Editor’s note: As readers of our 2009 Year in Review series will have likely gathered, Bamboo is currently undergoing rapid growth. Some of our new hires have been with us for a couple of months now, but with new faces appearing in the office seemingly daily in recent weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to introduce the new folks to Bamboo Nation. You should expect to see many of these new faces beginning to appear regularly here in the Team Blog over the course of the year.
What is your role at Bamboo, and what are your goals for the year?
I am the new Director of Customer Support. My team is responsible for providing over 5,000 customers with support on over 60 products, it’s obviously quite a challenge, but it should be fun! I have lots of goals for the year, but mostly, I want to listen to our customers and make sure that we are providing the best support experience possible.
What’s your professional background?
I spent 13 years at AOL in the Information Technology group. Most of those 13 years were spent focusing on improving the customer/employee experience. I led their global technology support organization, which helped AOL employees with a wide variety of IT issues.
What prompted you to join the Bamboo team?
I have had some experience with SharePoint and really believe in it as a platform. When I learned about the opportunity, I was intrigued. I loved AOL, but the thought of joining an energetic, innovative, nimble company was exciting. I thought I could bring my experience building and scaling global support teams to Bamboo.
I was also lucky enough to meet several members of the Bamboo team during my interview process, and I was sold. The people here are just awesome.
What are some of your first impressions of working at Bamboo?
I’m amazed at how knowledgeable the people here are. SharePoint is so big, and we have so many products, it seems impossible that people here have the expertise that they do. I have a lot of learning to do!
Also, food. Working here is an attack on your senses. Bamboo employees love to cook, share and eat!
With over 60 products to learn, do you feel overwhelmed? What’s your strategy for getting up to speed?
It is definitely overwhelming, but it’s fun. I haven’t mapped out an official strategy, but I think the fact that we use our products every day to get our jobs done will help.
Other than your deep and abiding love of Web Parts, what interests or hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
I have a wonderful family, including two boys, 8 and 5, so that takes up most of my time outside of work. I stay pretty involved with The University of Virginia, where I went to grad school. I currently sit on an advisory board and am a class trustee. I love golf, but I have a feeling my game will suffer this year, having started a new job. I am a long-suffering, but passionate Redskins fan. Hopefully, we’ll win something other than the off-season championship in 2010.
Meet the new faces of Bamboo:
- Gina Kyriakopoulou – European Account Manager
- Mike O’Brien – Director of Customer Support
- Bob Young – Account Development – Bamboo Sales East
- Matt Robertson – Account Development – Bamboo Sales West
- Nicole Flanagan – Support Engineer
