during the dot-com bust in the late 1990s.

"Soon after, we decided to branch out into publishing," said Hoy. "We started publishing e-books and Angie put some of her e-books on a site called Booklocker.com, one of the few places selling e-books at the time. It did really well. Eventually, the owner wanted out of the business and agreed to sell the site to us."

After a year of selling e-books, the Hoys expanded into print-on-demand publishing, manufacturing books at the time a customer orders it. Currently, 1,500 authors use Booklocker.com.

"We provide a turnkey system for people who want to self publish to get a book into the marketplace. We take the manuscript and turn it into a finished book or product," said Hoy.

"But instead of doing what other print-on-demand publishers were doing—publishing any manuscript—we try to find books that are fairly marketable to maintain some quality control with our material."

Knowing that this business model would continue to prosper on the road, the only hurdle remaining for the Hoys was how to educate their children (four at the time, now five). Three of the children were school-aged at the time.

"We obviously couldn't take them out of public school for extended periods," said Hoy. "We started researching options on how to homeschool when we came across Oak Meadow, an accredited institution based in Vermont with an online-based curriculum. It was perfect for us and has worked out well."

With everything finally . . .

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Save the Planet, Work Remotely
By Naomi Graychase

March 18, 2008


Aruba and Avaya team up to provide secure enterprise-quality voice and data applications to remote workers--and reduce greenhouse gases while they're at it.



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Aruba Networks announced today that it has teamed up with Avaya to provide a “green” voice and data access solution for teleworkers. In a press release, Aruba said it was motivated by “the need to reduce CO2 emissions,” as well as market trends that “favor mobile workforces.”

According to Aruba, a telecommuter traveling 45 miles—roughly the distance between San Jos