Chicago Memories, part IV: Work

Today is my last day in the office. I was the fifth employee when I was hired as a Client Services Engineer by my company (name withheld just for everyone's best interest, given that this is a public forum and all) in July of 2002. At the time, the company had been around about 4 years, had a handful of clients, and no office. I was a bit skeptical of the situation at first, but after meeting with several of the folks, I knew I'd found a company that would be a challenging, but rewarding place to be. I really had no idea how much of both I was in for.

Since that time, we've quadrupled in size, acquired a fine office in the West Loop, (which has already needed to be expanded once and is nearly full again!), and added much to our client list and revenue, not to mention the technological advancements and developments that we've gone through.

And yet, there is still a very tight, close-knit family feel to the organization. We've had many fantastic opportunities to bond both during work and outside of it, and I can honestly say I am going to miss these folks and these good times immensely.

Some highlights:
Jam sessions - what are the odds that about a third (at one point in time, over half!) of the company played musical instruments, at some skill level or another? What started as an impromptu song session after a poker night one time has turned into one of the cornerstone regular social events for the company. A few guitars, a bass, a keyboard, and harmonicas are the backbone instruments, but there have been occasional contributions on the saxophone, flute, pennywhistle, banjo, bodhran, fiddle, mountain dulicimer and even uilleann pipes! Add a stack of guitar tabs and lyrics, a couple amps and mics and we can entertain ourselves for hours struggling through standard classics from rock, folk, blues, country and celtic, not to mention our occasional original blends. My particular favorite sessions were the ones on McKinley's rooftop deck in the summer, and any time we had anyone else from the company who just wanted to hang out and listen, or possibly chip in on vocals (Jen's mad lyrical stylings on that tricky part of Blues Traveller's "The Hook" springs to mind!) . Tonight we'll be jamming for one last time before I take off.

Poker nights - even those that didn't turn into jam sessions were always a good time. Chong was definitely the master host and bartender when it came to casino night, but as for being a shark, watch out for Justin when he gets some drink in him!

Softball - after several years of talk, we finally had enough people to try and field a softball team last year! Though the results were mixed, there's nothing quite like getting out on a nice summer evening and running around the diamond with some good friends. Too bad most of our games were either the hottest day of the year, or during an early fall chill!

Darts - Perhaps my most lasting contribution to the company will be the custom dartboard case that I made with the (now outdated) company logo, which adorns our break room. It's been collecting dust a lot lately, but some great games have been had on that board, and on many pub boards around town.

Football game road trips - How many people can say they've talked their company president into a spontaneous road trip to Iowa for a college football game? John and Chong have both been part of several memorable Michigan game day experiences, trekking with me not only to Iowa and back to Ann Arbor, but also Purdue and even the Rose Bowl!

Monday morning meetings - Monday afternoon lunch meetings in the conference room are the norm these days, but in the early days before we had an office, about the only time we'd see each other as an entire team were on Monday mornings when we'd descend on one of a handful of favorite breakfast joints for food and to talk some business. (Usually Wishbone or Pauline's, although Toast, Nookie's, and a few other places made their way into the rotation eventually)

The Merger - The biggest project, probably of my entire career, was leading the team responsible for seeing through our end of the merger of two of our biggest clients into what's now one of the largest financial institutions in the nation. The 80-100 hour weeks, catching cat-naps in my chair for 20 minutes at a time in the middle of the night, driving home at 5am just to crash for a few hours before returning by 8... Yes, believe it or not, the memories are fond when I look back at it. I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of an outstanding effort and challenge in my professional life, but what sets it apart even more was the amazing amount of cooperation and teamwork that was involved. Those last few nights were an amazing bonding experience with an all-hands-on-deck atmosphere that just exuded teamwork and support for one another.

And we won't even get into the Holiday parties.....

Suffice to say, is has been a truly fantastic experience to work for this company to be a part of its growth. It has certainly been frustrating and overwhelming at times, and I've done more than my share of complaining off the record. There have been many moments when I really wondered whether it was worth it and pondered just leaving flat out, but something always kept me around. It was going to take something big to separate me from this company and well, I've found it. But even that may not be enough.

I honestly have no idea where I'm going to be at in my life at the end of this 3 month adventure. But I do sincerely hope that my affiliation with this company continues or resumes at some point down the road.