Starting December 1st, I’m going to be a Developer Advocate for Google Cloud Platform. It’s a similar role to what I’ve done before: go out to events or reach out online, and talk to people about technology that can help them. But Advocates are less about marketing than Evangelists, and more about product improvement. The idea is that while we’re out talking to people, we listen to their feedback and bring it back to the product teams. Evangelists do that too, but my gut feeling is that organizations with “Advocates” take that feedback much more seriously.
I’ll be talking about an awesome product. Or more accurately, suite of products. From Platform as Service and Virtual Machines to Storage, Databases, and Big Data queries, there is a lot to talk about, and lots of rabbit holes to wander down. I intend to wander down a few of them and bring you all along.
I’ll be talking to developers again, which is awesome. The past few years found me drifting further and further away from the developer communities that inspired me to get into this line of work 6 years ago. My work angst for the past 12 months and the work and projects I did to prepare for and secure this job made it very clear that this is what I really want to be doing.
I’m joining a team of intimidatingly smart people. And I do mean “intimidatingly” cause the interview process is as challenging as all the rumors make it out to be. But everyone I met along the process were incredible to interview with, and I can’t wait to start working with them.
I find myself reporting once again to Greg Wilson, and I honestly couldn’t be any happier about that. Good managers are both rare and more important than people think they are. When you find one, count yourself lucky, and if you can work for a manager you’ve confirmed is good, well, you do it.
Google culture encourages workers to informally collaborate. They find that keeping people in the same space yields better collaboration. And despite all of the advantages to working remotely I missed the serendipitous hallway meetings. So after 6 years remote, I find myself returning to daily commutes. I always said I couldn’t go back – but then again, when there is free Coke Zero, showers, nap pods, and brilliant co-workers – maybe it might be even better than working from home. I’ll miss seeing my kids the way I used to, but frankly, now that they’re in school, I don’t see them as much as I’d like to anyway.
You might be asking: Hey, does Google have an office in Philadelphia? Actually they appear to, but it’s not an office with any Cloud engineers. So my family and I are leaving Philadelphia for somewhere in the Bay Area, probably San Jose. This was not an easy choice, but I am very excited about the prospect. We’ll be around for the rest of 2014, with us moving in the beginning of 2015.
So let me finish by pointing out that none of this would be possible with out the encouragement and support of my wife, Janice. She was my practice interviewer, cheerleader, and sounding board. When the very people interviewing you point out that “Imposter Syndrome” is a huge part of the interview process, it’s hard to not to get lost in your head second guessing yourself. Janice was consistently convinced that I could get the position, and even helped me convince myself sometimes. And when I did get it, she agreed to move across the country to a place where we have no roots, with 2 children in tow. Not only did she agree to it, she embraced it for the opportunity it is. That doesn’t mean it isn’t terrifying for the both of us, but at least for me it is less so, ’cause she’s going to be by my side.
So there you have it, lots of change, I think they’re awesome changes, and I can’t wait.
tpryan.blog 