Denis leaving Fluid and starting with AppNexus Sept 16 2013
My last day at Fluid was Sept 9th after almost 5 years.
I have been fortunate to work with some great peer co-workers without whose help I simply would not have come this far. From my first project on Reebok with Drew and Ward to my final on LG with Drew (again) and all those in between Bugaboo, Benefit, Jeldwen etc. I have worked with some great peers in engineering, pmo and design who have helped me and taught me.
When I joined Fluid it was a smaller company of approx. 40 people total spread across product and services. We shared one office all on top of each other, cramped and hectic, too hot in summer too cold in winter.
But there was a great camaraderie and mutual support. We had a great CEO in Andy and although the work was hard (I worked a third of all weekends in 2009...gawd) we were all in it together (and we all felt it). I remember in the depths of 2009 recession, Andy getting his head shaved in the pub since we beat a revenue target. Local TV news crews covered it. Special times.
Somewhere along the line that changed, it went from being "we're all in this together" to "you're on your own buddy" over the past two years or so.
Looking back, the final straw came for me in April 2013 on my last project. I had worked some long weeks, others on the team much longer (70-80 hours a week). We delivered a big new awesome release of the site BUT were not even given the customary congratulatory launch email which is always sent when something is launched. Always sent.
After all the hard work by the team, the Fluid project owners didn't see fit to send an email of thanks and congratulations! A 10 minute task.
This was an outrageous snub of the team and frankly the end for me.
Others I've spoken to since were equally incensed about this.
I believe company culture is like your "good name" as the old saying goes. Its time consuming to build up a good name but a good name can be destroyed very quickly. Rebuilding a good name is like chasing feathers in the wind. Likewise for company culture. People can see beyond the superficial and tell if they're cared about or not.
I am excited by my new position at Appnexus. I like that its a small team here in San Francisco, 6 developers. We sit next to our business users who are awesome. I'm working on a great variety of frontend technologies from bootstrap to angular directives to e2e testing with protractor. We're all pulling together to make something which has the potential to be a big player for the industry.
What more can I say?
Below is a subset selection of kind farewell words from my co workers on services, pmo, it, creative, management and product team.
Thanks for all the advice and Denis-isms you've taught me over the years. I will say I do curse more than I did 4 years ago.
Cheers,
Jo
I have been fortunate to work with some great peer co-workers without whose help I simply would not have come this far. From my first project on Reebok with Drew and Ward to my final on LG with Drew (again) and all those in between Bugaboo, Benefit, Jeldwen etc. I have worked with some great peers in engineering, pmo and design who have helped me and taught me.
When I joined Fluid it was a smaller company of approx. 40 people total spread across product and services. We shared one office all on top of each other, cramped and hectic, too hot in summer too cold in winter.
But there was a great camaraderie and mutual support. We had a great CEO in Andy and although the work was hard (I worked a third of all weekends in 2009...gawd) we were all in it together (and we all felt it). I remember in the depths of 2009 recession, Andy getting his head shaved in the pub since we beat a revenue target. Local TV news crews covered it. Special times.
Somewhere along the line that changed, it went from being "we're all in this together" to "you're on your own buddy" over the past two years or so.
Looking back, the final straw came for me in April 2013 on my last project. I had worked some long weeks, others on the team much longer (70-80 hours a week). We delivered a big new awesome release of the site BUT were not even given the customary congratulatory launch email which is always sent when something is launched. Always sent.
After all the hard work by the team, the Fluid project owners didn't see fit to send an email of thanks and congratulations! A 10 minute task.
This was an outrageous snub of the team and frankly the end for me.
Others I've spoken to since were equally incensed about this.
I believe company culture is like your "good name" as the old saying goes. Its time consuming to build up a good name but a good name can be destroyed very quickly. Rebuilding a good name is like chasing feathers in the wind. Likewise for company culture. People can see beyond the superficial and tell if they're cared about or not.
I am excited by my new position at Appnexus. I like that its a small team here in San Francisco, 6 developers. We sit next to our business users who are awesome. I'm working on a great variety of frontend technologies from bootstrap to angular directives to e2e testing with protractor. We're all pulling together to make something which has the potential to be a big player for the industry.
What more can I say?
Below is a subset selection of kind farewell words from my co workers on services, pmo, it, creative, management and product team.
