Sun 08 April 2012
Where is Ryan now? (tl;dr: Quit myGengo)
Six months is quite a bit of time to leave a personal writing depot without updates, but when your life turns somewhat upside down you end up neglecting things you never really expected to. In the past few months, I've been asked "what are you doing now?" more times than I can count. So it's publicly noted (and so I stop getting emails...) I quit myGengo in February of 2012. They're mostly good people, and if you think you're a good fit you should go look at joining them or using their services. Now, as for what's next...
I did yet another stint of traveling in the world, which has by far become the most interesting thing for me as of late. Switzerland (Zurich), England (London), Portugal (Lisbon/et al), Spain (Madrid, Bilbao, St. Sebastian), Germany (Stuttgart, Berlin)... a somewhat long list crammed into a few months. While it's fun and interesting, it's also still... somewhat unfulfilling. I've found that unless I'm working on something at all times, I'm just not happy. Remedying this has oddly led me down a path of figuring out what I want to be working on.
Who, me? Couldn't be...
I took a look at all the projects I've done over the past five or so years. In the beginning it was a lot of client work, with open source work dotting the landscape from time to time. As I gained more experience in terms of my overall programming skill, open source work took on more importance, and I eventually put down client work almost completely. Now, it's a new point - I've found that my brain is again interested in client work, although it's largely just one client - that being myself. It's become a game of justifying my output for someone else's vision or path.
This isn't to say I can't see myself working for or with another company, party, person, or cause in the future, it just has to be the right fit. In the meantime, I'm mulling over various offers from companies around the world while working on personal projects that I'd like to release in the near future. It's a mix of things, as is my general style - you've got some design, some product, some iOS/Android App level work, and some basic web work.
I'm also open to new contract work; if you've got an interesting project or idea, feel free to get in touch with me!
Moving Forward...
I want to check out Singapore. I've spent a bit too much time in Europe-ish regions recently; short of London, I could do with a bit of a break (seriously, people, open stores on Sunday or you will drive people like me away). I want to finish up the few mobile projects on my plate, and ultimately get back to updating this site more often, ideally with concrete projects to point to.