This past weekend I attended the DotNetNuke Corporation holiday party. Being a remote worker at DotNetNuke, this provided me with a great opportunity to see some co-workers as well as some old friends. The company did an excellent job putting us remote workers up at a place to stay, and make us feel like part of the company. I had a great time with fellow DNN old timers (and remote workers), Scott Willhite, Chris Paterra, Bill Walker, and met for the first time Nathan Rover. Later at the party, I got to talk to my friend Joe Brinkman who was attending along with his wife.
What is really significant about being a remote worker, we don't often get to see each other face to face, but many of us share a long history, and passion for a piece of software we have seen grow for close to a decade. Even though we don't get to talk to each other much, outside of a conference call, or messaging, we all have some shared experiences that bind us together. Once we start talking there is an instant repport thanks to DNN. It reminds me of the many core team meetings we had in the early days, the fun, the stress, and building some great software and the great community that built up around it.
It also reminds me that DotNetNuke is more than a CMS, a platform, or software, it's really about people. People who have a common interest, like minded goals, who work to reach those goals together. The community of people here are amazing, and continue to be some great folks. The other amazing aspect is the reach of the community around the world. I've met many folks due to DotNetNuke; Canada, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands, and talked to even more around the world. It really is an amazing company, community, and group of folks. And to think, back in the early 90s, I remember getting excited to talk to someone via a BBS on a 300 baud modem who was on the other side of town, to now being able to conference with folks all over the world.
So I'm being a little touchy feely here, thanks for being here and I hope everyone has a happy holiday! I'm looking forward to another year.
-Pat