You do what now?

Whenever the frequent question "what do you do?" or "what does your husband do?" comes up, there is never an easy answer. There is no one-word answer like lawyer (the more typical response around here) or engineer that will at least elicit a bit of understanding. Each time I hear Ben answer this question, his response changes a bit. And whenever he tells people he works at the World Bank, they usually assume he's an economist. Or they think he's a banker which indicates the questioner really has no idea what the World Bank is. (And in full disclosure, I really wasn't sure before we moved out here.)

So, what DOES he do? I know he spends a lot of time in meetings. And he forgets to eat lunch sometimes because he's so busy. And his coworkers often schedule meetings at 5 p.m. on Fridays. And he gets paid. And I know there is a really delicious international-themed cafeteria at the World Bank. I guess Ben should be writing this post.

He was asked to speak at an InfoComm Conference this week which is pretty cool. Here is the link to his official biography on their website, where his job is described this way:

Ben Black is an audiovisual project manager at The World Bank. He is responsible for an in-house AV design and integration team that provides service to World Bank offices in the Washington, D.C. area as well as offices in other regions around the world. Prior to working at The World Bank, Ben produced and directed video telecourses and educational media for the State of Utah. Ben holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication.

The World Bank actually has 10 different buildings in D.C. and 300 conference rooms. Ben is responsible for the the audiovisual design and integration in these conference rooms and he sometimes produces live events. In a nutshell.