Goodbye Wharton…

Today I handed in my resignation from my position at Wharton Computing.

Wow, you have no idea what a major shock to the system that is for me. I have been working at Wharton since June of 1999. 10 years. 10 yeaaaaars. 10 years.

I started as an entry level desktop support person for some faculty and the student course pack print shop. I moved on to become a system administrator. Joe Cruz introduced me to ColdFusion. I helped setup classroom technology for two new Wharton facilities: Wharton West and Huntsman Hall. I took over the ColdFusion Administrators group. I moved on to WRDS, and ended at Knowledge@Wharton.

I’ve worked for almost every directorship in Wharton Computing. I witnessed 2 major technological catastrophes: the Exchange Disaster of 2001 and the Mother’s Day Craptaculon of 2005.

Wharton has provided me with the opportunity to meet and form relationships with about a dozen major vendors including Adobe, Microsoft, and Dell. It’s allowed me access to the wider technology community in Philadelphia. It’s allowed me the opportunity to work as co-workers with some of the smartest people in the technology community. Finally, it’s given me the opportunity to participate in the ColdFusion community which has given me a group of friends and colleges which straddles the entire globe.

As my year count at Wharton grew, I was often asked why I hadn’t moved on with my career. I think it’s obvious. I moved on with my career about 3 or 4 times, it just so happened that I stayed with the same employer. There’s always more to do, there’s always some place to go here at Wharton.

Add to the brilliant co-workers, and the career opportunities – an incredible benefits package, freedom to experiment and flexibility to live, and Wharton’s pretty hard to beat.

On a personal level, I met my wife here. We carried on a relationship for quite a few years before everyone knew we were together. I proposed during the aforementioned Mother’s Day Craptaculon. (At home though, not at work, that would be a bit too much.) We were married with co-workers amongst the crowd. We had the same boss at the time. My son was born while I was here, and was born in a hospital that was part of the same University system as Wharton.

This leads me to the University of Pennsylvania, where I have spent nearly every day (summers included) since 1995. If Wharton shaped who I am professionally, Penn shaped who I am personally. Penn convinced me that Clinical Psychology was no career for me. Penn has pretty much given me every one of my closest friends. (Except for a handful left over from high school.)

I was 18. That was 14 years ago. 14 years before that I was 4. It’s not hyperbole to suggest that this signals the next major section of my life.

So wow, I didn’t mean to get so sappy, but I guess I really do like this place. If you have the opportunity to work here, take it. I won’t claim it’s perfect, it’s not, and no place ever is. However, in this world and time of settling for a paycheck, it’s nice to have the opportunity to work for a place that encourages you to be part of something and to work to keep you with them while letting you take your career unfold the way you want.

I’m not quite ready to talk about what’s next, except to say that I’ve got something lined up. This is good, because I’d like this to be about my thanks to a place which has been so very good to me.

Thanks Wharton Computing, I’m going to miss you.