Comcast

It's mind control... we're all turned into zombies by our second anniversary! Brains!

I jest. I am constantly amazed by not only the skill and intelligence of my co-workers, but also by their great humor and humility. There are so many genuinely nice people working here that you forget sometimes how much they truly know their stuff. We'll be joking about something, break into a succinct diagnostic "crazy ninja code guru haiku," then go back to talking about their kid's poo. Even the customary know-it-all alpha geeks will hob-nob with us lesser mortals. The same core of people have been here a while, with several great key additions, so we're in general a bit more mature and reserved.

This is the perception from the engineering department, anyway. I don't know what those marketing guys are doing, but I'm sure it's not good :)

The benefits package is no Microsoft plan. We are a subsidiary of Comcast, so we get their mediocre plan. Fortunately, that's the limit of our daily contact with the mother ship, other than getting free cable and having to gloat at those who are weak and helpless. There is actually a required class on this, but the training system is so bad that no one can find a browser that will actually open the course file. I wish I could say the same for the rest of their lame corporate training stuff.

The upper management has gone through a few changes recently. Our saintly founder CEO Ian Blaine left, and Marty, his replacement, doesn't really have the same level of leadership and charisma, which can certainly be important for the long-term success of a company. The verdict is still out on that. We'll see.

Let us know what's going on, and more importantly, associate the state of our current work with a long-range strategy.

We were used to that with Ian, but it's not so much now. Knowing how our work plays into our success as a company is extremely important to keep everyone inspired.