JD on EP

I didn't write about this goodbye party in the weblog here, because even ten buildings the size of The Fillmore wouldn't have had enough space for all the people who should have been there -- it was mostly current staff, and a scattering of significant contributors to the company's history, and only a fraction of these could get even a single guest ticket. It was a representative sample of Us, not a definitive sample.

If you've worked on projects at Macromedia, though, then odds are strong your name came up in conversation sometime during the evening... there were a lot of old friends who bumped into each other last night.

One thing I particularly liked was how the CEO toasts by Bud, Rob and Stephen strongly and clearly said that the "Us" of Macromedia wasn't just staffers, but was both people who draw a paycheck from the company, and the greater number of people who draw their own paychecks using what the company produces. More than any other company I've seen, Macromedia's success over the past 13.5 years has been due to the many brilliant people worldwide, who have served their own needs and their own audiences, while using Macromedia's various toolsets. This is recognized top-down, bottom-up, and all across the company -- I was really happy to hear the company's leaders publicly acknowledge Macromedia's customers during that limited time each had to make a farewell toast.

(Am I sad that "Macromedia" is going away? Actually, not much, not really. I do get sad for all the people I would have wanted to spend more time with but can't -- these finite lifespans are such a nuisance. But the company name itself, I'm not really attached to it. What excites me is that there's a bunch of smart, funny engaged people who are increasing the capabilities and the hopefulness of all other people, worldwide -- creating smarter interfaces for affordable devices won't solve all the world's problems, but it's a positive step, and I'm proud and grateful to be part of such a movement. I don't really care what it's called.... ;-)