As I mentioned, we are parked at a friend’s house in southeastern Massachusetts. We’re here to visit friends not just in Bridgewater but also in Boston and Rhode Island, and I’ve got a fair amount of work to do, so we decided to stay through Friday.

The courtesy parking here is great, thanks to our friends Mike and Bonnie. We’ve been friends since 1991 or so, when Mike put me through for an Instrument Rating. He’s now an professor at Bridgewater State College, in the Aviation school, and once a year he invites me to present a guest lecture to his poor students on some topic of business or entrepreneurship. Today I’ll be talking to them about “virtual companies” like the one I run (Airstream Life magazine).

Virtual companies have been a passion of mine since the mid-90s when the Internet really started to take off. A company with no central office, lower overhead, self-contained employees working when and where they are comfortable, and constant collaboration via the Internet can be incredibly efficient in terms of both money and time.

People often ask how I can run my business entirely from an Airstream. My feeling is that if I couldn‘t run it from an Airstream, I would be doing it wrong. A magazine is a “knowledge business”, where the primary product is information. Such businesses do not need retail storefronts, local business ties, or physical plants. The requirements to put a knowledge business on the road are identical to those needed to increase efficiency in today’s virtual business world.

For example, to take Airstream Life magazine on the road, I needed to:

— use the Internet to communicate and collaborate with subcontractors, employees, and freelancers
— slim down physical assets to the bare minimum (mostly files and office hardware)
— learn to select and motivate team members, long-distance
— take advantage of e-business solutions (like eFax, PayPal, e-commerce)
— use the Internet to market my product and support my customers
— personally learn to work more flexibly (at odd hours, through interruptions etc)
— outsource work to the best providers I can find, on a global scale

Those are the same things I needed to do to run the organization efficiently enough to survive through its first year. The efficiencies offered by modern technology — and conversely, by avoiding the obsolete business structures and technology of yesterday — don’t just enable more efficient businesses. They create opportunities for new businesses which otherwise couldn’t exist, such as mine.

So perhaps it would be a good test for small “knowledge businesses” to see if their business can efficiently be run from an Airstream. Some business book writer will probably pick up this concept in the next few years, calling it the “Airstream virtual business test” or some such thing.

Yesterday Eleanor and Emma headed off to Rhode Island to visit with Chef Martin, a former co-worker of Eleanor’s when she was doing an “externship” at The Federal Reserve restaurant in Providence. I wish I could have gone just to watch Chef Martin cook. Like a lot of professional chefs, he has a marvelous ability to whip up something amazingly delicious in about 5 minutes, using any food product that happens to lying around. He did it for me one late late night in Providence, after the kitchen had closed, and I still remember how amazed I was at his skill. Real-life pro chefs are a treat to watch when they are in action.

Today they are off to the ‘burbs north of Boston to visit another old friend. I’ll be doing my lecture here at B’water this morning. I may head into Boston on the train to visit Susan and Adam this afternoon, at their office in the Financial District.

Solar update: We had to plug in, despite brilliant fall sunshine. Our parking spot is shaded by trees all day. I was working in the trailer most of the day and between a night of furnace and a day of laptop we managed to use about 60 amp-hours.

Scam update: I wrote back yesterday to report bad news from my “cousin” Ayres:

Hi Dr Williams

My cousin Ayres received the check yesterday. I just heard from my aunt Abe that he is sick with aluminitus and won’t be able to get to Western Union for a few days. But I’m sure he will deposit it soon.

One question: the price of the car is $500 but you said to only forward $1800. What about the extra $200?

… and received this reply not long after:

HELLO,
THANKS FOR MAKING ME KNOW THAT YOUR COUSIN HAS THE CHECK.I REALLY NEED THE CAR VERY VERY SOON AND I WANT YOU TO ASSIST IN SENDING THE OVERPAYMENT OF $1,800 VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER FOR YOUR COUSIN TO THE INFORMATION BELOW

[same contact as before]

THE $200 IS FOR THE WESTERN UNION CHARGES AND YOU CAN TAKE THE REST FOR ALL THE INCONVIENIENCES I MIGHT HAVE COST FOR YOU.
PLS KINDLY GET BACK TO ME WITH THE MTCN#,FULL NAME AND ADDRESS OF SENDER.

I WILL BE EXPECTING YOUR REPLY, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THANKS.
DR.LILIAN WILLIAMS

——

Today I think I’ll end this charade. The check they sent me is so bad, even to the point of being check #1001 and not certified as promised, that I think this scammer is not worth the effort. I have trouble believing anyone would have fallen for this one. Just look at all the names I’ve gotten from this person:

Email address: richardwilliams911@yahoo.com
Claimed name: Dr. Lilian Williams
UPS package return address: Larry Inc
Name on check: Alvaro Mendoza
Name of funds recipient: Velecia Farmer

Perhaps Ayres will die from his case of “aluminitus” tomorrow. I’ve never heard of it being fatal, though. Or perhaps I’ll just tell the scammer that since the check isn’t certified, I need to wait for it to clear. That oughta do it.