If you don’t know me (and there’s very little reason for you to be here if you don’t) I’m Ben Thompson, a graphic designer and artist and businessman and drummer. Sometimes I go by Ben Zero because it turns out that there are a ton of other Ben Thompsons out there, and I’m frankly too busy to try to spend a bunch of time trying to distinguish myself on the web from the motorcycle racer, the right wing politician, or the old west shotgun murderer.
Since 1985, I’ve been a graphic designer, manager, business owner, and consultant. I’ve worked for dozens of organizations from small businesses to some on the top end of the Fortune 500, and the work that I do affords me the wonderful opportunity to have an inside look at the structure and workings of these organizations. In addition, I’ve traded war stories with hundreds of employees, co-workers, clients, and acquaintances, about the business of design, the internet, and business itself. This blog is an attempt to share some of what I’ve learned, heard, or figured out over the years. One important point: Unless I mention a company or individual by name, I’ve made a point of obscuring any information that refers to any specific individual or organization. Think of these as business parables, rather than specific events.
If you want to know more about me, please take a look at my design bio or my business bio on this site.
I’ve been designing and building websites (or managing people who design and build websites) since 1994, and my build skills have dropped in and out of currency over that time. This time around, I decided to work in the WordPress framework. I’ll keep tinkering with it over time, I’m sure.
If you read this and have something to say back, please drop me a line and let me know what you think:
send mail to blog(at)benzero(dot)com.
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