There are a lot of factors that play into how much a person loves their job, but perhaps the most important — and the most simple — is the work itself. When you’re excited about the products you’re building, it’s easy to enjoy coming to work every day. And really, what could be better than that?
We asked four local techies to give us a glimpse into the interesting projects they’re working on now and what they enjoy most about the work they do.
The home of electronic music for DJs, producers and fans, Beatport allows users to stream music, download songs to perform live, connect with other artists and music lovers, and stay up to date on the latest from both up-and-coming and established musicians. Software Engineer Sean McNeil gave us a glimpse into what she’s working on right now and what she enjoys most about her role at Beatport.
Describe an exciting project your team is currently working on. How will it impact the company, its customers or your industry?
Beatport is developing a new platform, Beatsource, which will focus on global, open-format DJ culture, serving up hip-hop, top 40 and other popular music trends. We are making DJ-ing more accessible and available to fans by giving them the chance to become DJs themselves by integrating the Beatsource platform into DJ hardware and software platforms. It's an exciting opportunity that could change how fans of DJ culture interact with music.
I get hands-on experience building UIs with React, APIs with Django, and managing complex infrastructure with Google Cloud, Kubernetes and Helm, while listening to coworkers DJ.”
What aspects of your job do you enjoy most, and why?
I get hands-on experience building UIs with React, APIs with Django, and managing complex infrastructure with Google Cloud, Kubernetes and Helm, while listening to coworkers DJ. I’ve even started learning to DJ myself.
As a Google Marketing and Cloud partner, Adswerve helps businesses leverage data and analytics to improve their marketing strategies and drive revenue. Senior Programmatic Media Strategist Doug Luers discussed how his team is partnering with Google to beta test an exciting new analytics tool.
Describe an exciting project your team is currently working on. How will it impact the company, its customers or your industry?
Currently, we are working on the Ads Data Hub, a beta program within the Google Marketing Platform which has been really exciting. Our team is working hand-in-hand with Google to unlock the value of the program for our clients with analytics to increase revenue and learning for clients within the industry.
I am also part of the Media Consulting Services team where we find ways to use media to increase revenue for clients. Adswerve's main goal for Ads Data Hub is to utilize analytics for better attribution, improve advertising efficiency and give a holistic view of different advertising channels for all of our clients, which represent marketers from the largest brands and agencies. All of these improvements help make better business decisions which equal more revenue.
Adswerve is a very dynamic company to work for, with collaboration being a key attribute of our culture.”
What aspects of your job do you enjoy most, and why?
I enjoy working with multiple teams. Adswerve is a very dynamic company to work for, with collaboration being a key attribute of our culture. On any given day, I may be meeting with data scientists, data engineers, media directors and planners, C-level executives and marketers. Our team grew by 50 percent since last August, following the acquisition of Seattle-based Analytics Pros, giving us the opportunity to expand our knowledge into new areas beyond the media ad business and into the analytics space. I can speak for myself and the rest of the team — we all appreciate the opportunity to use data and media to solve problems for our clients on a daily basis.
Brightfin’s SaaS platform helps businesses manage the entire life cycle of their mobile devices, carriers and plans — all from one portal — making mobile management simpler and more scalable. Vice President of Product Strategy Amber Hollenbeck gave us a sneak peak into a project her team is working on that’s poised to have a major impact on both employees and customers.
Describe an exciting project your team is currently working on. How will it impact the company, its customers or your industry?
At brightfin, we have so many exciting new technology projects on the near horizon. One of the most exciting projects is the implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) functionality into our full life-cycle mobility management portal, MAX. Our RPAs are being developed with the goal of optimizing our best resources: our people. We will create a culture of subject matter experts by eliminating tedious and repetitive tasks.
Brightfin collectively understands that the RPAs serve both employee and customer. Our employees will continue to do the important interfacing with our customers but with more freedom and time dedicated to our first-in-class customer service. In the background, the RPAs will then make sure that the tasks needed to support our customers are completed with the highest level of accuracy. This is truly the perfect amalgamation, designed for the benefit of both customers and employees.
Thinking outside of the box and having the ability to jump into projects such as RPA is one of the reasons we are eager to come into work each day.”
What aspects of your job do you enjoy most, and why?
We are so excited about our RPA implementation. Thinking outside of the box and having the ability to jump into projects such as RPA is one of the reasons we are eager to come into work each day. Innovation, finding ways to make our industry a leader in unique ways, has been a considerable driver for everyone on the brightfin team.
Honey helps shoppers save money on their online purchases with a browser extension that automatically applies the best coupon codes available, offers cash-back incentives and allows users to set up alerts when prices drop on products they’re eyeing. Honey’s Boulder GM Jud Valeski explained what excites him most as a leader and what his team is working on now.
Describe an exciting project your team is currently working on. How will it impact the company, its customers or your industry?
As our Boulder efforts expand beyond back-end infrastructure, we’ve taken on native Android mobile development to complement our iOS Honey app currently deployed in Apple’s App Store. Demand for a Honey experience on mobile has been high for years, and we’re excited to meet it from the other half of the mobile platform (Android).
There’s nothing more rewarding than watching relationships form around solving problems for the greater good.”
What aspects of your job do you enjoy most, and why?
Building sustainable software, and teams, has been a lifelong passion of mine. I love bringing bright minds and technical challenges together to see what solutions emerge. There’s nothing more rewarding than watching relationships form around solving problems for the greater good.
