I exaggerate and/or lie quite frequently to keep my life interesting. Usually, it is only to hairdressers but the a couple of weeks ago at a fancy to-do, raising money for red mud disaster earlier this year, I pretended for an entire night that I worked for Skype Media in their Communications and Networking sector. I didn't change my name because I can only keep so many aspects of a story straight. If I had changed my name it have been to Penelopi (with an i).
So, in order to make this work I really developed my role at Skype. My job mostly involved investigating how non-profits and small businesses were already using Skype in their offices for their communication needs. By working with them I am able to discover how we can make Skype a better product for them. Seeing as though we are living in financially difficult times this sector can really benefit from Skype's low fees, free features and our business model. Not only is Skype an instant messaging service, it is also a phone which can be used to make long distance conference calls (with video) thus synergizing the workplace. Did you know Skype has a headquarters here in Budapest? Well they do, and I work primarily with the European region and have cohorts researching in 5 other regions. As our company is becoming more and more financially secure my role is to also investigate how we can give back to the community by connecting people to one another on the internet.
That night I gave friends new identities too, one was importing British Eco-Friendly cleaning products, another was a Gibson Guitar specialist, and the last one was a photo-journalist working on a piece about American war resisters (living here tax-free, obviously).
No one, and I mean NO ONE asked what we were doing for a living...
To be honest though, had I told anyone who knew anything about a) skype, b) the internet, or c) how to use the terms business model or synergy I would have been found out immediately.
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