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“Where is it written that commuters have to use the wheel?” asks James DeKoven, a brand strategist and copywriter who has devised marketing tactics for such big-name clients as C&H Sugar, 24 Hour Fitness and Southwest Airlines from his satellite office in the Peet’s Coffee & Tea at the corner of Sacramento and Fillmore. Though DeKoven, a 10-year Pac Heights resident, has an “official” office downtown, strolling to his neighborhood cafe offers more than just the requisite caffeine jolt. First, there’s the social aspect: “I refer to the other regulars there as my ‘surrogate cube mates,’” says DeKoven, who will work at Peet’s up to four hours a day, four days a week. Then there’s his increased productivity, made possible by a peculiar self-imposed “no recreational Wi-Fi” rule: “I’m a vinyl junkie, and I don’t want to start surfing eBay for albums—it’s potentially a big distraction. So, I don’t use the Internet, except to send emails to my clients.” And lastly, there’s the convenience factor: “Whether or not I take the bus to my downtown office depends on how I feel in the morning. Peet’s is just a few minutes’ walk from my house. I mean, do you really want to split hairs? If riding the bus or carpooling are ‘green’ forms of transportation, then by that reasoning, telecommuting is the most environmentally friendly because I’m hardly using any energy,” claims DeKoven, who admits to enjoying his professional freedom so much that he has taken a solemn vow “never to have a real job again.” We like the color of that parachute.
“Where is it written that commuters have to use the wheel?” asks James DeKoven, a brand strategist and copywriter who has devised marketing tactics for such big-name clients as C&H Sugar, 24 Hour Fitness and Southwest Airlines from his satellite office in the Peet’s Coffee & Tea at the corner of Sacramento and Fillmore. Though DeKoven, a 10-year Pac Heights resident, has an “official” office downtown, strolling to his neighborhood cafe offers more than just the requisite caffeine jolt. First, there’s the social aspect: “I refer to the other regulars there as my ‘surrogate cube mates,’” says DeKoven, who will work at Peet’s up to four hours a day, four days a week. Then there’s his increased productivity, made possible by a peculiar self-imposed “no recreational Wi-Fi” rule: “I’m a vinyl junkie, and I don’t want to start surfing eBay for albums—it’s potentially a big distraction. So, I don’t use the Internet, except to send emails to my clients.” And lastly, there’s the convenience factor: “Whether or not I take the bus to my downtown office depends on how I feel in the morning. Peet’s is just a few minutes’ walk from my house. I mean, do you really want to split hairs? If riding the bus or carpooling are ‘green’ forms of transportation, then by that reasoning, telecommuting is the most environmentally friendly because I’m hardly using any energy,” claims DeKoven, who admits to enjoying his professional freedom so much that he has taken a solemn vow “never to have a real job again.” We like the color of that parachute.
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