Cory Collier

Recently my boss, Sterling , wrote up about all of us at NFi on his personal blog. It’s flattering to hear what he has to say. I probably shouldn’t care too much about the accolades that I may, or may not recieve from other people, but I do.

All of us at NFi work very hard to produce product that is above and beyond client expectation. Just the other day I worked from 8 in the morning until midnight. While that’s not an everyday occurence, it happens quite a bit. Sometimes in this business, there’s just far too much to do. So when I hear some appreciation from the boss, I guess I get a little choked up.

I shoud count my blessings. I work in an environment where I can wear just about whatever I want, I can say pretty much whatever is on my mind, and I can listen to Death Metal all day (with headphones, of course).

Sterling is a dedicated entreprenuer who has the insight to know that while teamwork and dedication are critical to success, an uptight or stifling atmosphere is not. There’s a weird balance between fostering creativity, and discouraging a lack of productivity that Sterling does a pretty stand up job at acheiving here.

The guys (and gals) I work with are a really cool bunch of folks. I’ve mentioned Sterling, but Derek, Bender, Elizabeth, Rick, CJ, and now Chris are all friends to me. I routinely heckle Bender and Derek is always teaching me something.

Our office is awesome. It’s in the heart of Downtown Orlando. We have wood floors, and a great view (though the shades are frequently closed to keep the glare to a minimum). We get to meet a lot of really awesome folks because of our location alone.

So, I really like working with these guys at NFi. I can’t think of a better place to be.

Last Saturday night my wife and I had our housewarming party. It’s been about 4 months since we moved in, but with getting settled, crazy projects, and other stuff going on in life, we finally got around to having the party just now. Overall, it was a good time; minus a few minor details.

My dad showed up around 11am. I had invited him the week earlier, but I really didn’t expect him to show. I’m super-glad that he did though. Not only is dad a lot of fun to be around: He’s super useful as well. I was able to get a hell of a lot of stuff done before the party, that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. Many thanks to dad!

Bill and Amanda were the first to show up to the actual party. I was a little upset they didn’t bring their XBox360 and Rock Star. We spent some time at their place the week before, and had a great time with that. I even had my buddy Austin bring his drum seat and sticks just for it. Oh well.

Chris and Kiel came after that, then Shandyn and Eric, Greg and his wife Nevin, my buddy Matt, then it gets nuts.

My workout partner Tony came with his wife Mardi. They got us a bottle of Johnny Walker Green Label. I was pretty stoked about it, as the picture shows:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also show the picture of Tony’s wife Mardi, with my wife, Melissa:

I was really stoked that Greg made it out. I’ve mentioned it before, but I feel like I could talk with that dude for days. We’re sorta on the same wavelength with tech stuff. Outside, but sorta in …

My buddy Austin showed up with his girlfriend Jen. They’re easily some of the coolest people I know. Austin was the best man at my wedding. I’ve known him since the 6th grade. He’s a nutbag, and he’s a Death Metal drummer. We used to rock out in industrial parks when we were underage. Awesome times… Jen is pretty much the female version of him. I guess it could also said that he’s the male version of her?

Taylor and Jason made it out as well. They’re a lot of fun to hang with. The only time I’ve ever been maced was hanging out with Jason. You know you’ve had a full night when local cops are telling you how to deal with a face full of mace. That reminds me, I’m supposed to be working on their website.

Of course we were all blessed with the presense of the amazingly talented Bender . I give that guy shit all the time, and I plan to continue. Bender usually tells a joke for us when we’re in a social setting with alcohol. So, after a few rounds, we started chanting ‘Bender’, and demanded either a joke, or shotgun a beer. Bender chose to shotgun Coors Light. Gross. Anyway, I should give him credit for some of the work he’s doing for an upcoming project of mine, Florida Death Metal.

Here are a few more candid shots of the good times:

That one is Melissa’s sister Megan, Kristina, Lisa, and Melissa. The following is a good one of Krista’s baby, Kaydon:

That’s a really good segway to the next part of the story. I had a moderate amount of alcohol to drink that night. However, I guess I didn’t know exactly how much I had.

