Graduation
It was with a great deal of fondness and appreciation that I submitted my resignation from Perficient last week.
I started with a small consulting firm by the name of E-Tech Solutions and based in West Chester, PA in December of 2005 -- the 12th, to be exact; that's how fondly I remember it! -- and since then my life has been in a state of constant change and growth (in more dimensions than one!). To be perfectly honest, I thought I was a damn good ColdFusion developer when I applied there -- and it turns out I had a lot to learn.
I had no idea there were ColdFusion conferences, certifications, publications and mailing lists, and an enormous community of bloggers, twitterers, podcasters, and open source developers. That's a lot of media to try and absorb and keep straight, so it's no surprise that about the time I learned about these things is when I became an RSS fiend. I still whip out my iPhone to check up on bloglines at the oddest times...
When I wasn't working on client websites, I attended CFUnited in both 2007 and 2008, learned Model-Glue and ColdSpring in my free time, wrote a few open source projects myself, and got certified for ColdFusion 7. I've had my eyes opened to the beauty and importance of frameworks and design patterns.
... And there's so much more that if I wrote about it all you would drown in a sea of hyperlinks.
And I owe it all to one person: Chuck McElwee.
Chances are you don't know him. He had one article published in the CFDJ back in 2002, and used to chirp in on CF-Talk occasionally, but otherwise isn't really that involved in the ColdFusion community. He was my boss at E-Tech and he showed me that there was so much more to ColdFusion than me and the documentation vs. the world. (Although, for what it's worth, the documentation is so good that I would bet on us. ;)
When E-Tech was purchased by Perficient in early 2007, and with the economy starting its downward spiral, Chuck and I were fortunate enough to keep our jobs and continue working together. A large portion of E-Tech's business was ColdFusion consulting -- and to a lesser extent, hosting our clients. While CF made up roughly half of our business (by my own estimate) the other half was Java, .Net, Sharepoint, and other Microsoft solutions. It was these other competencies that Perficient was most interested in, and so ColdFusion became the proverbial red-headed step child.
ColdFusion consulting gigs continued coming in for a while -- and still do, to some extent -- and I've had plenty to do and lots of opportunities to hone my C# skills, but as I'm sure many consulting firms are dealing with right now, billable hours are a little bit scarce no matter what technology you're talking about.
Consulting has taught me how to work at break-neck speed and how to help a client find a cost effective compromise between the solution they want and what they want to pay for it. But most of all, consulting has taught me that consulting is not a business I want to be in if I can help it.
I will always look back and remember E-Tech and Perficient as the true foundation of my career in web development. I only wish I could bring some of the excellent people I had the opportunity to work with along the way with me.
So where am I going? What does the future hold for me?
I have accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
I'm excited about the opportunity to work in an environment where extra time spent learning something new is considered a valuable effort; where opportunities exist for me to learn Flex, AIR, and other related technologies; and to work with some great minds (Sorry if there are others I didn't link... I just don't know about your blogs yet!) in what I'm told by many is a great program.
I am not taking Terrance Ryan's vacant position, but he did mention to me who he's pulling for as his replacement. ;)
I see so many opportunities and things I want to take advantage of in my future, and this job feels like the right way to start. Here's to the next step.
in ColdFusion | Misc Posted 2009-02-16 11:27
4 responses:
It should be fun up there at Wharton. They have a good crew.
DW
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