Yipe
10-19-2001, 04:24 PM
When thinking about my new job and how everything fell together, I am reminded of those old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials where two people accidentally bump into each other, mixing their chocolate candy bar and jar of peanut butter… serendipitous in the extreme. One question comes to mind though, why would someone carry around an open jar of peanut butter? The answer to that question can wait for Deep Blue. For now I have some exciting personal news to announce – I got a job in the paintball industry!
After five years of stressful tech-writing, sales training and technical support in the cut-throat world of wireless, I decided my years in college had been sufficiently served and the time had come to land a fun job. No more headaches, career burnout or dreams of escaping to a deserted island in the South Pacific with Ginger and friends. Well, okay the island dream can stay but something else had to change.
Browsing through the employment section for leads, the first job listing I found was for a local interent paintball retailer. I had purchased several markers from them over the years and toyed with the idea of working there, but couldn’t justify the perceived paycut even if that meant talking about paintball all day for a living. Job security was another issue. I have seen many mom-n’-pop paintball shops come and go over the years and most were run by enthusiasts rather than businessmen. In other words, I was worried that I couldn’t survive on paintball.
Coaxed by my girlfriend, family and friends, I applied for the sales and tech support position with Paintball-Online. Though I was worried about the pay, I took the job and I’m very glad I did! I have been extremely impressed with the company’s professionalism, and as my dad always told me, do something you love and the money will follow. Somehow, I have managed to merge my need to “pay the bills”with a sport I am passionate about. Let me tell you, that is a great feeling.
Why am I telling this to everyone on AO? Other than being excited about my new job, I now have access to all kinds of goodies, both Automag related and not, and I hope to provide some hands-on product reviews. For example, we just received our Mako Storm Spyder grip frames so I will let you guys know how well that works. You can be sure that when the HALO arrives, I will be thoroughly testing one out on my Warp Feed.
Besides offering insights into upcoming products outside the AGD realm, I feel my new job affords me an interesting perspective on paintball as a whole. Some of the general concepts I held regarding paintball in the past have spun around 180 degress! One of my greatest struggles is educating players about the basic physics of paintball, as well as bringing some front-line respect to the Mag! The majority of players I meet would rather believe the hype about barrels or other gadgets then hear the truth. Crazy.
Anyway, I’m off to do some more on-the-job training… which means reading the AO forums and hanging out in the chatroom :)
Sincerley,
Matt
paintball-online.com
After five years of stressful tech-writing, sales training and technical support in the cut-throat world of wireless, I decided my years in college had been sufficiently served and the time had come to land a fun job. No more headaches, career burnout or dreams of escaping to a deserted island in the South Pacific with Ginger and friends. Well, okay the island dream can stay but something else had to change.
Browsing through the employment section for leads, the first job listing I found was for a local interent paintball retailer. I had purchased several markers from them over the years and toyed with the idea of working there, but couldn’t justify the perceived paycut even if that meant talking about paintball all day for a living. Job security was another issue. I have seen many mom-n’-pop paintball shops come and go over the years and most were run by enthusiasts rather than businessmen. In other words, I was worried that I couldn’t survive on paintball.
Coaxed by my girlfriend, family and friends, I applied for the sales and tech support position with Paintball-Online. Though I was worried about the pay, I took the job and I’m very glad I did! I have been extremely impressed with the company’s professionalism, and as my dad always told me, do something you love and the money will follow. Somehow, I have managed to merge my need to “pay the bills”with a sport I am passionate about. Let me tell you, that is a great feeling.
Why am I telling this to everyone on AO? Other than being excited about my new job, I now have access to all kinds of goodies, both Automag related and not, and I hope to provide some hands-on product reviews. For example, we just received our Mako Storm Spyder grip frames so I will let you guys know how well that works. You can be sure that when the HALO arrives, I will be thoroughly testing one out on my Warp Feed.
Besides offering insights into upcoming products outside the AGD realm, I feel my new job affords me an interesting perspective on paintball as a whole. Some of the general concepts I held regarding paintball in the past have spun around 180 degress! One of my greatest struggles is educating players about the basic physics of paintball, as well as bringing some front-line respect to the Mag! The majority of players I meet would rather believe the hype about barrels or other gadgets then hear the truth. Crazy.
Anyway, I’m off to do some more on-the-job training… which means reading the AO forums and hanging out in the chatroom :)
Sincerley,
Matt
paintball-online.com