My tenure at IBM came to an end last August when I accepted the position of Program Manager at Embarcadero Technologies to lead the development of next-generation Eclipse-based products targeted to database developers. Good gig!
In a pleasant and touching surprise, I have been getting a lot of e-mail from readers of my blog inquiring how the new job is going.
To quote the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, "my life got flipped turned upside down" since the big job move:
- There is a huge corporate cultural change when you go from a company with 300,000 employees to a company with 300 employees.
- I gave up my thinkpad for a Dell.
- My Lotus Notes is now called Outlook.
- I now use this thing called JIRA for bug tracking.
- My new favorite acronyms are SQL, DDL and DML.
- I lead a distributed team of 30 developers and QAs.
- I work 23.5 hours/day - on average. I always make time for Wheel of Fortune.
- Working downtown Toronto is fun. I was on the cusp of becoming "too suburban."
- Eclipse is a great platform. I have always known that.
- I have noticed recently that Eclipse as an IDE is too project-centric. Have you tried opening a simple file for editing in an empty workspace?
- I am the reigning office Bocce Ball champion.
Pilgrimage to EclipseCon
I am so filled with the joy of EclipseCon that I cannot contain it, for EclipseCon is the best organized (and best-catered) conference I have been to.
Looking at the 2008 lineup, the conference program looks pretty solid, and more importantly, it seems to be devoid of those awful panel "discussions". My prayers have been answered!
As for my participation in the conference, I will be co-presenting two tutorials:
Plug-in Development 101: The Fundamentals
Plug-in Development 201: Rich Client Applications
If you are new to Eclipse or plug-in development, these tutorials are a must.
Also, if you would like to see what I have been up to lately, drop by the Embarcadero booth in the Exhibition Hall for a chat, a demo (and possibly free stuff).
PDE Does ...?
My new job takes me to interesting and beautiful destinations.
If you can name the city and the landmark in this photo, find me at EclipseCon and I will buy you a drink with an umbrella in it (or an item of equal or lesser value).
9 comments:
Hi Wassim,
that must be Wien and the building in the background is the Wiener Staatsoper I guess!
Best regards,
Ben
Ben knows everything :)
Looking forward to seeing you at EclipseCon.
Awesome!. Can't wait for the con then :-)
Hi Wassim, welcome back!
The challenge was a little easy. Even if you don't recognize Vienna, the street sign "Operngasse" is easily googleable, as is the Hotel Bristol in the background. And the Austrian flag to the top right clinches it :-)
Glad to see you still are accumulating those air miles. We worked hard not to have any panels...just for you.
See you at eclipseCon
Hi Neil,
You have to agree though that the degree of difficulty is appropriate given the lucrative prize :)
Hi Wassim, it's good to hear you're doing well.
I had a good time last year when I joined you and other IBM folks at the EclipseCon hotel resto-bar. Looking forward to meeting again at EclipseCon 2008.
Hey you bum, PDE misses you.
No more excuses now that you have your commit rights back :)
I am happy to see that your enjoying your new job :) The change seemed too easy for you :p
Is there another way to get those tutorials?
Plug-in Development 101: The Fundamentals
Plug-in Development 201: Rich Client Applications
Would be nice for non-eclipsecon peeps to see them.
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