Schipulites and Culture Archives - Page 4 of 7 - Tendenci Blog

2010-04-16

End of an era for a Schipulite!

So today is my last day at Schipul. After almost 6 years, leaving is NOT easy. Some of you will be asking why? I don’t have a good answer but mostly to have a little time with my baby girl and to see what’s next. I am not on a quest to find happiness. Happiness is having a my health, being married to a rock solid MAN, seeing a smile on my girl’s face, and spending the last 69 months of my life with a group of amazing people that have lifted me through a few dark times and escalated the happiest times.

Dear Schipulites’ I am so grateful for all the knowledge you talented, moving people have sent my way. You had made my 20’s unforgettable. For so long, this has been my safe haven where I was not afraid to leap because I know you always had my back. I have worked some of the best clients any company could ever have. Each and every person has touched my life in unimaginable ways.

I will never forget many deep conversations with @longstation, sharing an office with @deneyterrio (WOW, lol), and my Friday afternoon heart to heart chats with a STRONG and FEARLESS CEO. Ed’ your efforts are amazing and I am honored to call Schipul my second family.

Enough already! You all know how amazing Schipulites are. I am excited about the future for you guys! I won’t be far.

Thank you 157,456,000 times for everything you have taught me.

Much love!

–@inkoluv

These have been the best days!

2010-03-232014-11-02

Drupal Rap – Thanks Dries & the Drupal community!

“Community is the difference between something that is boring… and something that is a phenomenon” – Dries Buytaert

The Schipul Drupal Rap Video, featuring AHughes and Qcait:

Around here, we are pretty passionate about Drupal – one of the platforms we use to build websites (including Web Entertainment Guide and Gulf Coast Balloons) – and what it can do for our clients. Last week I had the opportunity to see Dries Buytaert (creator of Drupal) at SXSW presenting on how Drupal is changing Content Management.

The biggest point I came away with was that when people talk about Drupal (and Open Source technology in general) they tend to focus on the fact that there are lots of people developing and improving the technology, but often leave out that these aren’t just any people. These are people who are extremely passionate – and that passion makes a difference. This passionate community is the X factor in open source that pushes innovation – and often gets overlooked.

“I never meant for it to be so big – it’s the people who made it” – Dries Buytaert

As part of the presentation, Dries showed off things the community has created for fun because they are passionate about Drupal: Drupal Easter eggs, Drupal stress balls, Drupal cupcakes, even a Drupal tattoo.

Our Drupal rap video is something we did for fun because we’re passionate about Drupal. So, I sent it to Dries. And he posted it on his site buytaert.com! Then he tweeted about it. Then @Drupal tweeted about it. Now we’re closing in on 1,200 views. We’re thrilled that so many people thought our video was worth sharing!!

I wanted to post this to give a huge THANKS to Dries and the Drupal community for sharing the video! We had a blast making it and we’re looking forward to many more!

2010-03-11

Welcome our new Schipulite interns!

Welcome New Guys! from Schipul – The Web Marketing Co. on Vimeo.

The Schipul family has grown this week with the addition of three new interns: James Nguyen, Chris Minor and Mark Francis will be helping out the next couple of months so let’s all give them a warm welcome and watch their intro video above!

2010-03-05

Friday Fun: Schipulite confetti egg time!

Fayza’s Last Day from Schipul – The Web Marketing Co. on Vimeo.

The Schipulites bid ‘see ya’ soon’ to our very own Fayza last week and now have a fun video to archive the experience 🙂

2010-02-262014-11-02

Let’s call it, “See you later.”

sneaky-fayza — Wait a second. The stapler wasn't a parting gift?

When I was 21, I decided to move to Los Angeles. Out of the blue. I’d never expressed much interest in permanently relocating out of Ohio before, but following a semester in Washington, D.C., by golly, I felt invincible enough to do just about anything.

My mother, understandably, was flummoxed. She posed every question in the world that a parent could possibly conjure. “Where will you live?” “Where will you work?” “What if something happens to you while you’re out there; you don’t know anyone…?” “What if you hate it there?” “What if you miss home?” “What if your car breaks down on the way?” “What if Gael Garcia Bernal decides he wants to marry you?”

Okay, no, she didn’t ask that last one. Duh. It’s obvious that he does. He responded to me on Twitter once. I still think it was real, no matter what his official account says.

