First and foremost, I love the people at Future. I'm lucky to be surrounded by smart, talented, enthusiastic, and super cool people who make me look forward to coming to work every day. And as a guitar player, there's really no better place to work than at a guitar magazine and a music magazine, where I'm surrounded by a lot of like-minded people.

I act as a liaison between the advertisers, the sales team, the production department and the accounting department. My hope is that by doing my job efficiently, everyone else can focus on their specific job - or jobs - and not spend so much time worrying about all the details.

What it is like to work here? It's never boring! I try to get my work done in between visits from Zakk Wylde and Alex Lifeson because otherwise, when they crank their amps for a new video on our CD-Rom, watch out. It ain't pretty. I mean, it's awesome, just not when you're on the phone. But all the people are great here and everyday I try to balance out the work with a little socializing...or trying the new Gretsch that just made its way to the tech editor's cubicle for review.

I work here because it's fun, and I know that we're putting out really great magazines, CD-Roms, DVDs and websites that musicians and music aficionados love and learn from. It's a great community. If we can inspire people to start playing guitar, learn a new song or if they're just psyched to read the Slipknot album preview in Revolver, I'm happy.

As a Multimedia Editor, I wear a lot of hats at Future: Video Producer, Editor, Podcast Network Manager, Sales/Ad support, Intern program manager, Company wide multimedia technical support...the list goes on. I even research and implement new technologies such as our massive 12 Terabyte video capture network.

I love helping people and I love being creative. My favorite part of my job is creating video plans with the brands and then producing them. I then develop, produce, shoot, design, edit, etc. It's rewarding work. Every day is different, each project with different challenges. Media and technology are evolving and I get to play with all the new toys that make it easier to create better products.

Future really is a special place. It's not always easy work since we are all trying to do more than we can comfortably handle, but if it was easy, we wouldn't grow because we weren't challenged. That's what I really believe is at the heart of Future's strength: Future is a place where driven, creative people can try new ideas without a lot of red tape. If it's cool and it makes sense, we do it. The creative, friendly people I work with have consistently surprised and inspired me. For my part, I will continue to do more, better and have fun doing it. To quote Dirk Diggler: "As long as you guys keep rockin, I'll keep rockin".

As the Customer Service Manager for Future US, Inc., I (in a nutshell) handle all aspects of customer service for every single-one of our titles, for each one of our offices (with the exception of Atlanta). It's a crazy job, which takes up a lot of my time, but hey, if I didn't love it, I wouldn't do it.

My typical day - "A typical day for me consists of sifting through hundreds of emails, dozens of voicemails, managing disc replacements, updating portions of the customer service web pages, micro-managing our fulfillment house back in Iowa (with the help of a few of my Circulation Department colleagues). And just as an FYI, my day does not stop at 5pm. At any given time you will find me checking emails from home late at night or on the weekends. Being the only one here to do it, it can be a tough & crazy job, but hey... someone's gotta do it, and I would rather that someone be me."

What I love about working here - "Basically what I love about working here is, and has always been our product and our people. I've seen a lot of change here in the last 5 years, some good, some bad. But in the end this has been one of the few companies I have worked for, where I actually enjoy coming into the office. Where I can leave each day feeling as though I made a difference"

How I feel I contribute to Future/the workplace/my department - "My contribution to Future? Well, I feel that my dedication to this company, my respect for our readers/customers, my full loyality to our editors, writers and staff and a "no problem" attitude to this position helps in the smooth operation of my little department. Customer Service is a very stressful, very time consuming and sometimes very overlooked department in most companies. People forget that it's those readers and customers of ours that make our business flourish. Now, as I said, "most companie" underappreciate my "department", but in all honesty Future has never been one of them."

What's it like to work here - "What's it like to work here?" Hmmm, that's a good question. Crazy & Relaxed. Wild & Unpredictable. Challenging & Rewarding. And no, management didn't put me up to that."

Why I do what I do - "I do what I do here at Future because I have a deep and loyal commitment to this company & product. I have a philosophy that a person can only do a job well if they truly believe in the product that they sale (whatever or wherever that may be). A person can usually spot when a person is just doing a job for the sake of a paycheck. Well, that person is not me. When I beleive in something, I give 110% of my energy to it. For me it doesn't get much better."

As Systems Administrator, it is my job to empower employees through the use of information technology. I feel that IT is not just a service but also a business tool. And it's my responsibility to research and implement technology that employees can use to make their jobs more efficient and easier to manage.

I love working at Future. The company is an open forum for ideas. There are so many opportunities here to combine your personal interests and your work. The management team is accessible and listens. You have the freedom to be yourself and feel comfortable about it. My co-workers are my friends. I get enthusiastic about coming to work, really. Future is kind of like an extended family.