Today was my farewell lunch at IOL. My final working day was last Thursday, but that didn’t feel like the end. I was in a meeting till after 5, and by the time I emerged most people had already left, then I stayed on till about 10pm when the place was almost deserted (in fact the night staff member on duty didn’t even know I was leaving). Since then, I’ve been madly getting through the thousands of emails in my inbox, in preparation for handing over my company laptop to Gary Collins, the new IT Manager, and been keeping way too close tabs on what’s been going on.
I was there for 5 years and one month (I started in April 2000), a lifetime by my standards. I arrived as Lead Developer (of MyWealth to be precise, a dot bomb company that IOL owned that aimed to make millions selling unit trusts and shares online, and which folded in December 2000), and in that time I learnt a tremendous amount, worked with some wonderful people, wrote a book on MySQL thanks to my experiences there, and joined the realms of management. I leave with wonderful memories, and gratitude for my time there.
IOL is apparently well ahead of their main competitor Media24 this month, so I’ve only been gone a few days and already IOL is growing in strength! I wish them all the best.