I Forgot - Term Papers Suck

My term paper GENESIS consulting project is now at 40 pages, and I probably have another 15-20 to go (it's due two weeks from tomorrow, so I am in good shape). I forgot how much this sort of thing sucks: sitting down at a computer for hours on end collating information and writing can get pretty boring, even if it is in a topic that is well understood.

The good news is that I had a lot of the information available in other forms, so a lot of it has been cut-paste-edit; cut-paste-edit. The bad news is that instead of just turning the report in and getting a paycheck, I will be "presenting my results" to senior management, so I have to create a companion Powerpoint presentation to go with the report. In my previous consulting projects this happened about 50% of the time, so it's not too surprising.

As expected, however, my consulting for the company has expanded far beyond the report. I get peppered with email questions, brought into customer and partner meetings, and am basically doing general product marketing work. This is all technically outside the scope of the written consulting agreement, but as I am now scheduled to talk about "our next steps" after I give my oral defense presentation, this is a back door way to integrate me into the company as an employee before we sit down to make it official.