Anyway, the thing is, my mother never once said, “Don’t go, Fayza.” Despite her unanswered questions and despite her personal fears. Do you know why? Because she knew it was good for me. As hard as it was to see her eldest daughter pack up her inconsistent-at-best 1989 Honda Accord with everything she could stuff into it and head off across the country to inhabit a city she’d never even visited, my mom knew it was the right move for me. To date, it was one of the most pivotal life decisions I’ve ever made. In a good way.

Why did I tell you this story? Because. Because I like stories? Well, yes, but there’s a point; I’ve become very sage over the years, dontcha know. The moral is this: Sometimes, it’s hard to let a member of your family fly. But spread their wings they must. Because fly they should.

And taking flight from the family nest I am, again. For today, with both a smile and a sigh, I turn in my Schipulite badge and bid the roost adieu.

“But what now?” you ask. Don’t worry; I’m not dying. Nor am I leaving the city of Houston. I know, right?

If you couldn’t tell, I’m quite passionate about writing. This hunger knows no bounds (and, some would say, no boundaries). I also happen to be a Twitteraholic and a Facebook fiend. And when a position as the Social Media Editor at CultureMap was staring me in the face, I knew it was my time to flap ye olde wings again.

But I don’t do goodbyes, yo. Because the strangers who became my sisters and brothers at this company are people who will remain in my life for years to come. And the knowledge I’ve earned, the skills I’ve learned, and the client experiences that I’ve had will stay with me and fuel my growth ’til my brain can’t hold no more. I’ve been a lucky little person, that’s for sure. And I take that luck with me in my pockets. Like office supplies. Um, did I just say that? Ignore me.

So this is not a goodbye, ’cause HEY! Here I am, loud and clear, still kickin’! And so are you. It’s a see-you-later, at best, and a now-we’re-gonna-have-to-make-lunch-plans at worst. ‘Cause you know where to find me. So please do.

2009-12-31

It’s Never Easy to Say Goodbye

Today marks the end of two of the fastest and most amazing years of my life. I have never laughed nor learned as much as I did in my time at Schipul.

When I first started here, I was a Facebook addict and dallied in Twitter, but I knew next to nothing about how the actual Internet worked. At this point in my life I was pretty sure it still lived at Al Gore’s house and was sort of couch sized. I also thought a DNS cloud was that white fluffy thing that rolls over your house before a big storm. But thank goodnessâ€¦ at Schipul, you learn a lot and you learn it quickly.

Less than six months after arriving at Schipul, I not only knew that HTML wasn’t someone’s initials, but I’d decided I wanted to launch the Schipul blogâ€¦ all by myself. Makes total sense right? Thank goodness I had a manager that believed in me enough to let me try. And thank goodness Schipul hires patient people, because I was by no means an internet expert at this point… I believe I walked back and forth between the IT Director’s desk, the Creative Director’s desk and mine about eleventy-billion times with questions about the Schipul blog before it went live.

I imagine being a fly on the wall during one of these discussion with Rodney (our IT guy) would have been extremely comicalâ€¦

Maggie: So. I think WebFaction is possessed by the devil. I can’t get the domain to shoot the right way and the nav makes no sense and their help files are WORTHLESS.
Rod: Are you sure you’re pointing the DNS to the right server?
Maggie: I think so. I wrote them a support ticket.
Rod: Yeah. I saw it.
Maggie: Did it make sense?
Rod: (silence)
Maggie: No? Okay. I’m going to rewrite it. Be right back! Alsoâ€¦ when I get back, remember to tell me what the heck Akismet is. It sounds like an alien food group. Also we need to talk about what ‘thumbnailâ€ means.
Rod: (puts head on desk)

Nowâ€¦ two years laterâ€¦ I know what Akismet is and could launch a blog with minimal questions. But the amazing amount of knowledge is not the only reason why I’m going to miss Schipul so much thoughâ€¦

I am going to miss the coffee, the LOLcats and the hilarious IMs from Brandi. I don’t know where I’m going to get my funny internet fix from now on. I suppose I should let her know I expect daily emails.

I am going to miss my morning meetings with Katie, my manager and partner in crime. I have learned so much from this gal over the past two years and I could not have asked for a better cheerleader. We Irish girls gotta stick together.

I’m going to miss hug-attacking Ed in the hall and the plasma cars and the cookie parties (for some reason these three things really go together well).

