A friend, Lisa Guide, suggested I blog about the meaning of work in the 21st century.  While flattered, I couldn’t imagine what I could add to the conversation.  And then I remembered (how could I forget?) the life changing baby gift bestowed by my employers in 1990 after the birth of my first child:  a complete home office — a computer, a modem, a separate phone line, a printer and a fax machine.  In the pre-laptop, pre-email, pre-mobile days, this home office was a true gift.

In hindsight, the gift was not really for me but rather for them; it was an investment my employers made in their own company.  A political consulting firm, they were faced with two choices as I neared the end of my pregnancy:  they could replace me during their busiest time or they could set me up to work virtually.  It was an investment that more than paid off:  I worked as hard – if not harder – than in my pre-motherhood days when I routinely clocked in 50 hours a week in the office.  In addition to the meetings I attended via phone from my home during the workday, I also worked late into the night, faxing campaign strategies, advertising copy or polling analyses to greet partners or clients first thing in the morning.

Even when I left politics, joining the corporate world, I insisted on – and received – flexible work arrangements from American Express, a first for them in late 1992.  They would enable others to follow suit earning them repeated inclusion in Working Mother Magazine’s list of Best Employers for Working Mothers.

Since my first home office, technology has leapfrogged and irrevocably changed where and how work is defined:  my computer has been replaced by a laptop, the modem for a wi-fi network, the faxes for email and phone calls for webinars.  With 24/7 connectedness and ultimate mobility, the “office” can be anywhere.  I can partner with the person down the street or on the other side of the globe.  And, technology has done something else:  it has freed us to be more creative, to spend more time building relationships and communities – both physical and virtual, to understand and solve the pain points of our lives.  This type of creativity and empathy, drawing on the right side of the brain, argues Daniel Pink, author and former Al Gore speechwriter, has helped usher us out of the Information Age and into the Conceptual Age, an age of high concept, high touch; an age that requires creativity, community connectedness, and an un-tethered workplace.

This new age – is a boon to working mothers and fathers and is being fueled by our current economic downturn.  As people lose their jobs, they look for creative ways to support themselves and their families.  Even before the economic tailspin, creative, right-brained individuals were creating new products and services that challenge the notions of how things are done, how work is conceived and produced.  The growth of social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, MyWorkButterfly,) and crowdsourcing for social good (e.g., Kiva, Global Giving, Ushahidi or the soon to be launched, If I Ran The World) are just two examples of this changing landscape.

While the early years of my virtual career simply changed the geographic location of where work was conducted, the coming years will be marked by a change in the nature of the work itself:  it will be community reliant, creative and enabled by an untethered office.

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Anne Mai Bertelsen is the Founder and President of MAi Strategies, a marketing consulting firm specializing in integrated marketing strategy development and implementation.  Her clients include American Express Consumer Card Group, United Nations’ Office of Humanitarian Assistance, and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

Prior to starting her own firm, Anne held various marketing positions at American Express, the Port Authority of NY and NJ and Dresner, Sykes, Jordan & Townsend (DSJT), a national public image and political consulting firm.  She was also an Assistant Producer at CBS News’ Election and Survey Unit.

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