To say little of it, I had too much. I wound up very sick the next morning., incredibly sick. Austin thought it’d be funny to talk smack about it all, and throw stuff at me. That super sucked, and I wound up starting the worst round of vomiting that I’ve ever had. I even punched a hole in the wall next to the bathroom. Melissa was pretty pissed about it all, so I’ll have to fix it.

I spent all Sunday either throwing up, or sleeping. It was a total waste of the day. Melissa was awesome and stayed around to take care of me. It’s a shame that I allowed myself to get that sick, but it’s great she was around to help me get out of it all.

I shouldn’t let that overshadow how much of a good time I had the night before. There was a great collection of the some of best friends that I’ve had the opportunity to every have.

So a whole bunch of us got together and had a few drinks, a few laughs, and made a lot of good memories. It was really good to see everyone. I’m reminded of why I work so much, and why I love being alive. I have the best friends and family I could ask for.

I had the opportunity tonight to hang out with everyone at the Crooked Bayou for Florida Creatives . Most of the regulars showed, plus some newer folks, and some not-so-new but not-so-veteran peeps as well. It’s usually pretty easy to have a good time at the Bayou, but Florida Creatives is really awesome.

It’s funny how I started going to networking events a while back in order to meet people to further my career. I suppose that’s still a possibility, but these days I go because I geniuinely enjoy the company of the characters I get to talk to. I can’t say enough good things about all the guys I get to see every couple weeks.

I can try however:

So, I’d like to buy a beer for Chis , Erik , Gregg , Al , Ryan , John , Greg , and yes, even Bender. I should buy a beer for a few more of y’all, but those are the first few honkies I can think of.

I also had the oppotunity to meet a few guys from a really young startup, Dyverse . It’s neat to see the ambition of people who are willing to lay a lot on the line, to get where they want to be. John looks a lot like a younger version of Sterling, which might be a good thing for him.

Speaking of startups, I had the great opportunity to meet Gabriel Chapman, CEO for the locally started Talent Database . Talent Database is a great idea with tons of potential. I was thoroughly impressed with the humble nature of a man behind something with such promise. I guess it reinforces my egalitarian view of what the world should be.

So, this being the ‘Thanksgiving’ edition of Florida Creatives, I suppose I should mention what I’m grateful for: Having a Florida Creatives to go to. Thanks to all of you who keep it going.

Last night, Bender and I went down to the Crooked Bayou for the Florida Creatives event over there. I couldn’t stay long, but I still had a good time. I was able to talk to a lot of friends, and meet some new people

I spent some time talking to my buddy Greg about business. I’ve always felt a certain level of camradre with Greg. Both he and I don’t come from CS backgrounds. We both work out a lot, and we both drink lots of beer. Greg has some interesting ideas up his sleeve. That guy’s a businessman, through and through.

I had the opportunity to talk with Jason of Rails Envy , about the hillarious videos they keep putting out. I’ve never really had the opportunity to talk to Jason before. I’ve met Gregg a few times, and he’s a nice guy. However, it was really good to meet the other side of that effort. If you haven’t seen what those guys are up to, you owe it to yourself to check them out.

Erik Hersman was there as well. Erik’s a strategy guy, who has made a living on predicting where web trends will go, and advising businesses how to capitalize on them. Erik can shame the best of geeks with his industry knowledge. So, I had to ask him a few quick thoughts about my upcoming side project. Erik was understandably brief (we were at a bar, and there was loud music playing), but he gave me some tips I’ll take to heart.

Much of the rest of the time, I was getting phone calls from clients. It figures I suppose. I shouldn’t be upset about it. They’re paying my bills, and right now, I could use the extra cash.

A few other attendees that I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to: Alex Rudloff, Etan Horowitz, Chris Scott, Ryan Price, Meagan Fisher , and a multitude of others that I can’t remember.

Good times.