The Mouse House

Today was our official kick off of Disney Mobile down in Anaheim. Our little group of 45 people are about to make a new page in the Disney history book. This is kind of cool. It’s also pretty cool to actually be excited about work for a change. Here I am on another project. Big, big differences this time though. First, this team is small enough so that we’ll actually get a chance to know everyone by name. Second, we’re all employees rather than consultants. This is huge because it means we’re all invested in the venture. Next, I have a permanent job this time around with a whole lot of potential to grow with this division. If this all goes as planned, I’ll have a team under me within the next couple of years. And last, there’s definitely something nice about having something tangible as the product. Up until now, all project rollouts I’ve done have been software installations. I guess that could be considered tangible depending upon how you look at it, but cell phones are a hell of a lot more fun to launch than programs on a computer. I’m meeting a lot of great people and I just get this sense of being appreciated here. That is so foreign to me after being stuck at Corporate for so long where you’re supposed to feel honored to have a job. Fuck that. There are very few people I’ve met at this company who skate by. Almost all work their asses off for this place. During the last project I actually watched marriages end, people have heart attacks and even one death. When I say people gave their blood, sweat and tears for this company I am not exaggerating. I could go into the damage my body incurred but I won’t. Some of my friends wonder why I continue to work for the mouse. The truth is, this company is so big that working for different businesses within it are like working for totally different companies. The Disney Internet Group is making a lot of money for Disney. Translation, they get a lot more freedom to run the show how they see fit. Right now all their employees benefit from it. It looks like I’ll be going to NYC at the end of the month to meet with a group of ESPN folks. I can’t wait to go back. I fell in love with that city last time I was there. I seriously believe I could live there for a while; maybe one or two years. I have to get to bed and be ready for another round of meetings tomorrow. At least I’m in town now. This morning I had to leave Simi Valley at 6:30 and barely made it here by 9:00. Brutal. Sleep has been trying to take me since I got here this morning. Okay… Boring entry but had to get this out of my head.