Yeah, the web services/systems administration department is... just me right now. Not a big company or a big department. It'll be me and one employee soon and up to 4 employeesby the end of the decade, if all goes well. So there will be quite a few "crawling under desks" days left in my future, despite officially being a director now. We don't ever have clients/customers at the office and I of course wear suits to our annual board meeting and conference, which is the only time I see the people on the other end of my webpages (though there's plenty of crawling under tables to set up equipment there as well as I put together the onsite network and registration bays). I like the idea you and some others have mentioned about having a change of clothes or two at the office just in case, though. Covering my bases can't hurt.

Mmmm, yeahhhhhhh. I'm going to have to ask them to just go ahead and come into work on Saturday. That'd be great. Thanks.

Hmm. I do already have the Converse trainers/sneakers...

Strong SUIT. I see what you did there. And better to ask fashion advice from fellow nerds in my industry than from my beauty queen of a younger sister who'd probably have a heart attack looking at my wardrobe :-)

Hilarious. If I can still type hunt-and-peck style in 5 and a half months, I'll check back in and let you know how pretty pretty clothes are much more important than robust databases.

LOL Thanks for noticing :-) I do own ties... but they're usually for costuming/cosplaying, not business formal. I'm so not a girly girl (I don't think I'll ever have the time/energy/desire to paint my nails) but the Pirate Party logo sounds pretty darn epic :-) And having an excuse to invest in more geek jewelry for a more subtle nod seems like a great route to try.

Hahahahaha! Best advice yet! I'll definitely remember that when I forget how to troubleshoot. And then I can use the other leg for HTML cheat codes. And look at you being so observant and reading names. I think you're the only one. Not that I don't like wearing ties... I just don't have more than a couple for costumes/cosplaying. Then again, I don't have too many skirts either...

Good point about the condition of clothes; I completely agree. >Just keep it somewhat low-key. Don't want people mistaking your office for their kid's bedroom. heehee I fear I've already failed on that count! But the small action figures, TARDIS, and other geek items are restricted to the top of my bookcase, not all over my office, my LEGO knock-off calendar and Simpsons pencil holder being the only exceptions on the desk itself as they were gifts from officemates. Subtle is good. I like subtle. As I'm a woman, I'm not sure I can pull off the bowtie (I have some regular ties, but I've never even tried tying a bowtie), but subtle geek necklaces might be a nice compromise. And I'm in Northern VA (about 2 minute drive from ThinkGeek headquarters, coincidentally) so close enough to DC to borrow their sense of style, though we really have no office dress code or consistency among departments.

Excellent. As we only have one fulltime computer/web person (me) and for now just a part-time assistant, my role as far as decision-making for the department does not change at all. The only change will be that I'll have a team of half a person (for now, but eventually 3 people). We've got disconnects between management and junior staff right now, so I definitely want to try to create a more teamlike atmosphere for my department, where they know I'm there to troubleshoot and code and get my hands dirty with them even though I'm the one assigning tasks and running the department's budget. >I don't envy the move to a "director" position for these reasons; while it's an interesting career move, you really do have to set yourself apart through dress and >behavior. Your peers will become the other directors, not the team you're managing, and you need to come across as competent in their eyes, too. Luckily, I've worked here for 6 years and have proved my abilities (and bailed them out of enough situations) to have earned that level of respect among my fellow directors. But making the geekiness more subtle is a good substitute. >Whatever you decide to do, take care of your new team and be a good boss. That's more important than clothes. Excellent point. Thanks!

I only see our "customers" once a year at our annual conference, and it's full business formal for that week (as well as during our annual board of directors meeting). All other days, one can roll up in PJs and be fine if one so chooses. I have no underlings yet (it's fun being a computer & web department of one) but that's good advice.

Ooops. I fail. Will I get voted off the internet now?

Just wait until they find out that the different sonar ratings actually mean there's a whole family of sea monsters in the loch and thanks to evolutionary fitness, they've been able to reproduce for generations AND cleverly avoid capture since prehistoric times.