We had a time…
About 4 years ago this October, I started a job at Engine Yard. It began with a tweet, that led to an email, that led to a phone call. It went pretty quickly and, before I knew it, I’d become a Yardee.
I started off with the illustrious EY App Support Team. These folks are the best, most knowledgable team I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of. I don’t think it’s too common to find the likes of John Yerhot, Ralph Bankston, Kfed, Adam Holt, James Paterni, or Tim Littlemore any where in this world. They taught me so much, I am forever grateful. And beyond the technical skills learned, there was Jim “J-Money” Neath, a worldly man with linguistics expertise that would be hard to match. And Jamie…who could forget Jamie, the first Yardee I ever met and the glue that actually holds that place together.
After my glorious time working with the best support organization in the world, my friend Eamon Leonard came to me with the opportunity to build a Community Team. Not some group of cash driven Dev Evangelists, but real community people. We worked to make developers’ lives better through high-level blog posts that introduced them to new concepts, through talks given at various conferences, through Open Source grants that helped propel projects to the next level, and initiatives like Prompt that brought home the idea not everyone’s world does or should revolve around code. We’ve been told what we did changed the lives of human beings, not just the world of tech.
Working with Eamon, Richard, Noah, and Davey was an amazing experience. These people really care about both the tech side and the human side of things. I’m grateful for all we were able to do together over the last few years.
But, all good things come to and end. And that end was as abrupt as a phone call.
The writing was on the wall really. The Engine Yard I knew has been gone for nearly a year. New directions are taking the company to places it’s never been before - and good for them for making that attempt. Keep innovating, keep moving forward.
It would have been nice to be a part of, but it’s not to be. As of last week, I’m no longer a Yardee.
I wish everyone there well. For those that have been there a while, we’ll always have Tahoe. For those more recently - we’ll always have something (probably karaoke). To those who got their walking papers along with me - we’ll always have each other.
I guess the point here is there is always a time when change becomes imminent and movement becomes compulsory. I’m not saying I believe in fate, but timing is everything I suppose.
I’ll move on to my post-Engine Yard life with a positive outlook and plenty of support from folks I’ve met before, during, and after my time there. I look forward to my next adventure in the world of tech, whatever that might be.
To quote the infamous Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast…if you don’t stop and look around sometimes, you might miss it.” I had the chance to look around during my time at Engine Yard and, through the good times and the bad, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
