webchick.net

very helpful lioness

Implementing hook_career_alter()

Wed, 04/27/2011 - 07:25 -- root

2011 has so far been a pretty amazing year, both for me personally, and also for the larger Drupal project. After nearly three years of hard work Drupal 7.0 was released, Lullabot sent me on tour to teach people about it, Drupal.org’s CVS => Git migration launched, and Drupal’s 10th birthday was celebrated at the amazing DrupalCon Chicago, where my mug was plastered on the cover of Linux Journal and Drupal 8 development officially kicked off. Whew!

So it’s with great excitement that I announce yet another huge milestone, both personally and Drupal-ly: I’m going to be making the move to Acquia, effective May 11, 2011. (Leaving enough time between jobs for a short vacation with my wife.)

Whoa! Who in the what now?

In my new role as Director in the office of the CTO, I’ll be focusing on maintenance and release management for Drupal 7, core patch reviews, coordinating with Drupal 8 development, evangelizing Drupal all around the world, and more.

It’s an amazing and exciting opportunity to help Drupal in an unprecedented way, working directly with Dries, at a company with a proven track record for major contributions to the Drupal project. I’m about to get paid full time to do what I love—making Drupal awesome—and couldn’t be more thrilled with the opportunity! :D

But what about the ‘bots?!

Unfortunately, this move also means I’ll be leaving the awesome team at Lullabot, with whom I’ve worked for nearly 5 years. Matt, Jeff, Liza, and the rest of the team have nurtured me on a journey from a wee PHP hacker to a consultant, trainer, book author, technical architect, and project manager. Lullabot has given me tremendous support over the years, and I’m eternally grateful to them for the opportunities and passions they’ve allowed me to pursue. Plus, they’re just some of the greatest people I’ve ever known.

Fortunately, I know the talented and passionate team at Lullabot will continue to do amazing things, and that we’ll all *still* be working together in the future. :)

So what happens now?

Basically, not much will be too different from before, other than I’ll be even more active in the issue queue, in various groups discussions, and on IRC, since it will be my job now. :) Dries and I will also be able to communicate and collaborate more closely than ever before, so expect things to pick up steam!

Community-related things that I’ll work on include maintaining Drupal 7, figuring out the Drupal 8 -> Drupal 7 backporting process, helping to create some communication and coordination around the Drupal 8 initiatives, and more.

I’ll be headed on-site at Acquia in mid-May to spend a few days with Dries hammering out the exact details, and then from there will fly to Minneapolis for a round of formal usability testing at University of Minnesota (please donate!), which should prove very informative for Drupal 8 usability priorities. Not bad for a first assignment! :)

As you can see, this is a truly amazing opportunity. I think being able to provide this sort of focused attention on Drupal itself will really help to increase our community’s progress and momentum. And I’m hugely looking forward to the opportunity to work full-time on what I’m most passionate about: Drupal.

Tags: 
drupal
core
lullabot
acquia

Comments

this totally made my day!

congratulations, can't wait to see what you bring to Drupal now that you're officially working on it full time :-)

From someone who is also about to embark on a dream job in a new place, a chance I got precisely because a few years ago I thought this Drupal stuff was neat and might be a good thing to learn, I say congratulations and thank you for all you've done.

I had the same experience nearly six years ago. I did a volunteer job building a web site for a congressional candidate in New Mexico in winter 2003/2004. I chose Drupal after learning about the DeanSpace project. I ended up winning an award for that site and the job of my dreams fell into my lap a short time after.

I've now been working with Drupal full time for six years and have gotten some fairly ridiculous opportunities over the years as a result (even landed an offer for senior developer at whitehouse.gov which my employer counter-offered). I've done web sites for hundreds of political campaigns including Barney Frank, Jack Murtha, John Lewis, Gov Pat Quinn, and former Gov David Paterson (it was the best web site he never saw :-D). I've been to three DrupalCons, various DrupalCamps and meetups and have assisted with some of the government Drupal projects.

If you had told me thirteen years ago when I first started doing web design or even seven years ago when I found Drupal that I'd end up here I would have thought you were crazy. ;-)

This is an amazing community and I am incredibly grateful to be a part of it.

Submitted by Artusamak (not verified) on

Amazing news! Thank you for all your work Angie, good luck for your new assignments, it'll be even better for Drupal!

Big up! Looking forward to hearing about how life is going to be for you at Acquia. Is Acquia as virtualized as Lullabot? I get the sense (maybe just from the logos) that the two companies have somewhat different cultures.

Again, congratulations!

-Jonathan

What wonderful news for you! I'm pleased as all get out to read your news. Sad for the Bots - but thrilled for you.

--Matthew.

That's huge news! I'm really pleased to hear that you, a person with the Drupal energy and stamina like no other, will be in an amazing position to keep the Drupal momentum, quality and spirit moving onwards and upwards.

That's great news Angie! We're excited for you. Will you still be residing hear in Vancouver or are you Boston bound? :)

A huge congrats to you, Angie, I can think of no better person to lead an official Acquia team to focus on core & the community, and I look forward to many great things to spring from your fingers in the coming years.

I'm eager to see what the Combo Dries+webchick will achieve... Very interesting, when you know what they've already done (Drupal 7). Drupal 8 promises to be great !

Submitted by jasonrsavino (not verified) on

Congrats Angie!

This is fantastic news. Perfect move, the only one I could imagine for you, though you seemed to fit with the bots so well! Congratulations!

Side note: the Chipin says it has already ended. Might want to check it out...

Best, Marilyn

Submitted by tvn (not verified) on

Congratulations!! Exciting news!

Submitted by okwari (not verified) on

Sad for Lullabot, but great for the Drupal community and CMS. Awesome news for you. Congratulations!

Congratulations webchick! :)

Your impact on the Drupal community has been tremendous. I can only imagine how mind-bogglingy strong it will become now!

Also: enjoy the vacation! :)

This is great news, Angie. I hope you can squeeze in some time for the local Boston Drupal group that Moshe runs. I'm sure I'm not the only one who love to meet you in person.

Submitted by theBorg (not verified) on

Good luck !!
This is an amazing opportunity to you and very good news to Drupal and the community!!!

Submitted by effulgentsia (not verified) on

Congrats for the amazing opportunity to work full-time on "making Drupal awesome". You've certainly earned it. And what an amazing boon for Drupal this is! And while it's true that Acquia has some cultural differences from Lullabot, it too is a GREAT company to work for. And with you joining, about to be even more so!

Angie, congratulations and a huge thank you for all you have done and are doing for the Drupal project and community!

"...collaborate more closely than ever before, so expect things to pick up steam!"

I thought things were already steaming along, now it sounds like we're going to be at warp speed in no time!

Submitted by tourguide (not verified) on

Yeah - so happy for you! Enjoy it.

Submitted by Sree (not verified) on

Angie - congrats!!!!!!!!!