DeskLodger Of The Month - Sam Pearson - Old Market

Meet Sam, DeskLodge Old Market fixed desker and site reliability engineer at mySociety a not-for-profit social enterprise.  Sam likes spending time with his family and friends, karate and the occassional box-set binge.

What do mySociety do?

We provide research and data that help people to be active citizens by building online technologies that empower local authorities and residents to make improvements in their own neighbourhoods.

We believe that strong democratic accountability and a thriving civil society are vital to our common welfare, and that these only survive when people engage with government and communities.

How long have you been coming to DeskLodge?

Just over three years.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

I feel very fortunate to work at mySociety, an organisation I admired for years before I joined. It's a fantastic place to work, very flexible and my colleagues are an amazing group of people from whom I'm always learning. One of the highlights is the feeling that we're doing something useful that contributes positively to peoples' lives.

The combination of technology and political engagement works for me too - although I've worked in technical positions for around 15 years now, I studied Sociology at university and have always been fascinated by the intersection of technology, economics, politics and society.

What is your favourite thing about DeskLodge?

The people and the atmosphere - it's friendly and really makes a difference to a remote worker like me.

What do you do in your spare time?

Hah, I'm pretty ordinary. When I get some in between working for a salary and being a parent of two teenagers, I enjoy spending time with my partner and friends, reading, music, karate and yoga. I even occasionally get a bit of gaming and box-set bingeing in

Do you have any New Years resolutions, if so what are they?

Do more things rather than just talk about doing them.

Thanks Sam, here's to a year of getting stuff done!