Profiles in Nerdery

Hail to the Chief Financial Officer

WikiLeaks will have this soon enough but you may as well hear it from us. Here’s a staff memo:

My Fellow Co-presidents:

It is my pleasure to announce that Bill Stephenson has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer (and, like all of you, Co-President) of the Nerdery, effective immediately.

When he joined the company in 2005, Bill was tasked with helping us define our project management process and to help us get better at being on-time and on-budget.  Back then, we were a little tight on office space so Bill’s original “office” was a folding table in the corner of Luke’s office. Crappy place to sit?  Not the crappiest at that office I assure you.

As our systems evolved and our needs changed Bill transitioned into a position in sales in 2006, and then a shift in 2007 to our Controller.  Bill has served in that capacity for the past three years – a period of obvious growth for our company that didn’t come without a few growing pains – all of them soothed and treated by some combination of Bill’s common-sense counsel, attention to detail, fairness and integrity.  All who’ve worked closely with him will agree that he’s indispensable in any given role.  Please join me in congratulating Bill on his well-deserved promotion.

Also, I hereby relinquish the CFO title.  I mean seriously, do I have to do everything around here?  Were that even possible.  No pressure Bill, but you might have heard that I was a finalist this year for Biz Journal’s CFO of the Year award  and all I can tell you is that it was truly an honor to be self-nominated.

Mike Derheim
CEO and Co-President
The Nerdery

PS: Don’t tell Bill just yet, but we’re getting a little short on office space again and this time he’s the one with the extra corner in his office.  Now, where did I put that folding table?

Overnight Website Challenge gives people ‘faith & hope that there’s still good in society’

Before:

When Todd Hinz, a board member of Friends of Fort Snelling, first heard about the Overnight Website Challenge he immediately thought about what a golden opportunity this could be for his organization.

“Offers like this don’t come along every day, so I knew we had to hop on it as soon as I read about the contest in MinnPost.org,” Hinz said. So even though there was a little trepidation on the Friends’ part, because Hinz was so new to the board, they still jumped into the Challenge headfirst.

Hinz said he thought their chances for being selected as one of the twelve nonprofits who get a website in 24 hours was slim to none. “We figured there would be a lot of great organizations with wonderful causes applying, but our attitude was ‘what do we have to lose?’”

“The original site was a great effort by one of our volunteers and it helped immeasurably to get a presence on the web,” he said. But the original site lacked a cohesive design and many features people expect to find on modern websites, RSS feeds, online registration, and an activities list.

So with those needs in mind, Hinz and the Friends of Fort Snelling were hooked up with Team Inetium on the day of the webchallenge who created a new website for the Friends.

After:

The entire organization is very proud of and excited by the new site, Hinz said, and he’s been pleasantly surprised by Team Inetium’s dedication.

“Even after the contest was over, our team went above and beyond the call of duty to finish details on the site and train us on how to use it,” he said. “They also built us a back-end database to keep track of membership details and donations.”

Hinz chalks up the whole experience as a success. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It was a blast! The contest is a unique way to build a website and have a great time doing it.

“Seriously, what a cool way to not only help nonprofits in need, but give web designers the opportunity to give back to the community,” Hinz said. “This whole project gives a lot of people faith and hope that there is still good in society.”

Profiles in Nerdery: Matt Albiniak, it rhymes with maniac

• Astrological Sign: Uranus.
• Time at the Nerdery: Not long enough (I <3 this place).
• Area of expertise: Taco Bell value menu
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: I usually tell them I’m the lead researcher for project echelon, then dive into deep detail until their eyes glaze over and we can move onto something more exciting.
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: Hear about that Phizzpop thing we did with Zeus Jones? That kind. Things that make people go “oooh, aahhh.” Or laugh uncontrollably, because of it’s high levels of awesomeness.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: That people like me (or in Ryan Kucera’s words “you people”) are allowed to work there.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1. Colors that end in ‘urple; 2. Things You Shouldn’t Put in Your Mouth; 3. The Number After 2; 4. Months That End in ‘Ber’; 5. Movies That Start with the Word Jaws, 6. Your Ass or a Hole in the Ground (Editor’s Note: Please notice that counting isn’t on the list).
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: Neil Armstrong. BTW, what does “fictional” mean?
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: I’m a maniac, maniac on the floor. And I’m dancin’ like I’ve never danced before…wait, were you talking to me?

Profiles in Nerdery: Anand Gona doesn’t work in movies

• Astrological Sign: Scorpio.
• Time at the Nerdery: About 5 months.
• Area of expertise: Flash and ActionScript.
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: It depends on whom I am talking to. Once I was talking to someone back home (India). After I told him what I do he asked “You mean you do special effects in movies?” I nodded and changed the subject.
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: I enjoy projects with tight deadlines and with a team that works together to get it done. It brings out the best in everyone and strengthens the team.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: The dogs, for sure.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: What the heck is Jeopardy? Honestly, what is it?
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: Tony Stark.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: I am sorry. What?

Profiles in Nerdery: Thomas Bishop, DJ and data miner

• Astrological Sign: Aries, adventurous, energetic, quick-witted, accurate enough.
• Time at the Nerdery: 7 months.
• Area of expertise: Leading projects as a programmer and creating complex algorithms. I absolutely LOVE data mining (ex. clustering).
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: My passion lies in planning and creating solutions to complex questions, whether it deals with programming, shooting an independent film, or DJing at a party.
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: Those that deal with analyzing and restructuring large amounts of data. I love working with seemingly useless data and transforming it into extremely wealthy results. Sounds boring but it’s awesome. Specifically, working with thousands of records of individual’s music collections to create amazing marketing worthy results.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: How relaxed it is: the dogs, flex time, casual dress, and freedom of project interest.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1. Chess Tactics; 2. Warcraft III; 3. Lovecraftian Mythos; 4. Things That Do Not Work in IE6; 5. Sub-genres of Electronic Music; 6. Japanese Horror Films; and 7. The Subconscious of Thomas Bishop
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: Mouse from The Matrix.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: Of course I do.

