During my last weekend (12 & 13 December) – before getting off to Belgium for Christmas – everything came nicely together. I founded my own Limited Liability Corporation, scored a job and found a new place to live in Capitol Hill! All that in just one weekend!
It all started about a month ago when I found out there was a launch event of a new iPhone application, just two hours before the party was taking off. There were no tickets left but I decided to talk me in. I wrote an e-mail to the organizers proposing them to take pictures at the event. Taking pictures at an event is a fun and effective way to meet new people. They responded positively so I went to Ballard (north of Seattle), took pictures of the event and met some interesting people including Justin, Aaron and Terry from Fotozio, the company behind the iPhone app. The iPhone application they’ve build is called PicTranslator and it allows you to take a picture of a piece of text and then return the translation.
At that same event I talked with Mason working for a start-up called Zendorse. He told me they were looking for a designer so we exchanged business cards. A few weeks later I had coffee with Tom (ex-Microsoft) – the founder – and some time later we met again but this time at their office ‘Indie Ballard‘ with the two developers. I got an introduction into their product and they asked me to join their team. Over the weekend we negotiated a salary and on Monday December 15th I starting working for Zendorse as interface designer and front-end developer.
Zendorse is a Seattle start-up in stealth mode, meaning that I cannot say what it is all about. To give a hint, it’s a web application and it has something to do with music. The developers have been working on the back-end past six months. My role is to design the user interface and to develop the front-end (XHTML, CSS & jQuery). An alpha version is planned for January 2010. If you are on Twitter, be sure to follow twitter.com/zendorse so you can score an invite to check out our first release!
That same weekend I started Barclaey LLC, a limited liability corporation. Starting your own business in the States is less cumbersome than in Belgium. I first registered the company at Seattle for $15, then registered it at the State of Washington for $200. All this could easily be done online. A few days later the business certification was dropped in the mailbox. Now I only have to visit the bank to get an additional account and that’s it. At the end of January I have to file my first taxes which means I’ll have to do some book keeping very soon. I’m using outright.com for bookkeeping and freshbooks.com for managing invoices and time sheets. Both web services work nicely together.
Because Ballard (north of Seattle) is pretty far from Columbia City (south of Seattle) I was looking against a long commute. People who know me well know that I’m not a big fan of commuting By coincidence, my friend Amy told me her friend was looking for a new roommate. I immediately took action and went to Capitol Hill to check out the place. I always planned to move to Capitol Hill. It is much closer to Ballard where I work and Belltown and Downtown where all the events take place. I met with my roommate Amy (yes, two Amy’s to make it confusing) and checked out the apartment. All was well so within minutes I decided to go for it. Unfortunately it’s not that easy to move into a new place. The landlord needs to do a full background check first so there is yet again paperwork involved. It’s pretty common here for landlords to check its renters for their credit score and getting references from previous leases.
I don’t have to tell you January will be a busy month. Besides Zendorse I also signed with Fotozio to help them rolling out another iPhone app (which I again cannot tell you more about at this moment). There are also some smaller freelance projects I will start working on, not only for Seattle but also for some new Belgium clients. Oh, and there is Creativeskills.be version 2 that’s coming up. Eventough the current site is almost five years old the site still breaks visitor records every week and the number of registrations surpassed 8.000!
The past two months – November and December – I was in full speed attending events, meeting people and visiting companies. It’s great to start seeing familiar faces at all those meet-ups. The young and ambitious Arianna O’Dell even described me as “Mr. i know everyone” some weeks ago. While I still have to meet tons of people I agree I’m doing my best to integrate in the tech scene. One of the most interesting events of past months were MindCamp, Ignite, Cold Pavement, AdClub and obviously Social Media Club Seattle at the Microsoft campus with afterparty sponsored by Sprint!
But not only through those events I get to meet interesting people. While I was walking around Pioneer Square I noticed a sign that said ‘Ratio Interactive’. I looked them up on Twitter and soon I was in a conversation with Keith and Darren. A few days later I visited their offices and went for after-work beers with them. Cool dudes and interesting company with a fancy office! But not as fancy as Methodologie‘s offices where Luis showed me around after meeting him at Cold Pavement (and Ignite and AdClub,…). He showed me some neat brand guides they created for Boeing.
