I'm hiring

I am looking to hire a personal assistant. This job is working for me, not for Machine Project but of course there is significant overlap since mostly I run Machine Project.

Person should be well organized, have a strong attention to detail, and have a car they can drive. Some minor lifting and ladder climbing involved. There will be weekly reporting of project status expected. Hours are approximately 3 days a week, 5 hours per day, plus additional weekends or evenings as needed during Machine Project events. $15/hour for first six weeks, then $18/hour.

This part-time job has three main responsibilities:

1. Writing. A significant amount of documents ranging from show proposals, applications, letters, plans, notes, explanations and press releases are generated weekly. These often need to be written in consultation with me for specific tone and style. The most important thing here is to be able to synthesize verbal ideas from me into written form, and quickly.

2. Assist me in phone, email and mail communication. I am involved in multiple simultaneous projects and need lots of help keeping them organized and moving forward.

3. Track and issue reminders for scheduling, meetings, and appointments,

4. Maintain and organize the Machine Project physical space. This place is a total (yet fun!) disaster. We do many events and projects at Machine and stuff is always getting moved around. You will be responsible for keeping everything in order and where it belongs. This involves setting up for events, breaking down after events, conceptualizing and maintaining an organizational structure for the space and activities that we do here. We have an organizational framework in place but it needs constant attention. This extends to unglamourous activities such as running errands, taking out the trash, recycling, etc.

I asked Sam, Michele and Liz who have worked for me to try and describe what it's like and this is what they said:

"Fun work place with interesting subject matter and lovely co-workers (esp Michele and Sam and Liz). Lots of unannounced fun artists and visitors drop in regularly. Criticism is constructive, warm and direct. Occasional free lunch. Tasks are expected to be done quickly, sometimes without a lot of notice or explanation. There is an expectation that you are able to work independently while simultaneously reporting on the status of current, completed and pending tasks. You should enjoy functioning in a collaborative, loosely networked feedback structure. Mark has bursts of mania followed by extensive naps."

To apply, please email resume, cover letter and two references to markallen@markallen.com. Cover letter should explain qualifications, previous experience or knowledge of Machine Project, how you organize your own information and tasks, and interest in job. By reference I mean the phone number and email of someone who can vouch for you, preferably someone that I already know. Please feel free to email me at markallen@markallen.com if you have any questions