Announcement: A Major Life Change
On May 3rd, 1999 I started out in my first career job following my graduation at Rochester Institute of Technology. Actually it was two weeks before my graduation, with two kids finding a job right away was important. Luckily for me a local tech magazine printed the addresses of all the web design shops in Rochester. A Microsoft mail merge and some collated printing later I was heading to the post office with 58 cold cover letters and resumes to every single one of those companies.
I received about nine call backs and about six interviews, one of which was a guy who needed a web developer for a porn site :/ and another was for a web shop that was run out of the guys house but he actually seemed promising as he bragged during the interview about doing the jingle for Bob Johnson Chevrolet, you will still hear it on the radio to this day.
But the best interview I was on was with Interactive Digital Communications (IDC). It was a small shop but the biggest of any that I had interviewed for in person it even came complete with a receptionist and conference room ;-). The building was this old castle looking place on North Goodman. My interview was with the president Hampton Bridwell and I felt it went really well. Then he brought in the tech guy to give me the once over and he intimidated the hell out of me. He was visibly grumpy and just didn’t have the time for me it seemed. Asked me great questions and left. That grumpy person was Larry Roth. I left the interview very excited but was nervous to have to work for this grumpy tech guy.
I got a call to come in again. My mother and I assumed it was a second interview and she convinced me that I couldn’t go to the second interview with the same suit. So $300 later and a new gray suit on I go to IDC and get an offer letter to work at IDC. I gladly accepted the offer.
I quickly got up to speed on HTML, CSS and a new language for me Classic ASP, although it wasn’t called classic back then. I used these new skills on my first major client, Xerox. Xerox was both challenging and nightmarish. I put in long hours constantly and quickly earned the respect of Larry and Hampton.
Just like my coworkers at RIT I quickly became great friends with my new coworkers. So on my wedding day a short five months after starting, my former boss was one of my groomsmen and my new boss was also in attendance. My photographer commented to my mom, “You just don’t see a boss come to their employees wedding let alone two.”
Over the years IDC rebranded as Navistream and then merged with a design company in Connecticut call JMK and eventually rebranded to the current name Brandlogic. While working for Brandlogic I’ve worked with many great clients, Xerox, Guideposts, St. John’s are the three big clients that I feel I built great long lasting relationships with each. I can tell many awesome stories about each client.
I’ve been with Brandlogic for 12 1/2 years now. All of my coworkers have also been there for many years. Larry, who when I first met was really grumpy, turned into one of my closets friends who hates when I introduce him to others as “my boss.” Larry has been a great mentor throughout my career at Brandlogic and I’ve learned a lot from him. Everyone I work with is like family because we’ve worked together for so long. After informing Larry of my departure he informed the company of my news with an email that went far beyond anything I would of imagined being sent to announce my endeavors:
Over twelve years ago, a young, bright-eyed RIT student sat down with Hampton and I to ask us for a job. After all these years I can still remember the enthusiasm and interest that this "kid" had for Web development and to hopefully working for us. After our meeting, it didn't take Hampton and I long to decide we would take a chance on someone with little experience and lots of verve.
It was certainly a chance well worth taking, because over the years, Ralph, who was that RIT student, has been solid, hard working, and inspiring employee. He is someone who will buckle down on the tough projects, bring a sense of fun to even the most mundane work, and remind us that work is about much more than collecting a pay check. Most importantly, he has become a close friend to many of us.
I could list the many projects that Ralph has worked on, but all would be eclipsed by the work he did with St. John's. Over the years, and particularly with the last redesign, Ralph helped to not only successfully complete near-impossible projects, but also establish himself with the client as someone who would always rise to the occasion and solve their problems.
It is with all this in mind that I am very sad to announce that Ralph is leaving us for another opportunity. While Ralph's heart is with us, his passion is to truly focus on one area of Web development. He is moving to a firm called appendTo, who has embraced the jQuery platform for a myriad of service offerings. His last day with Brandlogic will be October 21st.
I have nothing but the best of wishes for my good colleague and good friend. Please join me in wishing him a farewell.
Regards,
--Larry
It’s this tight group of people that makes this announcement the most difficult thing I’ve done at Brandlogic.
On October 21st, 2011 I will work my last day at Brandlogic. I have accepted an exciting opportunity with a web startup company called appendTo. appendTo is a virtual company which means all their employees work remotely. The company has about 10 employees and has many jQuery team members and key community members as employees. The company focuses on corporate trainings for jQuery/JavaScript and front-end development consulting.
I will be a Senior Developer and an Evangelist (sort of like marketing). I am very excited for the opportunity and to work with everyone at appendTo that I’ve either worked with or have known through my volunteer work with the jQuery project.
Mike Hostetler and Jonathan Sharp are some great guys and I’ve been watching them run this company for the past couple of years. Doug Neiner is possibly one of the best web designers/developers in the industry. I’ve already learned so much from him while working on projects with him for jQuery, I can’t wait to continue learning from him. Scott González who is the lead developer for jQuery UI and is probably the best person to learn how to build a JavaScript API. I also can’t wait to work with Elijah Manor again, my former cohost on the jQuery Podcast. Even though I haven’t had the pleasure to work side-by-side with the rest of the team at appendTo I can’t wait to work with each of them.
Speaking of the jQuery Project, I have to thank Brandlogic for all the support in letting me work on projects for jQuery, from conference planning, donating designs for conference programs to speaking opportunities. I can’t count the number of days I’ve been allowed to miss work to attend a conference or a jQuery meeting. They really were very supportive of my volunteer efforts.
So here is to the next 12 1/2 years and let’s hope they are as successful if not more successful then the last 12 1/2 years.
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