Back on the Job Hunt

Hello all,

I think the best way to start out this post is to mention no news is good news. Thus the non-updating means things have been going well. My arm has pretty much healed and I have a great scar to make up stories about. I've been married to Nikki for a little over a year now and although we have had a few disagreements it was absolutely the best decision I've made in my entire my life. Family has visited, Ashley did wonderful at Aerotek and should be returning in May (if all goes well), and life has continued on without too many hiccups or major catastrophes.

This leads me to the "news" portion of the post. I learned last week that the studio I work for will be closing down on July 1st. This of course means I will be without a job and will be actively searching for a new position where I can once again reaffirm that someone's decision to hire me is a good one. The first question I usually get is why are they letting us know now? To best answer that I should let you know what I think is the reason for the decision. Total Immersion is definitely still privately owned and the decision comes down to one very smart person, with whom I respect greatly. All of the funding for this company comes from the government and with the recent budget delay, etc. the company will find itself in a potential funding debacle. This isn't the reason for the decision but certainly has to be an influencer. For this studio, many of the projects will naturally end at the end of June, and the lease for the building we are currently in will be up for renewal. The company has been looking for other locations to move but instead of paying for the move, the owner has decided to shut down this studio and consolidate all development from the current two locations to the one location in Austin. The plan of course is to hire more engineers in Austin to take over continuing projects from the Alameda studio and in the end it will be better to have customers fly to one location instead of two to see progress on deliverables. The decision makes sense from the owner's perspective and I do appreciate the early heads up. Change is never fun and the sting isn't any less, but having a job and income while knowing you need to job search is beneficial.

The plan at the moment is cast a wide net and see where the opportunities come from. The idea of moving back to the east coast, primarily North Carolina region, is still weighing heavily on my mind but if the right opportunity knocks I will consider it at the same level as any other. I will try to update again once I find my new place and let friends, family, and colleagues know how they can reach me. I will definitely be keeping this website up to date as well so if you know of a contact, feel free to pass them my direction. Any and all help is grateful as networking is the best way to move around in the games industry.

Thank you all for the future support and best wishes.

Mark G.