I am going to go through Rodney and Aaron withdrawals and I’m going to miss having Jennifer in the corner office to talk to.

I’m going to miss my silly little cube and my angry mullet bear picture.

I probably will not miss forgetting that I don’t have an ‘inside voiceâ€ and accidentally announcing things to the entire office from said cube.

I am most definitely going to miss ‘that’s what she saidâ€ jokes with April and Caitlin and I’m going to miss Friday Happy Hours in Katie’s office with all of the Schipul women.

I’m going to miss the excitement in the office when Jenny lays the smack-down on some code and I’m going to miss talking to Iris about what kind of day it’s going to be based on Ed’s morning music selection (techo? It’s going to be a fun one!).

I’m going to miss calling David to announce ‘I just hard coded something and FTPed some stuff!!â€ (whatever that meansâ€”I’m sure he usually just rolls his eyes) and watching Ben’s super amazing videos.

I am for sure going to miss Albert rapping along to his iTunes and Jonti hugs.

I am going to miss pretending that I know what the heck Eloy and Glen are saying when the start speaking programmese and I’m going to miss harassing JMO about SEO on a regular basis. H1 tag what?!

I’m going to miss tiny Foofs and her not so tiny-voice and new music Thursdays.

I am going to lunches with JJ where we solve all of the universe’s problems and I’m going to miss her amazing little family.

I am going to miss sitting with Kerry and learning all about Tendenci and Dreamweaver and I’m going to miss trying to explain to her why all of the sudden the font in my Outlook is size 27 (I blame the demons on this too).

I am going to miss hearing about Brandi and Lyndia‘s wedding plans and Courtney showing up in my cube just to chat. We Tomball girls stick together! I’m going to miss hearing Kim’s baby stories and hugs from Ella when she comes to the office to see Katie.

I’m going to miss the silly stories we share at the beginning of every Monday Morning Meetings and pretending not to tear up when Ed makes us watch some cheesy youtube video about lions. You knowâ€¦ because I HATE cheesy things.

Never in my life have I been surrounded my such a diverse and supportive bunchâ€¦

In Schipul I have found my second family. It’s big and it’s weird, but it is certainly lovely. No matter where I end up, I will always be a Schipulite.

Love you all.

2009-12-04

Friday Fun: Art Box Show!

Who knew that boxes could be so artsy? Step aside moving, Crayola and donut boxes – the Art Box Show is here!

Join Schipulite Ben Gillin and his lovely bride Maria Navarro for this fundraising art event at Bering and James Gallery this Friday, December 4th (12 – 10pm) and Saturday, December 5th (12-6pm). Each artist was given a wooden box to decorate and manipulate however they saw fit.

The Art Boxes will be for sale at a flat rate of $125, with proceeds going to the artists and DePelchin Children’s Center. Fun, great art, super artists — all for a good cause.

2009-11-26

30 Days of Thanks – Happy Thanksgiving from the Schipulites!!

2009-11-23

Better than TV? WEG brings the magic to your monitor

Congrats to Schipul client Web Entertainment Guide on their recent Drupal-powered site launch.

Our team are huge fans of WEG not just because we had a great time working on building their site and strategizing on Internet series world domination <bwahahaha>, but because we are nerds that love to be entertained via the Internet and the WEG exists to help us do just that.

Here are some of our favorite Web series that we think you too should know and love:

The Guild (official site):
Red Vs. Blue (official site):
How it Should Have Ended (official site):

Leave us a comment and let us know what YOUR favorite Web series are!

2009-11-20

Via Colori Houston – street painting for a great cause

The Schipul gang are crazy fans of the Houston Via Colori street painting festival, an annual event that benefits The Center for Hearing and Speech. Every year artists from all over the country descend upon the sidewalks of Houston to draw, sketch, color and amaze – all for a tremendous cause.

This isn’t anything like the summertime driveway scribbles you may have loved as a kid, this is fine art at its most pedestrian (well… at least NEAR the pedestrians <grin>) and temporary. Be sure to swing by to view the over 200 artists and their work (including one of our Schipulites – Ben Gillin!), listen to music and watch dance performances, take a Houston Center for Photography 101 lesson and so much more!

What: Houston Via Colori Street Painting Festival
When: Saturday + Sunday, November 21 – 22, 2009
Where: Sam Houston Park (Allen Parkway and Bagby)

Photo thanks to Flickr user I-SEEN-IT