Other people I get to see at most of the events are the sweet Veronica, Geek of the WeekMaya and smart and sexy Jessica who is leaving Seattle for a career at Digitas NY. Too bad I didn’t know her earlier so I could see the inside of Publicis where she was previously working. Oh, besides all those women – almost forgot to mention the fun gals Taylor, Elise and Charity – I also met some interesting dudes like video producer Greg to talk about his start-up idea, beer lover Elliott who’s managing the Alaska Airlines twitter feed and Aril the marketing guy behind the Italian-American crowd sourcing site Zooppa. I also got to meet Ksenia and Bryan from Lilipip and I’ve met up with Scott who gave me some insights on the successful Cheezburger network and entrepreneur and investor Joe from White Pages.
Using Foursquare for iPhone I’ve carefully tracked all places where I’ve been since I arrived in Seattle three months ago. In the above image you can see a heatmap with spots where I hung out most. You can clearly see I spend a lot of time in the Downtown and Belltown area while spending the nights at my friends’ house in Columbia City, in the south of Seattle.
The past months have been very exciting but very tiring as well. Meeting so many people and following up everyone requires a lot of energy!
Four weeks have passed since I arrived in Seattle and friends are overwhelming me with questions like “Have you found a job already?” or “Have you found an apartment yet?“. I appreciate their concern, but they clearly underestimate what a big thing moving to another country is. Although this is the third time I’m in Seattle most of it is still unexplored territory for me. It takes time to find out and decide where you want to work and where you want to live. It takes time to get an overview. It takes time to prepare your portfolio, resume and cover letter and it takes time to find the companies you would like to work for. On top of that you can’t just send your portfolio by mail to a ton of companies. It doesn’t work like that anymore. You either market yourself in such a way that you stand out of the millions of people that live around here or you build a network and try to find opportunities like that. Both options take time and luckily – impatient as I am – I’m well aware of that.
Microsoft is here together with Amazon, Google, Adobe, RealNetworks, Getty Images, Expedia, Classmates.com and Linden Lab (Second Life). Oh, and there is Frog Design as well, Publicis, Draft, DDB, McCann-Erickson, Young & Rubicam and tons of smaller advertising agencies, tech companies and start-ups. I’m interested in each of these companies, but even lay people know that they are not all in the same league. They target different sectors, offer different wages and are located in different areas in and around Seattle. The place where I end up working, is important. I don’t see the point of commuting for hours or living in a city outside Seattle. I picked Seattle for a reason, so I take the time I need to explore possibilities, learn about the companies and build up my network.
One of the ways to get started is to connect to local organizations on LinkedIn and follow their news streams. It doesn’t take long to learn who the interesting people are and when you start following them on Twitter you connect to even more who have something to say. Networking in real life however, works so much better. There is nothing more interesting than meeting the face behind a website. In the end you can’t know for sure if there’s a person or a lucky monkey at the other end of the line . A lead from a Belgian friend (Vincent) lead me to SMCSeattle, a group of people who come together once a month to talk about social media. This was the very first event I attended and soon I got to know about other events such as Seattle Lunch 2.0, SeaCre8, Hops and Chops and Mayor’s Office of Film and Music. SeattleTechCalendar mentions them all so you don’t have to miss out on anything! Beside companies and events I also found a handful of creative recruitment services right here in Seattle. There’s Creative Circle, The Creative Group, Smart Department, Filter, and Vault. So, where do I start?
In the mean time I’m still freelancing (web design & development) for a couple of Belgian clients. There is a huge time difference but luckily I can take advantage of that. They send me feedback by the end of their office hours and when they wake up they have some new results in their in-box. As long as this lasts I’ll be able to cover the costs of living here. The dollar is very weak right now – up to 1.5 euros past week – so earning Euros while living in the US is a good thing.
