I started developing for Lotus Notes using 4.5 back in 1996, but it was not until 1997 I started doing some serious development.
At that time I was a journalist, working for IDG in Sweden. Since I was covering PC hardware and software, I went to Lotusphere Europe in Nice in 1997, and also to a pre-cursor to it in Maastricht, Holland in 1996. I basically learned the product on my own, which was not that hard since I had a programming background. Journalism was something that I happened to get into when the company I worked for before went bankrupt.
Anyway, in 1997 I got married to Angie, who I met in the summer of 1996 while visiting Seattle and Microsoft. After we got married, she decided she wanted to move back to the US, so I transferred to Boston where IDG is based. I now became a full-time Notes developer. My last project in Sweden wa sto write an editorial system in Notes, something I did in 3 weeks while also packing my appartment and getting ready to move on New Years day.
That application is still in production today, 10 years later. They tried a few times to replace it with commercial products, but they did not work well enough compared to the custom built system I developed.
Ever since then I been developing Notes applications, both for the client and web. In 2002 we moved to the Dallas area, since Angie wanted to live closer to her family after we had our son. I got a job as Notes developer at an insurance company, where I still work today.
I can't imagine not working with Notes and Domino, and I am very excited about the new directions the platform is taking.
It is now 5pm Friday, I am about to go home, finish packing and early tomorrow I will board a plane to fly to Orlando for my 12th Lotusphere. I am looking forward to it more than ever, I expect to hear plenty of news, meet people I already know, and learn to know more of my fellow Yellow-bleeders. :-)
See you in Orlando!
Comments (6)
Karl - good to see you on here!
Hi David!
Thanks! Hope to see you in Orlando together with Nathan and the
other wizards from Notes911!
I'd say 12 years qualifies you as an official yellow bleeder.
@1: You mean Lotus911?
@Scott: Yeah, I do. I am too tired, been a busy week with a server/application crash and getting everything ready to leave for a week...
Brain fart... :-)
I have been bleeding yellow since 1992, however I joined Lotus in 1991 and had used Lotus products since 1988. Prior to 1992, the colours for Lotus were Teal Blue.
A little history for you, the reason Lotus changed to yellow from
teal blue was for the push in the retail market, yellow was chosen
as the colour for the boxes in the stores. Yellow historically is a
colour of item that sells quicker and grabs people attentions on
shelves, we were hoping the same would be true for 1-2-3, Freelance
etc. in stores like CompUSA, PCWorld etc.
@Scott - Yeah he meant Lotus 911 I believe. That completely passed me the first time I saw that.