Meet Dave!
We like to showcase the awesome people who work here at 729 Solutions because they are more than just great employees; they are creative, interesting and talented people who deserve a little recognition. This time Dave, head of Professional Services, joins us to discuss his role here at 729, music and meatloaf.
Tell us more!
So, what do you do with yourself at 729, Dave?
My title right now is Head of Professional Services. This means that I am in an overview role of all projects that involve a SAAS product (Software As a Service) or a PAAS (Platform as a Service) project. This includes products like Zendesk, GitHub, New Relic.
I’m involved in making sure that these projects go smoothly from the initial proposal to finish, while the Project Manager on the project is the one who is involved in the day-to-day. I am there to make sure that things continue on in the correct path and that any challenges faced are overcome.
I’m also involved in day-to-day activities for a few of our current projects, but once those projects are complete I will be moving away from doing day-to-day PM work. Then I will move more in the managerial guidance direction and all that stuff where I’m there as the, “oh Jesus, Oh God, what’s gone wrong?” person. I’m going to set up the overall projects and then if something goes wrong, I’ll fix them.
Do you consider yourself to specialize in anything specific?
I don’t consider myself a specialist. In fact, I really don’t want to specialize in any particular manner because, in the role that I have right now, it’s more important that I have a decent level of knowledge and ability in a wide range of skills than be very focused on the minutia of one particular set of skills. This allows me to be very effective in this role without limiting myself to what I can and cannot do. We do have people who are very specialized in certain things and I can hand those things that I don’t know as well off to them and they can take care of it, but I’m still able to handle the larger picture on both a customer service front as well as on a technical level.
Do you do anything technology related outside of work?
I am not doing anything with tech outside of work simply because I don’t want to after working with it all day. I play video games and watch movies though that’s not really technology related. My hobbies have started to shift more towards doing physical things, I’ve started doing small woodworking projects again and I’ve started trying to do more art or creative outlets because I don’t have as much of those at work, things like that. I used to build my own programs to make things easier for myself. I used to build tube amplifiers for record players and music and that sort of thing. But now I look at that stuff and I just go, it’s too much like work. So I really veered off into doing quiet, relaxed sort of hobbies where I don’t have to think real hard.
On the 729 website it says you have a large record collection.
I do. I have somewhere in the vicinity of 15,000 12 inch albums. If you look at my LinkedIn profile, I actually ran a record store for quite a few years and so most of my collection is the stuff that I was like, oh, that looks interesting, and then just held onto it. And then after the store closed, of course, we’ve got old inventory.
Do you have a favorite or most interesting album?
Well, my favorite band currently and probably for the past twenty years has been The Eurythmics. But my most interesting album I think would have to be, it’s one of two. One is an early Elvis Presley pressing on 78 rpm. And it’s actually worth quite a bit of money now. My most treasured one is a promotional item from Turtles Records, that is a forty-five that’s actually cut out in the shape of a turtle and it’s bright green and one side has a Christmas song and the second side is etched with Merry Christmas from Turtles and that is probably the one that I will never let go of because I just think it’s adorable and nobody else wants it on earth, I don’t think.
My last question is how do I get your meatloaf recipe?
No one, no one gets my meatloaf recipe. My wife knows it. I know it. I never told anyone else where it is.
What happens if you guys die?
It goes with me. It’s not written down. It comes with me. And that is that.
No one, no one gets my meatloaf recipe. My wife knows it. I know it. It’s not written down. It comes with me. And that is that.
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