All Work AND All Play

What happens when Generation X hits the corporate world? You get a really rocking business magazine that is actually fun to read!

I'm in the employee communication field, so it's important for me to keep up to date on business trends, but charts, graphs and statistical analysis reports put me to sleep. I want to hear about the fun, hip side of work, and Fast Company provides it.

Where so many other business magazines are money-centric, Fast Company is all about staying fresh, finding the newest ideas, and making work enjoyable (what a concept!). Typical features include "My Favorite Bookmarks" from plenty of diverse and interesting people, "Job Titles of the Future," which is sure to make you wish you were able to choose YOUR own job title, and lots of articles on change, innovation, creativity, and leadership. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, THIS is what work is supposed to be like.

I read the magazine both in hard copy and online. While I am big on the textural experience of reading magazines in paper format (and I enjoy splashy, well-designed ads), this is actually one magazine I prefer online (at www.fastcompany.com, of course). It has a great navigation system that allows you to glance through the current issues articles, but also lets you browse through archived articles, referencing them by issue or by topic. So if you want to find an article on, oh, let's say innovation, you will find a wealth of them. And because Fast Company always features really cool things, you will most likely be referred to a website, where you will find even more cool things, which will link you to even more cool things.

In fact, one of the best arguments I can give that you MUST read this magazine is that it indirectly led me to Epinions! While visiting the Fast Company site, I found a fascinating online manifesto called "Unleashing the Ideavirus" (which can also be downloaded at www.ideavirus.com), and this very interesting document referred me to many great websites. The best site it sent me to, though, was Epinions.

The only down side to Fast Company is that it does tend to center on one theme for each issue, so while one month I will read it cover to cover, another month I may find only one or two articles that grab my attention. Nevertheless, I guarantee that you will never read Fast Company, whether in hard copy or online format, that you will not find SOMETHING interesting or inspiring.