Isn't it nice to feel wanted?

I had an odd experience today that I thought would be interesting to relate. A couple of weeks ago, right after I returned from my vacation, I made a semi-humorous post titled 'The Power of the Tease' to comment on the fact that I had received a number of job solicitations while I was away. What I found particularly interesting is that the jobs were for very high level positions that I have not, previously, tried to pursue. It is as if the more unavailable I seem to make myself the more interested potential employers seem to be. The cynic in me wonders, if I actually needed to find a job would all of these opportunities suddenly dry up? Sometimes it seems people only want what they can't have.

I started a new job in January of 2007 with Simutronics Corporation to work on their MMO game engine 'Hero Engine'. I worked for Simutronics for some time years ago, prior to 2000, and I developed a strong bond with the people who worked there. In fact, it was the death of Susan Dodd, one of my colleagues at Simutronics, that inspired me to create this blog in the first place. Simutronics is located in St. Louis and once I got the itch to get back into the development of game engine technology it seems fairly natural to make this transition.

It was a difficult decision to leave my previous employer, Ageia Technologies. My primary motivation in changing positions was that I wanted a shorter commute and I also wanted to get directly back into game development again. Even though I left Ageia as a full-time employee, many of my friends still work there and I have tried to make myself available as a technical resource. For a time I worked as a consultant and I continue to provide feedback on the SDK as much as I can.

I am a huge fan of the Ageia PhysX SDK and I wish them the greatest success, not only because so many of my friends still work there but, also, I really believe in the technology and, not to mention, I own a decent amount of stock in the company.

In fact, just last Thursday I attended a Saint Louis Cardinals baseball game with the president of the company. It was an incredible game. At one point the pitcher on the opposing team, our arch-rivals the Chicago Cubs, was so unnerved that when faced with a bases loaded situation and Albert Puljols at bat he ended up hitting Albert (to overwhelming boos from the crowd) and walking in a run. The next batter behind Pujols, Chris Duncan, responded appropriately by hitting a grand slam! Later in the game, just to set things straight, Albert hit a three run homer himself. Needless to say, we had a great time and I made myself hoarse from cheering so loud.

During our visit Curtis brought up the fact that the Ageia employees were wondering when the next summer party was going to be. I have hosted the Ageia Summer Party for the past three years. I wasn't quite certain what the etiquette was as to whether or not I could, or should, still host it since I was no longer an employee. Curtis put that matter quickly to rest and I am now hosting the party this Saturday. You can find pictures from a previous year at this link.

I am really looking forward to the event. Each year I go to Costco and buy the most excellent food to grill, sides, dessert, and add to that a wide selection of high quality beers. I usually have enough in the budget to purchase prizes to give away in a raffle drawing for the guests. Of course it is a pool party and I also take everyone out boating as well. This year I have my brand new Tornado Foosball table set up, the massage chair, the hot tub, and the golf cart powered up for a full day of fun. Every time it is an enormous amount of work but, somehow, I just enjoy entertaining so much that it always feels well worth it. What I get out of the whole deal is some left over beer and a really fun party. Later in the evening I invite all of my friends and neighbors over and I usually show a movie on 16mm.

So, as I ramble along I realize I haven't yet gotten to the point of this message. I just received a Federal Express package that had been sent to me, to the address of my previous employer, on January 29, 2007!

I didn't work for Ageia at that time and, apparently, it took this long for someone at Ageia to remember to forward the package to me. I didn't think much of it at first. I would sometimes get promotional items from vendors sent to me and it was usually nothing more than high-class junk mail.

As I opened the box this was my thought. Inside of it was a wrapped box which I at first assumed was a demo-reel from a graphic artist looking for work. I unwrapped the box only to find, yet another box. The outer part of the box was labelled '5' and once I unwrapped it I was presented with a box labeled '4'. I continued unwrapping, '3', '2', '1', the whole time expecting it to be a demo reel.

Once I unwrapped the final box I found an Ipod Nano. Suddenly I'm thinking, what the heck is this? I saw a note that said I should listen to track one on the Ipod.

I put on the headphone and hit play only to hear this:

"John, this is Mark Kearn, President of Red 5 Studios and former team lead for World of Warcraft. I remember your work on Planetside's engine with it's incredible draw distances and fluid display of hundreds of characters. It was really inspirational, and we used it as a model for how to improve the terrain rendering in World of Warcraft. I also remember seeing your work on the early version of Hero's Journey, demonstrated years ago at Blizzard.

At Red-5 we are assembling a team of incredibly talented individuals dedicated to pushing the envelope in online entertainment. We are building a new type of game company and a new type of game and we believe you are someone who just might fit into the Red-5 family.

Log-in to Red-5 studios.com and enter the code found engraved on this IPod. We will tell you all about it."

On the back of the Ipod I found that my name was engraved on it along with a secret code. I did go to their website but there was no place to enter the code since, after all, I didn't receive the package until seven months after it was delivered!!! (You can read more about the 'Golden Ticket' campaign here.)

I really feel bad now. Not because I want the job. I feel bad because someone went so far out of their way to make such a gesture and I didn't get a chance to respond. As great as 'Red-5' may be, and I'm sure it is great since they seem to think I am great, I am not really interested. This is flat out the most impressive recruiting effort I have ever witnessed in my life.

My hat is off to Mark Kearn and the Red-5 company. This was a seriously high-class and impressive effort. The personal message and recitation of my previous accomplishments was extraordinarily impressive.

There is only one small problem. As excited as I might be about this, or any other job opportunity, I am not, nor are many other top level software engineers, going to sell their house and uproot their families when they are already gainfully employed.

I have reached a degree of success in this industry that I am not really motivated by money. Don't get me wrong, I need to make money and all, but plus or minus some percentage isn't going to convince me to sell my home and uproot my family. I am, however, motivated by exciting job opportunities. The problem here, however, is that I *just* changed jobs (which is why I didn't get the Fed-Ex package until seven months after it was delivered.) I quite like my new job, it is very fun and challenging. Not only is it an excellent work environment but I also get to work with a lot of my friends.

Look at it this way. Let's say I took a job with Red-5. Don't you think they would expect me to be committed to their project? Absolutely. Well, that is how I feel about my current position. I can't just up and change jobs on a whim. When I make a commitment to a company we have forged a relationship. I stayed with Sony for four years and only left after we had not only shipped the initial product but also an add-on expansion pack as well. I only left Ageia after three years, once the SDK was fairly entrenched into the market place. One of my major motivations in leaving was to go from being on the SDK team to actually integrating and using it in real-games.

I applaud Red-5 for their incredible promotional campaign to attract top talent in the game industry. However, timing is everything. Had I received that Ipod in November instead of January things might have turned out differently. At the end of the day the issue really comes down to location. With these large team based projects game companies rightly feel that the key members of the team should be in a single physical location. On the other hand, the top talent, especially those who are bit older with more experience in the industry, are hardly going to sell their house, uproot their families, and move across the country for a little bit more money.

Tomorrow or the next week I am going to make a point to call the company and thank them for the gift and apologize for not responding sooner. I have to say, I have never been more flattered by a job solicitation in my life.