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Eric Freeman returns to the magic kingdom
My co-author Eric Freeman spread magic pixie dust on the Head First Design Patterns and Head First HTML/CSS books, but a plum job at Disney lured him back to the magic kingdom. Congratulations are WAY in order for Eric who is now:
Vice President, Technology, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online
Geez. I wonder if he'll remember the "little people" he used to blog with...
This is an incredible role, but Eric -- for those who don't know him -- is The Guy. He has, like, 18 college degrees or something, including a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Yale. He is one of the smartest people I've ever met, yet those who've read one of his books know that he has a gift for communicating tough technical topics to the differently-educated.
(If you're wondering why it's been a very long time since he's blogged here, he's been rather busy)
And not to take away from Eric's party, but our other co-conspirator, Beth Freeman has also returned to Disney and is doing some kind of "special projects" thing related to Disney's online world. One of her most recent roles was helping Disney dip its toe into the foo camp world with... wait for it... pooh camp. (Is that not the cutest thing? ; )
The good news is that they have fabulous jobs, are much appreciated at Disney.
The bad news is that these are two of the most phenomenal technical book authors on the planet, and their time to work on additional books just came to a screeching halt. For now...
Bonus barely-related link:
A wonderful little iPod Hack
[Actually, that hack is quite old, so it may not work the same way on newer devices (and newer firmware. But I'm so putting Hello Kitty on mine.]
Posted by Kathy on March 25, 2006 | Permalink
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Comments
Congrats to Eric and Beth!
Some of my all-time favourites are Disneys, but I'll never be as passionate about the Mouse Corporation than I am about the stuff they've been doing here for us.
Have a great time and don't give up on changing the world!
Posted by: Jens | Mar 25, 2006 3:40:27 PM
With all that influence in Disney, could you please do something about preventing their lawyers from pushing the copyright limit way further over an over again?
Posted by: Berislav Lopac | Mar 25, 2006 5:51:54 PM
Congrats!
Posted by: Scott Young | Mar 25, 2006 6:59:09 PM
Eric is actually my boss. Well, techically, my boss's boss's boss. ;) It's a shame that I haven't talk to him much and I probably won't get many chances in the future. I am heading off to ABC.com in a week (not because of Eric).
Congrats and good luck, Eric!
Posted by: Ely Liu | Mar 25, 2006 9:01:55 PM
Ely, are you sure?
I'm going to overlook the mouse ears and get Kathy back at a time and place she'll never expect.
By the way, I was at most a catalyst from Pooh camp, the credit belongs to Mike Pusateri, Dennis Kuba and company.
Eric
Posted by: Eric | Mar 25, 2006 9:08:14 PM
Eric is also my boss's boss's boss. Pretty cool guy. One of his first days at the office he stopped by the "Tiki Room" (an office with several cubes in it) and had a chat with myself and a coworker. I thought it was pretty cool of him to take a few mintues to talk to the grunts who do the site's front end work. :)
I still haven't read his book, but it's on my list.
Congrats again!
Posted by: Jimmy Thomas | Mar 25, 2006 11:37:40 PM
Berislav: Subverting from within doesn't happen overnight...
Jens: "dont give up on changing the world!"
With Eric, I don't think we'll have to worry about that...
Eric: "I'm going to overlook the mouse ears and get Kathy back at a time and place she'll never expect."
Oh, I see, now that you have a fancy new job you're all I'm-too-hip-for-mouse-ears.
; )
Posted by: Kathy Sierra | Mar 26, 2006 12:19:49 PM
LOL, how about I post a nice JavaRanch-esque pic of you with the moose antlers on your head? ;)
Eric
Posted by: Eric | Mar 26, 2006 8:46:15 PM
That's just great for Eric. I have always specifically followed the Lifestreams work and was quite passionate about it. In the beginning it greatly influenced my research work, but later on I was able to take some distance from it. But still, I hope Eric will be able to greatly improve the Disney Resorts. I would love to hear more about it.
Posted by: Ianus Keller | Mar 28, 2006 3:47:42 AM
How great to read the wonderful comments about my nephew! Aren't the mouse ears required for all Disney executives? My congratulations also to you both.
Posted by: Gypsy Tuck | Jun 21, 2006 1:32:01 PM
Congrats Eric! We always knew you were wonderful ! Your family is very proud of you ( especially your little sister ).I thought you told me VP's didn't wear golden ears in the boardroom?
Posted by: Dawn Freeman Brugger | Jun 22, 2006 4:03:27 PM
When I was eleven and Eric was about fourteen months old I put him in his red wagon, me sitting behind, and we both went flying down the family's rather steep driveway. I am very happy to have introduced Eric to the thrill of a fast and dangerous ride and I am also happy that his father, Earl, discovered us and put a stop to our homemade rollercoaster - thus protecting the crainal knowledge of my fine nephew. Super congratulations to Eric and to you, Beth, all is deserved!
Posted by: Grayce | Jun 22, 2006 6:16:52 PM
Congrats Eric! Glad to see you're back at my favorite place! I'll see ya at the park with the other big KIDS.
Posted by: Jay L. Tuck | Jun 25, 2006 2:05:22 PM
Wow! Sitting at work one day a little bored (shhhh don't tell my boss), and what do I find, a blog about one of my high school best friend's brother. Eric, you look great in Mickey ears. Congrats! Looks like I could learn a thing or two from you as my CSS is very novice.
Posted by: Laura Havens Irvine | Jul 25, 2006 1:52:09 PM
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