I first met Tamara, really, at the Kelowna getaway back in 2000. As I recall, she did Tiffany at the karaoke night (which created a mosh pit).
At the time, Tamara was in Critical Mass’ Production team, a group who prepared images for use on our websites. Even then, she knew the job was not long for this world. She learned Flash. Which was convenient, since we dropped the Production team sometime in 2002 (I think).
Tamara came back as a Flash developer. But back then, we really didn’t position Flash well. It was almost the bastard child of the Technology group. And I freely admit that was largely due to the fact that Web Developers (myself included) felt wholly threatened by Flash and all it could do (that HTML + CSS + JavaScript can’t).
Sadly, the time came when her contract ended and that was the end of that.
Now I should note that in June 2002, Tamara and I were living in the same house. I’d bought it, and needed a roommate. For over two years (and nearly three), Tamara and I lived in quite a bit of harmony.
And yes, we’re only friends. Just to make that 100% clear.
When her contract ended with Critical Mass, Tamara got a job with another place in town. She’d worked there for a couple of years until earlier this week, when the company decided to let her go. Just days after her father had passed away. Real nice, eh?
Funny how timing seems to go.
We’d had a couple of departures. In the economy we’re in, they’re inevitable. You can’t do much to prevent them, because they will happen. You can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time.
We had a hole.
About five seconds after Tamara IM’d me and said that she’d been laid off, I’d already spun her name through the PM group as a possibility for a new hire.
Now, for the record (and I do need to make this 100% clear to everyone), it’s not just because Tamara is a friend of mine. If there’s nothing else that I’ve learned over the last couple of years, it’s to have a professional distance between the people you know and the company you work for.
I know Tamara knows Flash. I know Critical Mass needs a Flash developer and they’re really hard to find. You do the math.
I didn’t interview her, nor would have I asked to. It’s not proper and I don’t want to influence anything. If she’s appropriate, the company will determine that, not me.
That said, she’s back at Critical Mass today, and I’m looking forward to seeing my friend more often than I normally do. Even if I have a lot of friends around here that I rarely see these days…
In any case, welcome back, Tamara!