On the paperwork end there haven’t been any great developments. I received my Bank of America debit card very quickly, but I’m still waiting for my credit card. And of course I’m still waiting to receive my actual Green Card – which I’ve been told is pink – as well. Finally, getting a Driver’s License ID didn’t work out as expected. Apparently a cell phone bill or a bank account statement is no good as proof of residency. The Department of Licensing requires an electricity bill, insurance bill or a weapon’s permit – no kidding! Not having the driver’s licence ID is not really a problem. I can use my international passport, but it’s a drag to carry it around and there will be hell to pay if I ever lose it. But still, it’s annoying to see the look on people’s faces when you show them your passport to get access to a bar.
After a trip that took more than 23 hours I arrived safely in Seattle at Tuesday October 6th. Don’t expect much from American airlines like Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines, American Airlines or US Airways. They are all pretty basic and fly with old Boeings. This means no fancy in-flight entertainment or personal video screens. There were overhead video screens instead but the sound was so horrible I didn’t watch any movie. The second flight had free wireless internet which made time pass more quickly. I could check my e-mail, chat and do some work. I can tell you, internet on a plane is a valuable add-on. I wouldn’t mind paying $10 extra for it.
At my check-in in Brussels I had some trouble with my documents because I didn’t enter an online ESTA form. Instead I had a temporarily resident and work permit in my passport that said it was valid for one year starting from my date of entry (which was June 26th) but the expiration date said “August 16th”. So Delta Airlines required me to have an ESTA form. New rules say you have to enter this form at least a few days before entering the States. After some explaining Delta Airlines let me in assuming that I would return on October 14th and that I would apply for a tourist visa when entering the States. This was very nice of them because the amount of luggage I was taking with me proved that I was not going to return at October 14th. Upon entering the States I dealt with better informed people that understood my status and who let me enter the country without any problems. I have to admit I was a bit scared to be refused. Now and then you hear stories of people being deported. I hope my actual Green Card arrives soon so I don’t have to go through this another time.
There are many discussion on whether people in my situation need to enter an ESTA form and/or fill in the white and green forms you receive on the plane. The answer is ‘no’. You don’t need any of these. The expiration date Delta Airlines was confused about was referring to the six months time frame in which I had to enter the States to finish the procedure. The document itself is valid until June 26th 2010 and thus not expired. But you can’t blame Delta Airlines, they just don’t know any better and end up in trouble themselves if they transport people without the right authorizations.
If you think this was the only paperwork I had to go through then you’re wrong. The first day after I arrived I first went to the Department of Licensing to get my drivers’ license ID. This is an ID card which is often required as identification to open a bank account but also to prove your legal age when entering a bar. They couldn’t issue an ID card because besides my Belgian passport I needed a second proof of identification which I didn’t had. This is a bit contradictive because I was there to get a proof of identification! The only way to get out of this chicken-and-egg problem was to prove my place of residency in the States by providing them for example an electricity bill. But because I’m living with my friends I don’t receive those kind of bills…
My next stop was AT&T to buy an iPhone. This would get me a bill by the end of the month which I then can use to get my drivers’ license ID card. At AT&T I bumped into another problem – which I expected - the lack of a credit score (I will get in depth about this in another post). In a nutshell I couldn’t prove I will be able to pay my bills at the end of the month so I had to pay a deposit of $500 which I will get back after one year. Together with the cost of the phone and state taxes I ended up paying $718 but walked out with a brand new iPhone and phone number. First achievement of the day!
Later that day I visited Bank of America and opened a bank account. This went rather smoothly. I expected they would require my drivers’ license ID but luckily they didn’t (eTrade Bank for example requires this). I immediately got a temporarily debit card until I receive my WWF Polar Bear debit card and plush animal! It can take a little longer until I receive my credit card. Bank of America first needs to do a background check about my credit history. I don’t know how they’re going to do that because they don’t have access to any of my banking data. Oh well, we just have to wait and see. I’ll probably get a card with an extremely high APR but – in contrary to most of the Americans – I don’t intend to live on credit.
Today I also found a rather thick envelope in my friends’ mailbox from the Immigration Service. It included a nice little guide (see picture above) about my rights and responsibilities in the United States. I’ve quickly scanned the contents but there is nothing in there that I didn’t know yet.
