Last week was both sad and exciting for me. Exciting because I was gearing up to start my new job at theTeam, a London-based communications agency with a slightly silly name. Sad because it was my last week working at Osmosoft (a company that created plenty of silly named things itself).
I had been at Osmosoft since it grew from a one man band into an open source innovations team at BT, and had a terrific experience along the way. I think that it is safe to say that I have learned more about The Web during my time at Osmosoft than in any previous job and that is in no small part due to the quality and experience of the people around me.
During my time I honed my appreciation of what makes a good Web citizen. From technology choices to quality of delivery. From interaction design to exhibiting good taste. From the importance of the 'View Source' experience to openness and data availability. I'm going to miss the raging debates and big opinions which regularly surfaced at Osmosoft. The people there are intelligent and articulate.
Osmonauts, I salute you!
But now I'm off to pastures new. theTeam has a young, but growing digital arm with an impressive client list. I'll be involved in what we deliver into the browser and how. A chance to influence the nature of the browser experience by pushing for unobtrusive technologies and best practices on a range of sites which is due to increase in both reach and diversity is a big draw for me. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
My transition has been made easier by a number of things. Firstly, Osmosoft and theTeam have already established a bit of a relationship. Co-hosting a recent Open Source Show and Tell revealed some common interests and enthusiasms. I'm hoping for more crossover at events like that. Secondly, a big part of my time at Osmosoft was spent developing for an open source project called TiddlyWiki. While I'll have to scale back my time on that, there is no reason for me to turn my back on it altogether. I'm keen to keep on contributing and building applications with TiddlyWiki. Besides, it's nice to bump into familiar friends in the TiddlyWiki irc room.
Osmosoft really sparked a lot of enthusiasm for me when it comes to both open source software and compelling Web content. In addition to contributing to TiddlyWiki, I'm hoping to start a small open source project of my own to feed my desire to make great stuff for the Web that anyone can use.
Thanks for everything Osmosoft. It's been a blast!