Q1.  Who do you work for?

A1.  I am a Sr. Consultant in IT in a company that is a participant in the pharmaceutical supply chain.  My company prefers not to be identified with this blog so I cannot reveal their name.

Q2.  Does your company review and approve the posts before you publish them in this blog?

A2.  No.  Please read my disclaimer at the bottom of every blog page.  This blog and the ideas expressed in it are my own.  I do not write on company time.  My company does not have any say in the content and does not review or pre-approve anything in it.  You will find that I sometimes have opinions that are in agreement with my company’s public positions, but almost as often you will find that my opinions differ from them.  I like to think that makes this blog a source of fresh, honest opinions, not the rigid, fake ones you might find in company-sponsored blogs.  In this blog, I am independent and I am exercising my right to free thought and expression.

Q3.  OK, but if I read your blog I will have a good idea of what your company’s positions are, right?

A3.  No.  My blog does not explain the positions of my company and I do not even explain when I am in agreement with their positions and when I am not, so you cannot tell what my company’s positions are by reading my blog.  If you want to know what my company’s positions are on any given topic, please go through normal channels to find out.

Q4.  Are you a consultant for hire?

A4.  No.  I do not do any contract work on the side and even though my title is “Sr. Consultant”, I am a full-time employee of my company and do not wish to work for anyone else.

Q5.  Why are you writing this blog?

A5.  I really enjoy writing (perhaps too much, given the length of my posts) and I have a long history of applying computer technology to solve supply chain problems.  I have been a part of the dialog, brainstorming and debate of serialization and pedigree in the pharmaceutical supply chain since about 2004.  I have participated in GS1 and EPCglobal work groups since 2005 and I had the opportunity to help lead the work group that developed the GS1 EPCglobal Drug Pedigree Messaging Standard (DPMS).  From that experience I was able to study the problem of applying modern software and database technology to compliance with pedigree regulations.  I think I learned a lot and today I see a fair amount of mis-understanding and confusion over the same topic.  My hope is that this blog will serve as an educational tool for some and a source of ideas and debate for others.  It contains my opinions as they were at the time I wrote each post.  I reserve the right to change my mind on any topic, and if I do, I will write about it again and let you know.

Q6.  How can I reach you privately?

A6.  You can send me a private email at:

dirk.rodgers@RxTrace.com

I will not quote anything from your private email without your permission so don’t worry about telling me what you really think.  I also encourage you to make public comments under one of my posts.  That’s the way to really get the debate going.

Q7.  Where do you get the ideas for your essays?

A7.  I actually have an oversupply of ideas for future posts at any one time.  I keep lists of them.  Some ideas are sent to me by my vast and amazing network for friends and supporters (thanks, by the way), but sometimes they come from ideas that come out of mis-understandings I hear people reveal in conversations and meetings I attend.  Others are just things that I think people are overlooking.  I usually start by doing a bunch of Google searches on the topic and reading.  That’s where I usually get some of the links I include in the final essay.  Eventually I get some time to sit down and write up a first draft.  Sometimes I discard the whole idea, sometimes I throw out the draft and start over, and sometimes I keep massaging it until I feel comfortable putting it out there for friends and strangers to read with my name on it.  It’s pretty intense.

Q8.  If I follow your blog, will I get to hear inside information from GS1 or the other organizations you participate in?

A8.  No.  I try very hard not to include content in my blog that is internal to GS1 and the other organizations I am a member of (including my company).  I try to use two sources:  my own thoughts, opinions and ideas, and public information I find on the internet.  If you believe I have crossed the line in any essay, please call me out on it, publicly or privately, and I will do my best to remove that information.  It is not my intent to reveal anything that is covered by non-disclosure agreements or IP Opt-in agreements.

Q9.  What tools do you use to generate your blog?

A9.  In early January I moved the blog from www.blogspot.com (a Google company) to a generic webpage hosted by GoDaddy.com.  With the help of Matt Geiger we installed the free WordPress blogging engine and “database” from www.wordpress.org.  GoDaddy has excellent tech support and they are very familiar with the in’s and out’s of porting blogs from BlogSpot to WordPress. With their guidance we were able to move all of my old content from BlogSpot to the hosted WordPress database over one weekend.  We’ve been tweaking it ever since.  The only cost (besides Matt’s time) is the $7 annual cost of the www.RxTrace.com domain and the $54 annual fee to GoDaddy for hosting it.  “Cheap” as Gutenberg would have agreed.

Q10.  Your tag line indicates that you are a liberal, why should I believe anything you say?

A10.  You’ve misunderstood my tag line.  In this context, “liberal” means “Wide coverage”, or “generous in quantity”.  It’s the same usage and meaning as a “liberal arts education”, which doesn’t refer to a the politics of the education.