When I returned from my two weeks trip to Seattle one of the first things I did was booking a ticket back. I spent half a day looking for cheap tickets but it was my my friend Gunther who found the best deal: a round-trip ticket for only 395 euros! For some weird reason one-way tickets are extremely expensive and cost up to $3000. I’m supposed to leave at October 14th, but I can also simply forget about it.
At the end of August I was planning to leave my apartment but my contract said I had to stay another month. This gave a little more time to sort through my belongings. It wasn’t easy to decide what I would and wouldn’t take with me. Some of the furniture I could just leave in the appartment. I happen to know the new tenants, Carmen and her boyfriend, and they were more than happy to relieve me of my furniture. This saved me a lot of trouble. I wasn’t really looking forward to disassembling cupboards and tables and dragging all the pieces down three stages (there is no elevator).
There are very few things I’m attached to but for some of the stuff I have it didn’t feel right to just sell it. I could have stored all these at my parents’ but I didn’t want to bother them too much. I’ve checked Shurgard and other storage services but they were all quite expensive so I decided to lend my belongings to my best friends with the agreement that I can claim my stuff back whenever I want.
I’m not shipping anything because that costs an awful lot of money (about the same as the value of the shipped items). Instead I decided to bring one extra piece of luggage with me for an extra $50. My snowboard and foldable bike remain in Belgium for now because shipping these ‘special’ items is also pretty expensive.
The last days of September I stayed with my friend Inge until my Going Away drink on October 2nd. I was very happy to see so many people and to be hugged so many times! Unfortunately I couldn’t talk to everyone in person, but I really appreciated everyone’s presence!
Thank you Alain, Alan, An (2x), Andrea & Diego, Anne (2x), Bram, Bram, Caroline, Cathy, Dirk, Elli, Emma, Frederik, Helena, Lien & Gunther, Inge, Johan, Koen & Tara, Julie (2x), Lisa, Lode, Marinus, Marleen, Marte & Bjorn, Nick, Patrick, Roosje, Sabine & Roel, Sara & Filip, Saskia & Sander, Sebastiaan, Sofie, Stefan, Steven, Stijn, Tine & Willem, Valerie, Veerle, Vincent & Leen and last but not least Wendy for your many hugs and presents!
Also thanks for the many kind text messages, tweets, comments and even post cards from so many other people!
Three months ago I went to Seattle for two weeks to activate my Green card, to visit my friends and prepare my stay. Due to legal reasons I haven’t been able to update my blog in a while, so I have some catching up to do. If you don’t care about the whole Green card procedure, just scroll down and check out the pictures!
On June 26th, I arrived in Philadelphia. There I was guided to an immigration office and had to hand over the sealed envelope the American Embassy in Brussels had given me. They took my fingerprints with ink and I scribbled down my signature. It will appear on the actual Green Card I should receive within four to six months. So far I haven’t received anything, but that’s not a problem. Thanks to the embassy my passport now declares that I’m allowed to live and work in the US for one year. The Green Card will make that permanent.
The first business day after my arrival I applied for my social security number. In the US that number is very important. It gives access to a whole range of governmental services. In the US your name and social security number are more important than any kind of ID (identity cards as most of us know them don’t even exist).
Three weeks later the number was sent to my friends’ home. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t get the number while I was there. Because I didn’t have the social security number I couldn’t open a bank account. It would have been handy to already have a bank account with some money in it to smoothen the permanent move to Seattle. I tried opening a bank account from Belgium, but that didn’t work out. Opening a bank account will be the first item on my to-do-list.
To my surprise I spent very little time on paperwork during this trip. For most of the things I needed I just had to wait. My friends took this opportunity to show me around. Brie took me to her performance at Artopia in Georgetown, Amy took me up to Granite Falls and during the weekend of Independence Day we all went up to La Push – yes the very place where Twilight was recorded – to go camping and to enjoy the fireworks. It was wonderful to spend time with Brie & Yousman, Amy & Dann, Johanna & Noel and their daughter Sady. I already feel part of the Holan family a little! Having such great friends makes it much easier to move!
