Lunch with a Software Craftsman

Last week, the Jacksonville DotNet Users' Group(www.JaxDug.com) hosted Eric Sink (www.SourceGear.com) as a guest speaker. In addition to their normal 2 hour presentation, they arranged to have Eric eat lunch at Panera with members of the group.

As you all know(SourceGear Customer Service, Buggy Source Control), I am a huge fan of Eric's, and of his company. I jumped all over the chance to eat lunch with him, being the second person to sign up. The plan was to meet at Panera's around 11:30 ish.

I was, of course, detained by work. I got there around 12:15 or so, expecting to see like 20 people gathered around, jostling to speak with Eric. Luckily for me, there were only 4 members there, plus Eric. So, I went and grabbed a seat, and introduced myself.

What a treat. Eric was such a nice, down-to-earth kind of guy. He spoke eloquently, and gave us some great insights as to what MS is doing right, and what they are doing wrong in the source control field. He also spoke about why he isn't too concerned about Vault's place in the world, and the future of SourceGear.

They say that the measure of a person's intelligence is the degree to which they agree with you. Eric must be a genius, then. I totally agreed with nearly everything he had to say, which is great, since I totally agree with his writings on software (Software.EricSink.com).

I waited, like a hunter, until all of the other members had left, and then I attacked! I grabbed a moment of semi-privacy when Eric was throwing away the box his lunch came in, and told him that I would be totally stoked to come work with him, and that I would love to be considered the next time he had a C# position open. I let him know I had been monitoring his blog for new positions, and had every intention of applying for the next open one.

Imagine my surprise, then, when he requested that I send him my resume, so he could review it! He said they are in a period of rapid growth, and always on the lookout for new talent (see, I told you I was talented). So, I sent him off my resume.

We'll see what happens. SourceGear would be second only to MS, and only because I like the idea of Seattle a little more than Champaign, IL.