Melody was laid off from the University of Washington last May due to budget overruns in UW Technology (for whom I also work). It didn't take her long to start networking with contacts and before long she was talking with The Web Collective, an employee co-op which does web site development. She started working for them as a consultant in July.
A while back there was interest from both sides in having Melody become a full member. They like having her there and she likes working with them, so it wasn't a big surprise either that they did decide to offer her membership or that she's interested in accepting. As a result, Melody's once again working full time as of April 1.
While she's been there, Melody's come to consider each of the other people at the Web Collective as friends and has had a chance to work with people one-on-one and in larger groups. She's had many opportunities to learn new skills as well as apply things she's learned elsewhere. Because the Web Collective uses Plone (open source content management software) Melody has also had the chance to get to know more Plone developers in the area.
While she does some work from home, Melody mostly goes into the office which is in Downtown Seattle, not too far from the Pike Place Market. She works with clients both from the Seattle area and from further away, such as Washington, D.C., so makes good use of internet voice and chat.