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| by Davide |
Four and a half years ago, I came to New York with no job and no plan. I found the Meetup job posting and I just about fell over. This was shortly after the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, when a grassroots campaign, organized through Meetup, made the unknown Howard Dean a real contender for the nomination. I had been harboring a serious website-crush for Meetup.com and here was my chance to be part of it. I fixed up my resume, wrote a swooning cover letter, and crossed my fingers.
I'm a UI Engineer. The "UI" stands for "User Interface". I work on the parts of the site that you see and touch. If a website were a radio, I would be the one working on the knobs, the switches, and the radio dial. Before a project is finished, I'll have done some designing, some programming, and some road-testing of the new features with real users to make sure it all makes sense.
You're from Clewiston, Florida... America's Sweetest Town. Does that has anything to do with your dietary choices or with your workout routine?
Well, while people in Clewiston are very sweet, the town's nickname comes from being home to the United States Sugar Corporation. The town is surrounded by 30 miles of sugarcane fields in every direction. Trucks have bumper stickers that say "Raising cane!". The big event each year is the Sugar Festival, where a new Miss Sugar is crowned (a much better title than the neighboring town's beauty queen, Miss Swamp Cabbage).
The sugar-related food I miss the most living here in New York is southern sweet tea. You make it by adding the sugar to the water while it's still boiling, which lets you dissolve much more sugar than would be possible at room temperature. I like it because 1: it's delicious, and 2: I love that people are pushing the limits of physics to make the most sugary beverage possible.
You're known for designing beautiful things for Meetup. It seems like in the past 10 years, 'pretty' has been replaced by 'functional'. In 100 words, can you tell me how you evolved into the UI engineer you are today?
Aw, well thanks. Over the past few years, I've learned to approach making changes -- to style or functionality -- with a lot more respect. Once you create a new page, it's not yours anymore. People bring it into their home, they become used to it, they make it their own. When you make a change, it's as if you reached into their home and rearranged their furniture in the middle of the night.
Last night we all went to see the new Harry Potter together. Did you like? How was sitting next to Will Carlough?
Will and I are very different movie-watchers. Will has seen every movie in the history of the world, so it takes a lot to impress him. I see maybe 1 to 2 movies a year, so I think every movie I see is the best movie ever. That said, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the BEST MOVIE EVER.
Someone might say that internet professionals are not good at DIY, but you dispelled the assumption by recently building a wall in your apartment. How was it? How did it feel?
I hope I'm not carrying the banner of home improvement for the geeks... it took me an entire year to finish that wall! But I did finish it and it felt great. Just don't lean on it too much if you come by.