While my friends were at work I explored the city. I’ve become quite familiar with the downtown area and Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is definitely the place where I would like to live. This is where all the cool kids hang out and it’s close to lots of cool bars, clubs and restaurants. Besides wandering through the city I met with some Drupal development companies. I’ll soon be working on a large website for a European client and I’d like to outsource the content management . These were my first steps towards a job as a freelancer or maybe my own business?
When I got back from this trip I booked a final ticket, left my job, moved out of my apartment and organized a going away drink for my friends. I’ll go into the specifics in my next post. For now, please enjoy the pictures! Click on the images to see the full set.
Seattle Downtown, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)
Granite Falls, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)
La Push, Second Beach, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)
Indepence Day, La Push, Second Beach, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)
“When are you leaving?”, “Will I get to see you before you leave?” are some of the questions I’ve been asked over the past couple of days. So, what are my plans? First of all I’m going to Seattle for two weeks (from Friday June 26th until Sunday July 12th). That leaves me about one month to activate my Green Card, which has to happen before August 16th. I’ll hit the States in Philadelphia. That’s where I have to hand over my x-rays and a sealed document the American Embassy gave me. I’ll also be fingerprinted one more time. I hope this procedure doesn’t take too long as I only have one hour and a half until my flight for Seattle leaves.
Once I reach Seattle I’ll try to figure out how and where I will live and how much I should expect to pay for rent. Should I try to find a small place just for me or is it common to share a house or a flat? Which are the better areas to find decent housing? Other questions abound of course. Are employers likely to welcome Europeans during this time of economic crisis? Where are the tech/web companies based and are they still recruiting? I’ll have two weeks to take my first steps towards finding a job. I’ll also have to do some research on pretty basic things: opening a bank account, choosing an Internet provider and getting myself properly insured.
After those two weeks I’ll come back to Belgium and spend three more weeks working for my current employer. In August I’m staying in Antwerp to move out of my apartment and store my furniture. I’ll also be organizing a house leaving – or should I say country leaving – party! Starting August I will be jobless. By the middle of August I will also be car-less, because I have to return my car then. Finally by the beginning of September I will be homeless as my lease ends on 31st August.
Of course, all this hasn’t yet answered the question when I intend to actually leave. The answer is: I don’t know yet. I’ll buy a ticket when I return from Seattle, but buying tickets short notice can be very expensive, especially off during the summer peak. I guess prices will start to be reasonable come September or maybe a little later. Actually, I’m not required to actually move to the States until February 2010, but as I will be homeless and jobless in Belgium, I’d just as soon leave as soon as tickets are affordable.
Once I’ve left my apartment I’ll probably have to stay with family or friends for a short while. You can see that as couch surfing I’d prefer to stay in the larger cities such as Antwerp, Ghent or Brussels so that I have easy access to public transportation to go for drinks with locals friends or catch a train to another city. If you happen to have a spare room, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail (myfirstname at barclaey dot com). I promise I’ll do the dishes, water the plants and play with the cat (or hamster) while you guys are at work! Oh, and if you trust me, I’ll mow the lawn and light the BBQ if the summer has finally started by then.
In brief:
June 26th – July 12th: Two weeks in Seattle to activate my Green Card.
July 12th – July 31st: Last three weeks at work.
July 31st – August 17th: Last two weeks with a car.
Mid August: House leaving party!
July 31st – September 1st: Moving out of my apartment.
September 1st till departure: Couchsurfing with family/friends.
Many people ask me how I got my Green Card. The answer seems simple: I won the lottery. That suggests you write down your name somewhere and then wait if you ‘get lucky’ and receive a card. Most people have heard about the Green card lottery, but it is actually called the Diversity Program and it’s a lot more like a competition than like a lottery. Ten million people applied for the DV2009 program. 100.000 (including 82 Belgians) made it to the ‘second round’ and about 50.000 people made it to the end and received a Green Card.
