The Adventures of Cindy Li

AOL Graduate 2007

March 23 , 2007

Once upon a time

AOL bought out a startup I worked for in Atlanta. We worked on this “magical” thing, internet tv. Netchannel had no more money to pay us. The entire office banded together and started working on resumes (cv’s for the British readers) and I worked on layouts of the resumes. Thank god for AOL buying us out because I would have had to borrow money. I had just graduated and I had no nest egg.

It’s been an experience being at AOL. I grew up here. I loved. I lost. I got promoted (twice). I fought for what I believed in. I worked on stuff I didn’t believe in. I have been here .. or rather was here since 1998. I’ve watched how people treat one another and how I wanted to be treated. To be a friend you must be one. I learned who to trust with my life. Be kind to each other. What to expect and what is unexpected. AOL is an ecosystem of laughter and antics but a lot of hard work.

Indulge me for a bit

I am going to start saying my farewells to my family at AOL.. and I hope I do not forget anyone but I have a feeling I will. You all make me laugh. You inspire me. Seriously you complete me. :P

Starting the list...of thank you and TTYL..

• Kevin Lawver: You are “awesome”. You are the Jedi Master. Do not forget that. You inspire people at AOL. The important ones, the worker bees. Keep dreaming and keep creating.They want to be passionate about their work and once they’ve tasted it they don’t want to let it go. I know I don’t. ;-)
• Jason Garber: You are a Jedi. You are one of my best friends and it will be very strange not torturing you every day. In the last year you have become a fixture, yes like a lamp in my life. A guide if you will… ok I have no idea where this is going… and I will miss you. I won’t get all sappy. I’ll save it for someone else. Keep up the good work at Refresh DC.
• Ed Devinney: Thank you for being a great boss. Your faith and trust in me is appreciated. Encouragement to spread my wings, thank you. I love our honest discussions about work, life and beyond. Thank you for everything you have done for me. I truly appreciate it. You are more than a boss to me.
• Eric Newman:Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of being in your life and Debbie’s. Thank you for trying to teach me guitar. Keep up the dreaming and the doing. Keep up the ideas that are turning into reality. All I can say is wow!
• Jody Thomas: My life at AOL would not have been the same without our walks outside eating ice cream. Taking time outs for inspiration and just dreaming of the life that we wanted. Are we there yet? You and Mike are going to be amazing parents and I am sad to miss the birth of your future son. I would be there with balloons some huge stuffed animal and ice cream. Your team is lucky to have you. I know you will take care of them and be their biggest cheerleader. Thank you for helping me through my dark days. I’m not sure where I would have been without you.
• Mike Gong: Thank you. You are a kindred spirit and I will miss you a lot.

Designers

• Paula Bee: You my dear woman are my guide for finances. I feel very lucky to have known you and to learn from the wisdom that you share. Your laughter to crying is contagious and you constantly crack me up more just by laughing.
• Leah K.: My partner in crime. Our dreams of Fused Candy together have only been a dream and maybe one day I can make it happen. Concentrate on getting more balance in life. Demand it.
• Elsa: You inspire me to follow your footsteps. You can do anything you put your mind to and I truly believe that.
• Ari: You are an amazing designer and great at thinking out of the box. Take care of your team :)
• Jenna: Ficlets logo is gorgeous. Explain to the world how you did it. Share your talents with the world. They are waiting.
• Nicole: Keep looking at the stars. Keep working and believe in that you are great and you will be. Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder.
• Eric: Keep reading, keep dreaming but keep doing. Keep Nicole safe and take care of her.
• Vee: Thanks for the vote in confidence. We’ve been through a lot. I learned from watching you strategy and what to watch out for. Street smarts gets you far. I’m still waiting for all of mine to show up.
• Cara: Save, save, save. I learned from you to try things on even when you aren’t sure if they will fit. You will be surprised some of the time. Plus some of the time it’s nice to just cut loose and spend. :P Will we ever learn Spanish?
• Valli: Always helps to have someone remind me to be silly.. wait do I have to be reminded? Smart and a kind heart a great combination
• Ivis: An example of smart and feminine. You are so beautiful too!
• Tom Osborne: Go Gators! Keep writing! Keep dreaming and doing!
• Bill Knight: Go Gators! Thank you for bringing Elsa into AOL. My life would be very different if it weren’t for her. Keep your family close to your heart and all the path detours at work will work out.
• Allison B: thank you for letting me play with the podcast equipment. It was fun. I learned from you the constant to do list is always in hand. Although frightening at times as well.
• June:In such a short amount of time you can create styleguides and organize chaos. You have great people watching out for you so I know you are in good hands.
• Nguyet: Spread your wings. You are great and trust that. You are surrounded by people waiting for your “awesomeness” to shine through.
• Charles: I am glad that you came back to AOL so you could help shape the next few “classes” of designers at AOL. Your business sense and sass (yes sass a guy can have that. :P) is something I always wanted to pick up. :). Thank you for letting me borrow your shoulder.
• Joseph Smiley:Paula only has great things to say about you. So I’ll be watching.
• Tia: Life, love, work it’s all the same. Patience… is something I am still learning. Keep working and putting yourself out there. Your time will come (lame but true).
• Galina Spivak: You are one silly woman and Leah tells me how amazing you are and how happy she is to have you on her team.