Profiles in Nerdery: Jeff Klawiter, .NET ninja

Before we get started you should know Jeff is going to be speaking on April 4, 2009 (that’s Saturday, folks) at Twin Cities Code Camp. Jeff will be talking about Increasing Your Productivity with Visual Studio. Jeff will also be speaking May 14th at the Twin Cities Languages User Group on Small Basic.

Now, on with the show.

• Astrological Sign: Virgo and for some reason I tend to date Scorpio’s which are my worst match.
• Time at the Nerdery: 4 years, 2 months, 21 days since Jan 3rd 2005 (I’m an old fart)
• Area of expertise: If you asked any new programmers at Sierra Bravo they would say .NET, which is a large area itself. I could be considered an expert in .NET Compact Framework, WinForms and ASP.NET. Before being a .NET developer I worked for 6 years as a PHP developer which is how I started my career at Sierra Bravo. I’m also well versed in Linux and Windows administration and ran my own computer repair business for a while too.
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: I talk too much covering all the different things I do. Then I shut up and try to elaborate upon the cool things like vending machines that order themselves full. See Mark Seeman’s response for more detail.
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: It changes, these days I’m really digging working with Rich Interactive Apps in Silverlight or on Surface. Normally I enjoy working on behind the scenes projects like tweaking a custom TCP protocol client or doing fancy things mining data from various sources.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: I had some family over recently that were surprised we got any work done with all the toys laying around.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 2. RPG Video Games; 3. Astrophysics; 4. Anime; 5. Obscure Metal Bands; 6. Maple Syrup; and 7. Polish Cuisine.
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: Donatello, even the smart one can kick some ass.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: Yes I do; The process of separating specific items out of a common term or group (yes, that’s my totally made up, trying to sound like a dictionary response).

Profiles in Nerdery: Mike Woods, seriously.

• Astrological Sign: Cancer: shy, assertive, and loyal.
• Time at the Nerdery: ~1 year.
• Area of expertise: Getting it done.
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: I shrug.
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: All of them.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: That we have this annoying blogger who bugs me to do things that I really don’t want to do.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1.) Twitter(@woods); 2.) Bug or Feature; 3.) Conversations you should never have over IM; 4.) Things that won’t work in IE6; 5.) @wiley_the_dog twitter status; 6.) Seriously you want to work on my team. Seriously.; and 7.) Apple.
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: Lisa Simpson.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: Of course I do.

Profiles in Nerdery: Dan Shugarts, doesn’t work in an ivory tower (or a cage, really)

• Astrological Sign: That is a ridiculous question.
• Time at the Nerdery: Almost eight months.
• Area of expertise: NSFW.
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: I’m training to become a cage fighter.
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: What’s the client’s budget.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: Our building really isn’t an ivory tower.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1) Americans in the NHL; 2) Name that Shakespeare; 3) Boy Bands of the late 90s; 4) The GOP: Coincidence. . .or Voldemort?; 5) Qualities of a Hipster; 6) My Stylish Wardrobe; 7) The Charlestown Chiefs.
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: The Comic Book Guy.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: Of course I do.

Profiles in Nerdery: Justin Hendrickson, drummer for Raspberry Caturday

• Astrological Sign: Virgo (please refrain from nerd/virgin jokes)
• Time at the Nerdery: Longer than Aesop and I haven’t even thrown up on the floor yet.
• Area of expertise: Internet.
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: Drummer for my Rock Band band, Rasberry Caturday. We have a gig every Friday at The Nerdery. Come check us out. (I program stuff too.)
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: Anything that does not involve spelling Raspberry correctly.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: That we actually get work done.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1. Settlers of Catan; 2. Words Justin can’t spell; 3. Rock Band DLC recommendations (all answers take the form of “Who is Phil Collins”); 4. Laughable “Heroes” Plotlines; 5. Zend Framework; 6. Losing at Bug House; 7. There are only six categories per round in Jeopardy!*
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: I like my nerds non-fictional, thank you very much.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: Hey, I edit Wikipedia.

*Editor’s note: In my defense, I ripped off the idea of the dream Jeopardy categories from Douglas Coupland’s 1995 novel Microserfs where the characters list their seven dream Jeopardy categories

Profiles in Nerdery: Sarah Hokuf, calls Buffy a nerd, not slain (yet)

• Astrological Sign: Libra – Should I tell you that or shouldn’t I? Hmmm. . .
• Time at the Nerdery: 5 months.
• Area of expertise: Eating. Oh, you mean my skills? Eating. Well in my past life I lived and breathed design, html, zen cart, and Joomla. Now I just talk about those things and you will usually see me in LinkedIn daily.
• When people ask you what you do, how do you respond: Look at my profile in LinkedIn, it says “Director of Nerds.”
• Favorite kinds of projects to work on: By myself, ecommerce. On the Sales side, websites with fun agencies.
• What one thing about The Nerdery surprises people the most when you tell them about it: That we have dogs and beer.
• Seven dream Jeopardy Categories: 1. Name that font 2. Foods around the world 3. Movie Titles 4. Volleyball rules 5. Your cat 6. How many buttons in a jar. 7. Catch Phrase.
• Favorite Fictional Nerd: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Really, she is a nerd.
• According to the Wikipedia entry on Nerd, some nerds show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, or overly mature for their age, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Do you know what disambiguation is: That sentence is too long for my attention span.