In the spirit of Contribupendence Day, I'd like to take a short moment on my blog to talk about a former colleage of mine: Randall Drum.

Randall and I worked together at my previous employer. I was the "Project Engineer" (think software architect) and he was the Project Manager. We worked as a team on a large custom development project that monitored the health of thousands of devices located around the world, and generated customer reports for each device site each month.

Randall was an invaluable teammate on this project, and its success was directly related to his participation. He truly gets agile development methodologies, and made our processes seem effortless. He managed a challenging client very well, setting expectations, and taught them the benefits of an agile approach before and during the project.

Randall is PMP Certified, which is the official certification for Project Managers. He would be an excellent candidate for any team looking for a strong leader for one or several projects.

In addition to his professional credentials, Randall is a great person to work with. A former stand-up comedian, he's always got a way to lift a room that is feeling less than humorous. He is on the that "magic" list of people I would hire when I start my own company. Unfortunately, I'm not starting a company. At least not yet.

The reason I am writing this is because due to tough economic times, Randall's employer had to make some tough decisions, and he is now looking to grace another team with his personality and professional strength. Here's where you can find him:

Labels: contribupendence, contribupendence day, profile, randall drum

Today, we celebrate our Contribupendence Day. A day when we can contribute to our colleagues and friends to improve their online standing. A day when we take advantage of those features of social networks that we always put off until tomorrow. You can read my full description of Contribupendence Day here.

Although I have posted my contributions this morning to Plaxo and LinkedIn, I thought I would share with you what I've written. Perhaps to inspire you to participate in this holiday of giving, or perhaps provide you an opportunity to connect with some of the people I have most enjoyed working with.


James Bender - James is one of the most passionate developer/architects I have ever worked with. He is constantly keeping himself up-to-date with the latest technologies, and still makes time to help others that need it. His development skills range from modern day .NET back to legacy systems written in VB6. He is an incredible asset to any technical team, as well as an active speaker at technical conferences. I look forward to working with James in the future.

Tim Wingfield - Tim is an accomplished software developer. No matter what the challenge, Tim consistently steps up and takes it on. His passion for web development is infectious, as evidenced by his speaking abilities as well. Tim is a natural leader on any team he's on, and is capable of contributing in a variety of roles and skillsets.

Philip Jordan - Phil is a software developer that continues to surprise and delight me. In the time that I had an opportunity to work with him, I saw him grow from a junior developer to an accomplished, experienced developer in his own right. He is determined to improve himself every day, and it's evident in everything he does. I would recommend Phil completely.

Tarah Gaa - Once in a while, you encounter someone whose talents astound, and whose personality is infectious. That is my impression of Tarah. She is a modest, but extremenly talented graphic designer, with a focus on web development. With each new project I work on, she is always at the top of my list for design talent. I would recommend her for anything I need design assistance with.

Wendy Flowers - Wendy is as detail-oriented as they come in the Project Management world. I've personally witnessed her take projects that were headed in the wrong direction and get them squarely back on the tracks. She is accomplished in both waterfall and agile methodologies, and builds strong relationships with her teammates. Wendy is one of those people I would want on every project.




Chris Woodruff - Chris is an incredibly passionate guy for technology, and his contributions to the Deep Fried Bytes podcast is perfect evidence of that. I am thankful to know him.

Jeff Hunsaker - Jeff Hunsaker is one of those people that I wish I had an opportunity to work with. He's a natural leader, and an all-around nice guy. I am looking forward to getting to know more about him in the future.

Joe O'Brien - Joe has an internal energy that is just infectious. Every time I talk with him, I leave with a passion for technology that I rarely feel otherwise. I am looking forward to getting to know him better in the near future, if only to bottle some of that energy for myself.

Josh Holmes - My experiences with Josh have made him both a friend and mentor. I have had an opportunity to learn so much about public speaking from him, but also how to make the most of the communities I am a part of. I am truly thankful to have worked with Josh Holmes.

Sarah Dutkiewicz - Sarah is, for lack of a better reference, a "diamond in the rough." When I first met her, she was quiet, reserved, but passionate. Since that time, she has started speaking on technology, started a blog, organized a technology conference, and become a force to be reckoned with in the developer community. It is that internal drive and passion that is creating her momentum. I'm looking forward to see what she has in store for the coming years...

Labels: contribupendence, contribupendence day, jeff blankenburg, linkedin, plaxo

Want to contribute to your developer community? Want to know what your peers think of you? I'm proposing a new type of meme. Hopefully this will catch fire like Michael Eaton's Software Meme did a few weeks ago.

Contribupendence Day. That's what I'm calling it. On July 3, 2008, I am going to write recommendations for 5 people on LinkedIn. And leave comments on Plaxo. And {name your social network here}.

One of the things that I have found, in this wonderful developer community I am a part of, is that we've got some amazingly talented people in this industry. But when I look around at their profiles on the sites I mentioned above, you'd hardly know it. Hardly anyone has even ONE recommendation on LinkedIn. Comments (or a presence, for that matter) on Plaxo are slim. Facebook walls usually consist of nothing more than "Hey Steve, what are you doing this weekend?" But yet, when you're looking for that next job, what's the first place a new employer is going to look?

So let's tell the world about the people we work with. Or the people we WISH we worked with. No strings attached. Let's make sure that when someone looks up your friend online, that they find a glowing (and true) review from a peer. No embellishments, no lies. Just the truth. And do it with no expectation that they will return the favor. That's just selfish.

I will be picking 5 people from each social network that I participate in. That's currently only LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Facebook. So, on July 3rd, I hope you will contribute to someone's independence from online mediocrity. If you have a blog, tell us who you tagged! My list will be here Thursday.

This post was inspired by Marvin Palmer, a software developer for Vanderbilt Medical Center. He wrote a glowing recommendation for me on LinkedIn, and I was incredibly flattered. I hope each of us can do the same for someone else on Thursday. Have a great holiday weekend.

Labels: contribupendence, jeff blankenburg, linkedin, marvin palmer, meme, plaxo