PM

• Kerry P: You don’t take any crap and I will miss you for this. Thank you for doing your best.
• Lori B:I loved our talks. I miss them. You have an amazing light surrounding you. ::hug Nicholas and the boys for me:::
• Shannon D: You are an amazing project manager. Seriously I have never met anyone with that level of organization. I wish I could be like you. You are sweet kind and gracious. You are a star.
• Jeff Tubb: Thanks for watching scary shows with me. Bowling on the AOL bowling team and being a friend to cry on. Thank you for being there.. where ever there was.. Pizza Mart?
• Steve Gaitten:Your sense of humor is priceless. My favorite story from you, “For the first part of the PF redesign we didn’t think you spoke. Now we can’t shut you up.” No one would believe I was quiet. :P
• Jim Hoscheit: I love that you get the overall picture. You are smart, fair and great for laughs. I will miss our hallway discussion finances and how we want the world should be.
• Topher: Thank you for your sarcasm. It cracks me up.

Developers

• Justin Cohen: Although we butted heads some of the times, granted it could have been our heads just hitting the desks in frustration. It has been a pleasure working with you til late at night on Aim Lite. Thank you for your “youthful” attitude. :P
• Porter: I know I will never get full of myself if you are around. :P ‘Cause you’ll smack me around if I do. Your honestly and wisdom/advice, I appreciate. Thank you.::hug Laura for me:::
• Corey Lucier: Thank you for bringing me into Technologies. Sorry we never really got a chance to work together. Welcome back
• Greg Cypes:Be positive. It is hard to be the light in the darkness but I believe we can make a difference. Challenge but always praise. Take the frustrations and change it into solutions. It’s the only way. People look up to you (granted you are a bit taller than me and its kind of hard not to look up to you. :P ) take that responsibility and inspire them. Be the great guy I know you can be.
• Howard: Can you just keep torturing Jason so he doesn’t feel lonely?
• Steve Chipman: Dang you can draw! Wowsers..
• Kate Chipman:You have a kind heart and an amazing family now. It has been an honor to work with you and watch how your life has changed. The world always strong, smart women as role models with a kind heart. I am glad you are one of them.
• Arun: I have only begun to know you. Kevin Lawver only has amazing things to say about you plus you have an amazing stage presence. Keep up the good work evangelizing for AOL.
• Naveed: What a great smile! I will keep talking about how much I love AOL. Don’t worry, I’ll help dev.aol.com. :) Thank you for offering me a chance to stay. I must try spreading my wings for a bit
• Joe: Your photos scare me but I know you have a heart of gold. Keep Howard in check. ;)

Photo

• Cathleen: Thank you it has been a pleasure working with you and your team.I will remember AOL visions.
• Gary:AOL.com DL’s would not have been the same without you. ;)
• Cliff Owen: Thank you for introducing me into the photo world even more.

AOLTV family

• Rob Gould: Thank you for bringing me into the Mac Programming group. Thank you. I can’t believe it all started with AOLTV.
• Mike Horton: Always willing to help a friend in need. Thank you for saving Takako that day with the cables to jump start her car. I think this was one of the last times I saw you. AOLTV wouldn’t have been the same without you.


• Steele: Keep tinkering and dreaming...
• David Svatos: Where were you yesterday? :( You crack me up.
• Amy Arnold: You appreciate people. Your kindness and thoughtfulness is one of the things I admire about you. I know after the AOLTV layoffs resources were scarce and I was happy to help out but chocolate never hurts :)
• Wolenetz: Constantly learning and constantly tinkering… keep it up.
• Bill Sams: Kind heart and always questioning. Keep it up.
• Cian Chang: My first review and you suggested in the group, “do not be humble at this time. Cindy this means you.” Thank you for trying your best to watch out for me in my freshman year at AOL.

Hugs for all

I know I may have left some people out. I do not love you any less. I’m tired and I have to pack for my next adventure.
San Francisco here I come!