“Do one thing every day that scares you” – Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat (1884 – 1962)
Well, every day is probably a bit excessive, but once every two decades probably isn’t enough.
After 19½ years of combined service with Lotus Development Corporation and then IBM, I have decided to leave and pursue a new opportunity. After that amount of time you’ll appreciate that this was a hard decision to make – there were a number of reasons that prompted me to look elsewhere, but I’m not interested in discussing them.
During my time at IBM / Lotus I’ve met a huge number of people – colleagues (past and present), Business Partners, ISVs, bloggers and customers. I’d like to say thank you to everyone who invested their time and enthusiasm (and money) into the Lotus brand. I did compose a goodbye e-mail to send internally, but I respected a request not to send it and allowing my departure to be communicated in an alternative manner.
My best time within IBM / Lotus was the few years I spent as the Lotus Technical Sales Manager for North Region (in its various guises, including South Africa) and then UK & Ireland. Many of that team are still around in IBM and remain close friends (and I hope will remain so).
The very best of luck, Darren
Good luck Darren – I hope you’re going to keep the Blog going.
Best of luck, Darren… thanks for everything you’ve done for the brand and community.
Wow, good luck out there. You’ll be missed.
Darren – you will be very much missed. If Lotus had a “face” in the UK region, you were it. Your new employer is very lucky to have you on their side.
P.
It was a pleasure working both for and with you mate. All the best for your new adventure.
Ports
What Paul said.
Very sorry to lose you from our little yellow orbit, but entirely understandable. All the best!
Congratulations Darren, hopefully it is au-revoir not adieu.
We were lucky enough to have you as the main speaker at our first Lotus event – I always asked for you after that.
Best wishes for your new job – I’m sure it will be hugely exciting to be the new boy for the first time in 19 years.
You’ve been the front for IBM in most Lotus accounts for the past 10 years or more Darren, and you will be missed massively.
You will be missed, but won’t be forgotten – one great thing about Community, it allows you the opportunity to establish relationships with some great folks. I wish you the best in your new role and look forward to your many blogs to come! 🙂
Wishing you the best of luck Darren. If you need anything outside the big blue bean bag, please let me know.
Carl
Darren, we will all miss you.
Stuart was right to call you the face of Lotus in the UK. I saw you present in London, around 2004, and though what a great guy and an awesome presenter and what a great job you had. I truly wished I could work for Lotus and with you and wait … I did! 🙂
Darren, in Lotus land, you are, and always will be, my hero! Pete H and John W is a close second! Lewis is up there as well but it fluctuates depending on how much time you spend around him. Only kidding Lewis!
See you around 😉
Pleasure working with you and for you Darren. Good luck in your new endeavours. Sorry to see you go. All the best. Andy W
Best of luck with your new ventures … not that you need luck.. I’m sure that you excel at whatever you turn your hand to
Best of luck on your new endeavors, and thanks for all you’ve done for the community, Darren.
Good luck Darren. I’ll see you at the next ex-Loti gathering. One nice thing about today’s “connected” world is that you can make changes but still stay connected to your “former community.”
Always accessible, always responsive, always there. It is us who should thank you. @Mooney is absolutely right as are many other comments above and no doubt others still to come.
Good luck with your new venture. May your sails be full of gentle wind. What more could one ask for?
Best of luck Darren. Hopefully you will continue to blog?
Jason
@Jason… of course I’ll continue to blog, but the subjects may change.
Everyone else, thank you for your comments and best wishes. I’ve received an incredible number of e-mails, tweets, messages and Skype chats today, all with positive wishes and nothing marked ‘traitor’.
Darren,
I will very much miss working with you and respect your decision. I promise to keep my eyeglasses clean at all times and hope to keep in touch. 🙂
Lisa
Best of luck Darren. You will be missed.
It was nice knowing you Darren, thank you for all your help and advices throuhgout the years, I will miss the social part, as you remember our 10th command was, and I emphasize was,…”have Fun”
Tommy
@Tommy… I remember that, the 10 Lotus Commandments and the 10th was “have fun”. After Lotus were acquired by IBM it changed to “we have fun when we win”.
Ditto on all the best wishes of course, and a personal thank you for your help with Collaboration University the past few years at South Bank. Your sponsorship was a giant part of the success of our events. I imagine we’ll share a beer again soon, mate!
All the best, Darren…
Best of luck to you! Please continue to blog…
Hi Darren,
We barely know eachother though I understand your decision since I took the same for 3 1/2 years now. All I want to tell is that the Lotus diaspora is a family and though I work for what IBMers call (without knowing it) the devil empire (ie MSFT), you can count on me if you need some contacts or help outside the IBM world.
Hiya, Darren! Goodness! Exciting piece of news, indeed! It’s been a great pleasure knowing you over the course of the years and I do hope our paths cross again at some point, whether over there or over here! Wish you all the best in your new adventure and, please don’t be a stranger, you are just one tweet away, matey! Great loss for IBM, for sure, big win for the rest of the world! Please *do* keep having fun! 😀
PS. No wonder you went quiet on #WwF hehe See ya around! 🙂
Saying goodbye to IBM after that many years is not easy.
Good luck with your new adventure!
“I’ve received an incredible number of e-mails, tweets, messages and Skype chats today, all with positive wishes and nothing marked ‘traitor’.”
Traitor 🙂 you really wanted that, eh ? 😀
There are no words to describe the feeling one has when leaving IBM.
It is such a great company on one hand and so impossible to deal with on another.
I’ve seen it from all sides, BP, employee, customer, blogger and all you can do in the end is say you gave it your all and be proud of what you did.
Your efforts were appreciated by many of us over the years and we all wish you safe journeys on the next road.
Best of luck in the new job! 🙂
Best of luck to you Darren…should be quite a ride…
Good luck Darren! I think we should have a ex-Loti group hashtag now on twitter. Best wishes for the future!
But as Alan said, we are still a community.
– Bilal
Sorry, just catching up on all the news out there: the very best of British to you Darren. You will be a fine asset to your new employer from day one. But you know that 🙂
Just don’t start supporting Spurs too – I couldn’t handle that!
Jeff
Take it easy chap. Not much more to add but to say u will be missed is an under statement. You were the defacto sales contact for anyone outside of sales. Thank goodness for social networking !
Daz, good luck mate. Always a hard dicision to make but onwards and upwards I say.
Enjoy….Sean
Darren – All the best on the new job. Im sure our paths will cross again. Thank you and stay in touch. If u get to LA give me a shout.
Best of luck on your new adventure Darren!
Good luck mate, it gets easier – I left Team Lotus only 12 short years ago, and I only look back wistfully half-a-dozen times a day now.
In all seriousness, I loved my time at Lotus – working with you and all the SE team, but I’m constantly surprised at how many old Loti I bump into day to day. It’s a great network to be a part of, and it sometimes feels like I’ve never left.
It’s kinda tough out here in the real world occasionally, but the rewards are here and sometimes they’re easier to reach than back in Blue