Who is Joe Canadian?
by Ken Porter
I am! But since many of you have never heard of me before, a brief introduction is probably in order; especially now that I have joined vowe's magic flying circus.
My real name is Ken Porter, and I am a developer by trade. I have worked with a variety of technologies over the years ( VMS on Digital's VAX is still my favourite! ), but for the past eight years I have been focusing on application development with Lotus Notes & Domino technologies.
I am often amazed at the diversity of companies and industries that use Notes and Domino to run their business. In my past life as a consultant, I had the opportunity to work with ( and learn about ) companies as diverse as a big 6 accounting firm, a multi-national car manufacturer, and a US restaurant company that sold both chicken and bagels! I truly enjoyed those years as a consultant, but change is inevitable and my days of eating free bagels were numbered.
When the .com bubble started to implode a few years back, I hung up my consultant hat and accepted a job offer from one of my long term clients. I was originally concerned that I might get bored working at one place, but it has been a non-stop learning process ever since. I work in the music publishing industry at a time of massive change. New players like Apple's iTunes Music Store in the US are creating waves of change in the industry worldwide. It is never a dull day 'at the office' these days.
So how did I come to be apart of vowe dot net you ask? Well, I have been reading this site for quite some time now, and in recent months I started to post comments under the name Joe Canadian. Then at this year's Lotusphere, I had the opportunity to talk with Volker in person at the Saturday night Gonzo party. I guess I made a good impression, because now I am introducing myself to all of you. :-)
One more thing. As my alias might suggest, I am Canadian. So it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Canadian winters, that I spent much of this afternoon shovelling snow. One week ago I was enjoying a beer with friends in 70 + degree Florida, and now my back muscles are sore from shovelling snow. These are indeed interesting times we live in.
Comments
Well, Joe/Ken, we welcome you here (ey, I might add ;-))!
Just having returned form "70+ degree Florida" yesterday I obviously am still struggling with the jet lag... At 2am in the night I can't get to sleep and you don't want to know what the choice on TV is besides the Superbowl...
So that's what I'm using to kill time, (besides being online, obviously). Hey, and just right now, the Panters have scored their second touchdown 18s before the end of the second quarter (and just as I'm typing this, they also made the extra point).
So, maybe the halftime show might put me to sleep (;-)).
Take care,
Well, here we go, half time comes... After two touchdowns and one field goal in the very end of the first half...
Let's see what the halftime show and a Klösti (http://www.schuetzengarten.ch/Produkte/kloster.htm) can do to help me sleep...
Welcome Ken, looking forward to more of your posts!
Well, I'm Canadian too (Montreal) and I wasn't in Florida, so while you were having that beer, I was freeinZing my butt AND shovelling snow.
Welcome aboard, Joe.
You know what I can't stand?
People who use aliases.
Sheesh! ;-)
Yeah, W.R. Berkeley.
You realise, of course, Ken-Joe, that it is now compulsory to spell the phrase: "I. AM. CANADIAN." (Marketing at its best and worst, for those of you who aren't. Canadian is not merely a nationality, it is also a pretty fair Pilsner, whose makers are just about the sole practioners of blatant nationalism* in this country -- apart from Mike Meyers.)
*That's Federal nationalism. Quebec nationalism is another matter entirely, and well beyond the scope of this comment.
Now Stan, don't get me started on Quebec Nationalism... we'll need a dedicated blog for that!
Just kidding ... I'm blue, but it's because of the cold :D
