A cool surprise dropped in my e-mail on Friday with a note that my old friend (as in he’s been a friend a long time, he’s not old) Sionne was in town from Moncton and I was invited to meet up with he and our former boss, Rob, for some conversation, dinner, and drinks. About a year ago I would say I’ve entirely moved on from the CryptoLogic era meaning anything to me at all, and while some of our mutal friends (*cough*Alex*cough*) can’t seem to let go of the CryptoGossip I’ve had less interest. That said, when you get three screwed-over employees of the same company in a room it becomes a great opportunity to reminisce of the good old times.
Sionne has his own blog (click his name above), although he’s been lazy in updating it, and was reprimanded by many over the course of the night for that very thing. He also acknowledged being a lurker here. It’s interesting to spend time with someone who reads the site because the personal stories you would normally tell in a social situation with an old friend, well, they already know them. Somewhat odd, but we weren’t at a loss for things to talk about; from my poor drive-home bladder to first generation iPods to the quality control in Japanese vs American cars.
Good times with the smartest team Crypto barely had. It’s amazing to think back to where that company could have been if that team had been kept together, as Rob and Sionne are two of the smartest marketers I know. Sionne and I also share the added benefit of being old OLD school Internet guys who, as he told another gent with us over the evening, “were doing search engine optimization before it was called that.” Here’s hoping Mr Roberts makes his way back again soon.