A new adventure: joining the Palm Developer Relations team

9:30 pm – “On the ground in San Francisco. Nights here really are quite cool and windy. This excites me for some reason.”

I wrote those words in my journal (yes, on paper) on July 19, 2007, when I decided to fly up for Wordcamp on a bit of a whim. Although my journal entry was brief, it marks a pivotal moment in my life. I remember I was in the airport and going up an escalator to get to the BART station. As I reached the top and looked out over the city for the first time, it was like I’d taken my first breath full of energy and life and possibilities, and I immediately knew that something in this city was waiting for me. The moment was so intense, the memory of it can bring tears to my eyes.

Dear friends, I am pleased to announce that I have found the opportunity I sensed that day. In just a few short weeks, I will be leaving San Diego to join Palm’s Developer Relations team. PreDevCamp was the most humbling and exciting project I’ve ever undertaken, and I’m honored to be in an even better position to serve this new community of developers. As an application reviewer, my priorities are now to help you guys develop the highest quality apps possible, and ensure the review process treats all developers with the respect they deserve.

I’ll be joining Chuq, the community manager that we already know and love, new directors Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, and a host of other crazy talented folks. What I’m looking forward to the most about working for Dion and Ben is that they’re so passionate about driving the future of the Open Web in a mobile environment. I’ve merely dabbled with the idea before (and listened to many of @hober’s infamous drunken rants), and I’m excited to have a chance to become a participating member of this community.

As eager as I am to join Palm, departure is bittersweet. San Diego is where I discovered myself, and with the help of some really awesome friends I’ve learned that my truest source of happiness is to be active and genuine in my communities, and never be afraid to follow my passions. As Barcamp San Diego and twitter empowered San Diego with a thriving new community, I was empowered myself and decided what I wanted to do with my life. For that reason, San Diego — and the people here — will always have a special place in my heart.

The next two weeks will be a whirlwind of activity to wrap up my last obligations, see as many friends as possible, and ship me and my cat up to Sunnyvale ASAP. The realization that I’m really doing this comes in waves, so I’m doing everything I can to cherish my remaining time here. You will be greatly missed, San Diego, but be proud that it is your legacy that will carry me through this next adventure.

7 Replies to “A new adventure: joining the Palm Developer Relations team”

  1. Lisa – holy crap! That is so awesome, and so bittersweet. I’m really excited for you, but you’ll definitely be leaving quite a chasm in San Diego. We’ll miss you.

  2. Joe, I’ll miss you, too! Either you guys need to whip together a Pre app, or Palm needs to hurry up and get flash working…I don’t know what I’ll do without being able to listen to KPBS in the car!

    I’m still keeping my license plate holder, though. ^_^

  3. Hi Lisa,

    I believe you can listen to KPBS using the Shoutcast app. We should be in their directory. I don’t have a Pre to test it, so it would be nice to know if it works or not.

    If you could point me to any specs on the audio streaming format requirements, I’d like to take a look.

    Thanks, and congrats on the job!

  4. Hey Lisa,

    As a fellow San-Diego-to-Bay-Area transplant and student of @hober’s drunken rants, I’m wondering how you’ve found it up here so far. Is there still a spark? Have you been able to cultivate a new group of amazing friends?

Leave a Reply to Lisa Brewster Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *