Restrictions

I’m always happy for a friend when they start a job at Apple — but I’m also sad when it means they have to stop their community activities: no more podcasting and blogging, developer meetup organizing, presenting at conferences, writing side-project apps, contributing to open-source things.Brent Simmons

Those sort of restrictions is one of the reasons why I don't want to have a "job", i.e. be an employee.

Author: Khürt Williams

Hello, I'm Khürt, a Gen X-er residing near Princeton University in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, with a passion for aquariums, terrariums, and photography, capturing moments with digital and 35mm film cameras. I find solace in the woods through hiking, and my eclectic musical tastes span soca, Afrobeat, calypso, 1990s rap, grunge rock, and alternative genres. My tech interests are towards open-source software, Linux, UNIX, and Apple products, particularly macOS.

4 thoughts on “Restrictions”

  1. Jim Grey says:
    3rd December 2019 at 7:27 PM

    I have a job in tech and I still blog about it. Not nearly as often as about photography, of course. softwaresaltmines.com.

    1. Khürt Williams says:
      3rd December 2019 at 11:17 PM

      Hi Jim,

      When I wrote web applications I blogged about it regularly. When I was an information security analyst, I blogged about it regularly. Now that I am an information security architect, I blog about photography. 🙂

      This blog used to be very tech-focused.

      I guess you don't work at a company with very strict non-disclosure agreements or that requires you to ask for permission to do public speaking at local tech events.

      1. Jim Grey says:
        4th December 2019 at 5:53 AM

        11 tech companies in 30 years and not a one has had onerous NDAs or required permission to speak publicly. But these have all been B2B software companies and the stakes are different.

        1. Khürt Williams says:
          4th December 2019 at 12:52 PM

          I think you've been lucky. My 26-year technology career has been evenly split between a full-time employee and consulting roles in New Jersey, all with Fortune 500 companies in either pharmaceutical or financial services industries.

          A majority of the employee roles have required that I get permission to speak publicly about topics in my field (information security) with the caveat that I must present a disclaimer that my presentation does not represent my employer. In some cases, my presentation needed to be reviewed by the employer.

          In the past, I have introduced myself as "employed by a Fortune 500 company with a blue logo".

          Only one of my employers was in the technology field.

          Here's an example from one former employer's handbook.

          You should also consider potential conflicts with BMS business interests before agreeing to serve as a director, officer or other responsible position for an outside business; seeking a political or other government position; or engaging in service with a charitable, civic, religious, educational, public, political, or social organization. Where there is even a potential appearance of conflict, seek guidance and approval consistent with BMS policy.

          As an independent consultant, none of those constraints can be placed on me without implicating New Jersey employment law.

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