Purple Haze

It was a good turnout tonight for Oculan’s Last Hurrah Beer Bash at the Flying Saucer (no, I don’t know if there was an official name. I just make things up as I go). Well over half of the company was there to share some stories over a drink. I was happy to see such a turnout, and that those who turned out seemed so happy.

As promised, a reporter and photographer from the News and Observer showed up to capture the moment. As Weave, Greg, and I are sitting there, Ethan, the photographer, shows up and introduces himself. Ethan was loaded down with cameras, so we knew who he was, but he sheepishly asked me my name. Good thing he knew to look for the purple shirt.

Soon the rest of the group showed up: pretty much the kewl kids of the company. Before long, there were a half-dozen tales filled with my friends, all deep in discussion. It was great to see everyone interacting so well.

The reporter, Vicki Parker, started the interviews with me. I told her about how great the company was (well, the people were), and how we’re adapting to the situation. I got the impression Vicki is more interested in the “staying connected” angle to this story, though with so much source material, its hard to say which direction the story will take. She spoke with several others in attendence and got their take on things.

Ethan kept snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow. The flash was everywhere! I began to doubt tha bringing a photographer was a good idea. In spite of all the flashing, though, no one got annoyed.

Ethan seemed to be a good guy, too. Weave described the photo he and the other founders of OpenNMS took for Christina Dyrness and Jim Bounds. It was a ripoff of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, only they were “wearing” monitors instead of socks. Dyrness and Bounds were both livid when the picture didn’t run. The fact that he didn’t get to see it in print or have a copy himself is probably good for Weave, whether he realizes it or not! Though it never ran, Ethan and Vicki seemed to be quite familiar with the photo, which raises a few eyebrows in my opinion…heh.

It was great getting together again. As Tanner said, Oculan was like a company of friends. That’s a great way to remember it.

As for the magic of the company, I didn’t really grasp it until one afternoon a few months ago. An impromptu developer meeting was called. Design changes were being considered and a few people were invited to weigh in on them. I was one of them, and I’m glad I was.

Our CTO, Shane, was there, as was Larry, Vann, and a few others. We were considering how to approach licensing in the new version. I watched as debate went back and forth, keeping mostly silent as I’m not a developer (nor do I play one on TV). Occasionally, I’d be polled for my thoughts, which I added without reservation. And that was one of the cool parts: here everyone’s opinion mattered. There was so much respect for each other that we all could influence the direction of the company.

Another thing that struck me from the meeting was just how passionate each person was about how the product should be. You could really tell the pride that went into each decision, and into each product. As Vann told me afterward, I had just witnessed the evolution of the product. It was so beautiful to behold.

And that’s the reason I just can’t come to terms that its gone. How could so much passion and talent not save the company? How could such a great product fail to succeed? I feel I’m too close to events to see the overall patterns, but I can tell you it wasn’t from lack of effort or enthusiasm.

So Oculan version 1.0 closes its doors. It was a wild ride, and it almost took us somewhere, too. I’m sure glad I was there.