November 2013 News

This month has seen a plethora of staff changes at Shadowcat Systems marking news item after news item of staffy goodness. So in keeping, it is our enormous pleasure to announce another staff change.

Visitors to Castle Shadowcat and those that have traipsed past registration at Perl QA or London Perl Workshop will already be familiar with the cheery smile of our very own Claire Jackson.

Claire has been a resident of the hallowed halls of Shadowcat since earlier this year when our CEOs decided they needed someone to find them in their mountain of paperwork and asked Claire to come dig them out.

Claire's continuing success in easing our administration issues and her continuing involvment in the re-structring of the Shadowcat Militia brought us to offer her the new post of Project Admin and PA to the Directors (why have one role when you can be pressured with two).

It is quite a challenge as those roles have competing forces. But of one thing we are sure, when it comes to swinging the Morningstar of Administration, Claire has a mightly left-handed thwack.*

• You have to watch out for those South-paws, with their sinister offset of approach.

Coming steaming hot on the trail of news of Ian Norton as General Manager for Shadowcat we are now pleased to reveal his caricature and likeness enshrined in Steampunky goodness.

The extremely talented Jack Knight of Knight Time Creations completed the stunning new addition to the Shadowcat Team Images in time for our announcement of Ian as General Manager. However we decided to hold it for a couple of days to allow the good news of his appointment to settle in before revealing his animated self.

Expect this, like the many other new steampunk images to hit promotional merchandise in the very near future.

The month of November appears to be full of motion and direction in regards to Shadowcat and its staff. We started by acquiring extra hands to man the battlements in the shape of Ribasushi and kd. But, what use are hands without direction, without a body to control them?

Allow me to introduce the new General Manager for Shadowcat Systems, our very own Ian Norton.

Ian has been with Shadowcat for a little greater than a year and has been championing project management, documentation and shared perceptions to any ear he could nail to a nearby wall. With equal, and due, respect to this cause we our riposte has been to appoint him in this role.

We have absolute faith in the abilities, skills and knowledge that ian has and know he will grow both himself and the role in the coming weeks and months, for now we leave him happy, or at least gibbering quietly in a corner.

Coming sharply on the heels of the great news about Ribasushi joining the Shadowcat team comes the news that Kieren Diment is also coming on board.

Kieren is well known in the Perl community as the author of the Catalyst book (The Definitive Guide to Catalyst) with our very own Matt S. Trout and Jess Robinson. However his skills are far more diverse and important than his affiliation with Perl and Catalyst. His skills in Circus performance will at least give him a flexible edge in the dungeons.

(Somebody grease the weasel)*

Kieren will be a strong member of the Shadowcat team allowing us to continue to perform a diverse, expert approach to a challenging environment. Those who have worked with him in the community know that his commitment to work match his commitment to the language and the community and these fall fully within the Shadowcat ethos.

Those of you who follow Shadowcat closely will know of our strong appreciation and affiliation with academia and the research culture and ethos. Kieren has a strong academic background and association, joining the Shadowcat team will help us to further how we evolve and enhance our credibility as a leading edge software development organisation.**

• Everyone has to have an animal in their rituals

• We are also quite forgiving of the matter of his antipodean status

Castle Shadowcat has always been proud of the hearty crew that staffs the walls and feeds the hairy trolls who live in the dungeons. So it is always a great pleasure when we ensnare another troll to feed. With that said it is an honour to report that Peter Rabbitson, known across the irc-webs as Ribasushi has joined the Shadowcat team.

Ribasushi is a keen community player and very famous for the work he does in connection with DBIx::Class where he is responsible for marshalling the releases and running day to day operational development.

It is a real joy to have Ribasushi as part of the Shadowcat team and we are all looking forward to his first visit to Castle Shadowcat next week.