I used to work for Knight Ridder Digital (which became Mclatchy Interactive in 2006). I was there for over 7 years. I started as a Technical Operations Manager with broadly defined responsibilites and very little authority.
I managed to hang on to that title through several transitions and reorganizations. At one point I only had 1 person reporting to me, no charter, and for a brief one no one to report to, which was refreshing after having 3 other people I reported to directly. As I result of another reorg I ended up with 7 direct reports.
During those transition periods I performed some specialized tasks assigned by our VP of operations. While most of that task was technical in nature (reviewing the architecture of our classifieds systems and identifying problem area's) the hardest part of it was working with representatives from the classifieds staff of the paper.
It took me a while to understand the demands of their jobs and the complaints they had about our systems. Gradually I realized that despite their lack of technical knowledge these folks were very intelligent and very dedicated. I came to consider most of them friends as well as associates.
I got laid off from Mclatchy Interactive March 31 2007 after my position became obsolete. Since then, I have been focusing on a career change to a sculptor with little success. I sell my figures online though a web site of my own design.
My goal is/was to clear at least 12k in my first year of business, but I fell short of that goal and have been activily seeking employement in my old profession, also with little success.