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It's Time to Move On

23 August 05

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I have posted to the site, but rest assured I am still alive - well, to those that still read this blog anyway. I have been quite busy lately, mostly working on projects for Hiram College, and it's only going to get more busy over the next couple of weeks.

After September 9th, I will no longer be the webmaster for Hiram College. I have accepted a position at the downtown Cleveland headquarters of Sherwin-Williams to become a part of their web team. With this new position, I will help to manage all of the 41 brand websites that they host and maintain in some fashion, and help to implement web standards across all their sites over time. The move is an exciting step in my career and I look forward to what lay ahead.

Of course, the decision comes with much heartache as well. I will be leaving behind not only a mountain of unfinished projects and incredible work over the last year and a half, but I will also be losing the ability to see every day the many friends I have made while working at the College. No doubt the closest of my friends I will continue to converse with after I leave, but it's still sad nonetheless.

I will miss Hiram. Despite some of the issues that Hiram has been experiencing as of late, I see a time where Hiram College will jump out as a new, reinvigorated institution where faculty and staff are once again coming up with brilliant new ways of teaching; where many of its core functions like hands-on learning and study abroad programs become a respected formula for student success in this ever-changing world. To any Hiram staff or faculty member who reads this - hang in there. Good things will come if you continue to work hard and believe in what you do.

But as I said, it's time to move on for me. Helping Sherwin-Williams work on web standards will be great, but I also want to be able to soak in more than just web standards. What about the complex world of metadata and search technologies or other aspects of information architecture? What about more efficient management of CSS or reusable pieces of code used across multiple websites but in different designs or slightly different visual formats? With pretty much myself at the helm for the web at Hiram, I couldn't afford to have the time to move forward on learning these things, and it didn't seem like that was going to change anytime soon.

But don't worry, I'll still be writing articles on Lenya when I get a chance, and I'll still be posting articles on here (perhaps on new topics), but also trying to put a more personal twist on things here. I created a new design for this site several months ago and never had the time to make it a reality. I hope that will change soon. Thanks again to all those that actively read the site - it's always a joy to hear from you via email or through the comments. Thanks to all those that have supported me through comments and suggestions on the Hiram website.

Incidentally, while it's not yet official, it appears Hiram will now be searching for someone to fill my shoes when I leave. Ideally, we'd like someone with Lenya experience, but we highly doubt will find someone with that marked on their resume. More importantly, we need someone who has incredible organization skills, can juggle multiple websites and multiple projects on a daily basis, has a knack for web standards, and can work with people of varying levels on redesigns of existing sites and development of new sites. Should you meet this criteria and want to hop on the Hiram bandwagon, feel free to send me an email.