Spanky's Place

I'm using the BlogSphere template (thanks to Declan Lynch -a very cool frood whom I met at last year's Lotusphere) https://www.qtzar.com

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I'm still using the default CSS, as I figured I should put CONTENT up first, and worry about STYLE later.

I've culled some content from my old site and posted it here. I did this primarily to get the hang of things, however I do love to see my own words online. Yes, I freely admit to being a bit ego-centric.

Even though there isn't any Notes/Domino content here yet, that is probably what the major content of this site will be. Many of you already know who I am (see, I told you I was a bit ego-centric). For those of you who don't know me, well, just wait.

I've been doing this software development thing for quite a while now (my first programs were flowcharted using pencil and paper, coded with punch cards and stored on paper tape. I still have the source for TREK laying about somewhere, and if I dig into my "box-o-parts", I can probably find a 300 baud audio-couple. If you don't know what that stuff is, don't worry, it's not that important. I'm just trying to set the mood here.

Anyway, I've been doing my primary dev work using the Lotus Notes / Domino platform since release 3. I used to work for InfoImage, one of the biggest and most successful Lotus BPs around. I started there as a developer in the Phoenix District office, and while there I moved up the ladder to senior developer, team lead, and eventually moved out of the Phoenix District office and into the main HQ office (same building, different floor), and ended up as one of two Product Division Software Development Managers. The hours were insane (ship-mode, march of death, call it what you want), but the team I had working for me was awesome, and we never missed a deadline. Of course, success does lead to bone-head moves, and the company decided to climb into bed with an 800 lb gorilla (btw I'm not some foaming anti-Microsoft loonie -more on that later). Now I'll grant you that 800 lb gorillas are pretty cool and fun to play with, but when you sleep with them, they inevitably roll over.

In hindsight, it is easy to point out all of the reasons why InfoImage eventually collapsed; but at the time they weren't so clear. In addition, there were also some problems getting senior executives to listen to us, especially when Microsoft was dangling the "giant bag-of-cash" like a carrot. I guess the reasons really don't matter that much any more. The simple fact is that InfoImage pretty much imploded, and I was left out of work because of somebody else's mistake(s).

After that, I went to work for another consultancy called interZnet. I really enjoyed working there (they are great folks). While working there, I received an "out of the blue" offer to work as an instructor for another company called CelebraTech. This other company had taken over InfoImage's training business, and the opportunity looked great. So I left interZnet (which, while painful, was probably best for both them and me, as they were headed away from the Lotus stuff anyway).

While at CelebraTech, I wrote several courses, re-wrote several others, and taught tons of classes. I was on the road between Phoenix, Boston, New York, and San Francisco 2 - 3 weeks a month. For all of our hard work, CelebraTech was never able to turn a profit (remember, this was during the dot com "bust"). When September 11 happened, it pretty much killed all IT Training in the country (budgets were re-allocated, and nobody wanted to travel) for several months. This was too much of a financial strain on CelebraTech (no money coming in + lots of overhead costs = money goes bye bye), and in January of 2002 they closed up shop.

Great, I was once again out of work (I know, that's just part of the game in the IT business, but it still sucks); and once again, it was somebody else's fault. Grrrr

I decided I wasn't going to tie my success to anybody else, and so I started my own business. I managed to pick up a couple of clients very early, so I never starved, however things were very tight. Then an old friend of mine (thanks Zev) called to let me know that a former client of mine from interZnet wanted some work done, and wanted only me to do the job. I hooked up with them, got the contract, and have been working there ever since. Last year they hired me as a permanent employee (pay goes waaaaaay down, but now I have benefits, and my wife is much less stressed). I'm still keeping my business running on the side, but it is no longer my primary source of income. This doesn't mean that you can't hire me. At heart, I'm a code-whore

Anyway, I think that's enough navel-gazing for now. Over the next little while I'll get the CSS for this site cleaned up, and I'll start adding some more "real" content.

-Devin.