Getting To Know....
Ann Maynard, Director of HR for BlueTie, asked employees how they feel about working here. Here's what they had to say:
Tammy Gangarosa / Director of Finance
Why did you choose to work at BlueTie?
After working 13 years for a regional Home & Garden chain, I welcomed the opportunity to try something different. I recognized that the technology industry in Rochester was (and still is) growing dramatically, so when I saw a financial position was available at BlueTie, it seemed like the perfect fit.
In researching the company, a contact at the University of Rochester provided some background information on David Koretz, stating that he was driven to succeed. Plus, New Yorkers know that anything our shareholder, Thomas Golisano, invests in turns to gold. I quickly applied to become apart of this rapidly growing international company!
It’s been an exciting 2 ½ years here at BlueTie…I’ve seen the company grow to more than 80 employees, with millions of users, and expanded our offerings to include a revolutionary advertising platform. It’s a great feeling supporting such a creative team!
Clay Caragianes / Maintenance Engineering Manager
Can you tell us about your career path at BlueTie?
I began my career at BlueTie in 2001 as a co-op student from RIT where I was studying for my BS in Information Technology. After graduation I was hired full-time as a Software Test Engineer in BlueTie's QA Department where I worked for 2 1/2 years. During this time I developed a strong understanding of the BlueTie product while building strong team relationships.
I was promoted to a Software Engineer working in IT Operations and QA. I was eventually transferred to the Maintenance Engineering Team where I became the manager in early 2007.
My 7 + year career at BlueTie has been both rewarding and challenging.
Michael Johnson / User Interface - Creative Designer
What's your favorite thing about working at BlueTie?
I think my favorite part about being a part of BlueTie is the ‘Ding’ factor.
We’re all encouraged to be curious and to put our own personal ‘ding’ in the universe…to make a difference, and to change the way people think about using the Web. We’re doing that individually and also collectively as a company.
By way of example, I was working with one of the engineers and a product developer and we were struggling with a particularly tricky integration. Of course, we’re always asking ourselves, “What is the competition doing and how can we make it better?”, and “What’s the industry standard for this sort of thing?” We had to smile when we realized that we were setting the standards by which our competitors and the industry would imitate us…that these things we were creating had never actually been done before.
We’re inventors; we’re shaping the future, and changing the face of the Web. Is that cool or what?