8:54 AM (1 hour ago)
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Who's going to finish my drinks now?!
Anywho, congrats on the new opportunity - about time you start making plans to take over the world. I cant thank you enough for the last 4 years. You were my first tech lead on my first proj at Fluid, I learned a lot working with you in those long Bugaboo months. Probably made a huge difference in my first set of experiences here at Fluid. You guys took a shot on me, being new and very junior those days and trusting me to learn on the fly despite the craziness. You've got a leader's personality on you that makes it easy for anyone on your team to want to throw down and follow you into any cage fight. Cheers,
Jo
10:09 am (5 days ago)
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JP is a poet!
Cheers,
Amy
Amy Lanigan
VP, Client Strategy
amy@fluid.com
Denis... say it aint so! It has been great having you at Fluid :) Will never forget your performance as Santa Claus.. standing ovation ;)
Best of luck in your endeavors <3
7:44 am (5 days ago)
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Dennis! Truly bummed to hear about this, but happy for you and your new adventure. Congratulations, man.
::t
::t
8:16 am (5 days ago)
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Wow I can't believe it! Denis I thought we were both in it for the long haul! I'll miss you a ton and I'm super happy for you. Good luck with everything and stay in touch.
Ashley
Ashley Auld
EXPERIENCE DESIGN DIRECTOR
8:40 am (5 days ago)
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I think JP summed it up quite nicely.
Best of luck to you Denis. It's been a pleasure. Cheers,
Amy
VP, Client Strategy
amy@fluid.com
7:30 am (5 days ago)
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Let me be the first to say: BOO! Horrible news, for us at least
Congrats on your new opportunity, you'll be sorely missed. Working with you was a definite (rare) highlight of the JEL-HD phase2 project.
Cheers
-Jon
7:41 am (5 days ago)
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I second the booing! I'm really sad to see you go but I'm glad I had the opportunity to work with you on some projects. I wish you all the best!
-- Jamie
--
Jamie Kimmell
Software Engineer, Fluid Inc.
9:59 am (5 days ago)
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"
Bob falls to his knees and looks up to the sky with hands raised. Rain begins to fall. Camera slowly zooms out. Lighten flashes. Fade to black.
;)
Congrats on achieving escape velocity and good luck to you! And stay in touch.
-b
Bob falls to his knees and looks up to the sky with hands raised. Rain begins to fall. Camera slowly zooms out. Lighten flashes. Fade to black.
;)
Congrats on achieving escape velocity and good luck to you! And stay in touch.
-b
| 7:56 am (5 days ago) | | |||
No way, Fluid can't let you go!!!! :(
Where are you heading next? Who has the privilege now to have you on their team?
I hope we keep in touch! My personal email is bermi@bermilabs.com and you can always find me in skype
Hasta siempre amigo
Bermi
8:21 am (5 days ago)
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Yo Denis! It's been a pleasure working with you. I will miss having you around with your software engineering thoroughness, ready smile, and attentive conversation....when you're not focused on your coding. ;)
Peace,
Ren
--
7:51 am (5 days ago)
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Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter.Lullabies, dreams and love ever after. Poems and songs with pipes and drums. A thousand welcomes when anyone comes... That's the Irish for you!
I'm not entirely sure what this farewell limerick means but will miss you bro. I wish you all the best, Denis the Menace.
JP
I'm not entirely sure what this farewell limerick means but will miss you bro. I wish you all the best, Denis the Menace.
JP
Dear friends and colleagues, after almost 5 years of working with you on projects such as Reebok main site, Reebok portable configurator, Bugaboo, Benefit Cosmetics, multiple "tours" of Jeldwen and lastly LG, I have decided to leave Fluid to take advantage of an exciting new work opportunity.My last full day is next Monday Sept 9th.I'll always be grateful to the many people who helped me from the very first day I started at Fluid to the last, too many to name, but you know who you are. Cheers mates!Special props to the very hardworking Jeldwen Home Depot team. I'm very proud to have been part of both phases, to have collaborated with you all and built something really cool.Thanks to LG team, our time was brief but very enjoyable. Thank you guys.The San Francisco tech scene is not that large, I'll be working in the city so I'm sure we'll see each other around.--You can find me on linkedin and my personal email is deniskos@hotmail.com.
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