I don't recall describing ACTi's work environment so here it is: We are a staff of 12 Employees, 1 president, 1 chief of projects, 3 project managers, 4 graphic artists, and 4 developers (including me). Aside from the president, we all work together in the main room... It's a modern approach to "team work" I'm quite fond of. We're positioned in a circle and constantly help each other out. Everyone has a dual processor pc with Dual 20" widescreen monitors.... CLASS.
Today was my first day in the company. I arrived at 8 and at 9 we had our weekly meeting where we discussed progress on our approximately 40 ongoing web projects. Surprisingly, the meeting is in English so everyone can practice they're English since a certain percentage of our clients only speak English. Let me tell you, If It wasn't my first day at the job I would have laughed out loud. I applaud the concept and the effort, but hearing them talk in English for over an hour is hilarious... Before lunch I was briefed on what my role will be for the upcoming weeks, and let me tell you... it's a doozy. 1 of the big projects they're just starting is for the TCL here in Lyon (Equivalent to the STCUM in montreal)... so needless to say it's a huge contract and involves lots of people.
/** Caution **/ /** Geek Section **/
Without getting into any of the client's specs, they will be keeping their current servers and certain modules from their current site... we will be forced to mostly write this site in ASP (Not .NET) ... I'm not too familiar with the language but then again to my knowledge, VBScript is about as easy as it gets. I will not be writing any of the content or html whatsoever. My job is to write the framework for an MVC (Model View Controller). Talk about diving head first into uncharted territory.. Unlike J2EE where MVCs are integrated in the language and PHP where many MVCs are of great quality and often times open source, there are very few MVCs out there for ASP (Not .Net) and since they are extremely expensive and not exactly what we are looking for, ACTi decided it would be best to develop our own.
/** End of Geek Section**/
JON I know you did some JSPs this semester, did you guys touch MVCs? if you did, send me an e-mail with whatever you can. Furthermore if you can ask Mr. Simonelis and Mr. Fogel to maybe send me an e-mail with tips and pointers on how to go about this, it would be greatly appreciated!
Needless to say I'm really excited about being given such a crucial piece of the puzzle so early on. Not only will this be great experience wise, it will also be impressive in web dev portfolio.
Well aside from the stage, everything is good. Friday I had a bunch of friends over at my place and we did "l'apero" before going to a show with Laurent and Thomas, 2 good friends. We saw "Les Cameleons" kind of like a "Catch 22" over here. I also learned that The Mad Caddies, Suicidal Tendencies and The Exploited will be playing a show here this month... a must see!
Saturday I went out with Thomas and Laurent to a bar and also watched OL lose to Bordeaux...
Thomas in the middle and Laurent on the right.
Thomas in the middle and Laurent on the right.
Martin
4 comments:
Hi Martin,
Glad to hear your 1st day at work went well. What are your hours - 8-4 or 9-5? Sounds like your project is a challenge. It will be a great experience. I'm sure you felt superior with your English skills! I forgot to ask you how long you'll be working there. Big game tonight - Habs and Bruins. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Not much else. Try and call this weekend. Wish I could give you a good Easter dinner!
Love
Mom
Martin,
Just for clarification, the geek section... is it writing in English. It just went 100 miles above my head.
Finally you will get the programming challenge you were looking for. I'm happy you will do some interesting work.
Habs won last night. Be prepare for the big game Saturday night against the mighty Leafs.
Here it is same old, nothing new to report. Today it is raining and around 3 celcius. Cold compared to the last week.
Have you met nice co-workers?
Time fly fast, it has been 2 months since you left. Melissa is replacing you and she comes and see the hockey game with me.
The lease for my car is coming up, I started to look for another lease. I will have another one by the time you get back.
Love you, miss you and Happy Easter.
Papa
Out of curiosity, why in god's name are you using ASP?
Paul.
Martin!!! So glad to hear all is going well!!!
MAD CADDIES!!! Oh man good times!
DORVAL MISSES YOU!!!
See you when you're back!
<3
Julie
Post a Comment