Without really realizing what I was doing I filled out the on line application form on December 2nd, 2007, only two hours before the deadline. I hit submit and forgot about the application almost straight away. Four months later, in March 2008, I found a big white envelope in my mailbox which remained unopened for a couple of days. It said “Kentucky Consular Service”, which made me think of fried chicken. When I opened the letter, I didn’t really understand what I was reading at first. The language was pretty official. The document said I had been selected to take part in the DV2009 and described what I had to do next. It also informed me that my case number was 13xxx. Case numbers are randomly selected, so that part could be called a lottery.
After doing a bit of research I realized I had a great number! Even if all 13xxx-1 preceding me successfully completed their procedure I would still be under the 50.000 cap. I read the document over and over to make sure I really understood what I was diving into. It took me several months to complete all the forms attached to the letter and I finally filed everything in July 2008.
In January 2009 I received a new set of forms and a date for an interview at the American Embassy. I never thought I would get this far so I hadn’t gone through the trouble of collecting all the required documents. Now I had only about six weeks left to gather everything. I had to rush! I had to provide a copy of all my diplomas, a birth certificate, a blank police certificate, a military certificate, a bank statement and a clean bill of health. Next I had to visit a doctor for a physical exam and provide the results of blood work and a chest x-ray. And finally all those documents had to be translated by a certified sworn translator.
Mid-February this year I drove to Brussels to hand in my paperwork and to finalize the procedure, which took about two hours. In the end this was the trickiest part of all the steps. One missing document or signature would be enough to get me out of the running. One signature was declared ‘not original’ because it was printed and my bank statements weren’t certified. I thought that would be the end of it, but I got the green light. Next up was a short interview, finger printing and handing over of $750. A special document was stapled in my passport. From that moment on I had six months to travel to the States to receive and activate the actual card. I have until August 16th, 2009.
The whole procedure took 1,5 years but it didn’t require a lot of effort from my side. Counting the fee and all the costs to get the right documents, I spent about 1.100 euros. That seems a lot, but compared to what I get in return it really isn’t. I get to live and work in a country with more than 300 million people with incredibly diverse backgrounds. If you factor in that this country has a reputation for being extremely difficult to get into, you’ll quickly understand that card is worth a whole lot more than 1.100 euros.
Whether we like it or not, we’re all facing change. Like most of you I was watching from the sidelines, until I suddenly found myself right in the middle of it. My job as an Interactive Art Director ended last April. Openhere – an advertising agency based in Antwerp – hired me in March 2008 as their first Interactive Art Director. Everything was great then. I worked on on line projects for Eastpak, Rabobank, Het Belang Van Limburg, 4FM, Scripta, Me by Metro, DLA Piper, Netmining and Bicky. Then the crisis started. Our clients canceled projects for on line campaigns and budgets quickly dried up.
We expected the financial crisis to boost digital advertising, but it didn’t. Only agencies that specialized in this field during the past few years are doing well. More traditional agencies focus on their core business in order to survive and just like advertising agencies the whole media sector has had to slim down. This resulted in staff cuts at newspaper, television and even web production companies. We’re all wondering when this will come to an end. Some say this September, but others think it will take at least another year.
Fortunately, the news is not all bad. I’ve been lucky enough to pull a wild card last February and I intend to make good use of it. To be more specific: I obtained a Green Card and I am now free to work and reside in the United States. This comes in handy now that I have to look for another job. The timing is a bit unfortunate, because moving to the States in the midst of a recession doesn’t seem all that great, but it’s not like I’ve got anything to lose. I’m sure I’ll benefit from the highly innovative environment, enjoy the much lower tax rates and get to know the Americans a lot better.
By coincidence, my friend Amy told me her friend was looking for a new roommate. I immediately took action and went to Capitol Hill to check out the place. I always planned to move to Capitol Hill. It is much closer to Ballard where I work and Belltown and Downtown where all the events take place. I met with my roommate Amy (yes, two Amy’s to make it confusing) and checked out the apartment. All was well so within minutes I decided to go for it. Unfortunately it’s not that easy to move into a new place. The landlord needs to do a full background check first so there is yet again paperwork involved. It’s pretty common here for landlords to check its renters for their credit score and getting references from previous leases.
