You Don’t Need to Attend a Prestigious School to Network Well

I spent my first two years in higher-ed at our local community college, followed by two more at the University of Maryland (UMD), where I earned a bachelors in computer science. Both schools ranked okay nationally--especially for public schools--but I got grief from certain life advisers at the time for not attending a more prestigious school, … Continue reading You Don’t Need to Attend a Prestigious School to Network Well →

Shortcut: How to Add Value With Cross-Functional Teams

https://medium.com/@_chelleshock/how-to-add-value-with-cross-functional-teams-d7578a84013e

Continuous Delivery, not Continuous Deployment

Engineering teams like Etsy's have popularized the idea of continuous deployment: infrastructure that automatically rolls-out newly minted code to production in a safe and gradual manner. In Lean Startup and Web Operations, Eric Ries explains the rationale behind continuous deployment: making a safe habit out of shipping product. I loved the motive, but it was clear that … Continue reading Continuous Delivery, not Continuous Deployment →

Google Analytics Crash Course Notes

Thinking that you will adequately learn Google Analytics by clicking around the product, even over years, is a foolish concept. You will only understand a subset of its features and how they work together. You need to do your homework. I cannot improve upon Google Analytics' (GA) own crash course, titled Google Analytics IQ Lessons. … Continue reading Google Analytics Crash Course Notes →

Team Debt

I'm currently having a blast leading the technical team behind the LivingSocial Takeout & Delivery web site. One of the challenges of a growing team is maintaining appropriate amounts of communication. You want everyone to know everything that's important, but not everything. Otherwise, you end up being a case study in The Mythical Man Month. Although … Continue reading Team Debt →