Already an active member of the Titanium community, about 1.5 year ago I joined Appcelerator to become Developer Evangelist/Advocate. I’ve had a great time serving many thousands of developers, but all good things come to an end. I’m leaving Appcelerator.
How it started
I built my first Titanium app in 2012 and by the end of the year I already found myself discussing Alloy betas with Tony. I was amazed to see how approachable the Appcelerator staff was, including a CEO who still ♥︎ to code!
When it was released early 2013 I was asked to introduce Alloy at the local meetup. Soon I found myself leading the group, speaking at other events and travel the world with Boydlee and Jason for tiConf. I created tools like TiCons and gitTio out of pure laziness, but they quickly became very popular. By that time, developing apps for clients had become merely a way to pay the bills while I had fun serving the Titanium community.
You can imagine how thrilled I was when Jeff Haynie asked me to join Appcelerator! I could now fully focus on what I loved most and get paid for it.
Why it ends now
There are several reasons, but in the end they don’t really matter. I leave because I can’t find the passion anymore that I need in a role like this. I don’t leave because I have something new, but I’m not going to hang around till I do. Appcelerator deserves better.
Early this year I compared Developer & Religious Evangelism. Could you imagine a Christian Evangelist who doesn’t believes in Jesus anymore? Exactly. Does that mean God doesn’t exist or Titanium isn’t any good? Certainly not! ?
What about gitTio, TiCons etc?
I still maintain several Titanium apps for clients preceding my time at Appcelerator and I will happily continue to do so. That said, and depending on my next gig, I will probably not be very active in the community anymore.
gitTio was designed to require minimal maintenance and all of my other tools are open source. I’ll keep them online and try to follow up with PRs as much as I can, but if you’d like to take over a project, please do get in touch with me.
TiCons has already lost some relevance with the introduction of DefaultIcon.png and Storyboard Launch Files and I expect the same to happen for gitTio with the new Appcelerator Marketplace in due time.
Onwards!
So what’s next for me? Glad you asked.. I have no clue! ?
The downside of being a jack of all trades who’s always looking to master something new, is that you pretty much reconsider everything, every time. No wonder Ricardo recently asked me: Do you consider yourself an indecisive person? In this matter… yes! Or maybe..
What I did learn at Appcelerator is that I like improving Developer/User Experience – including writing blogs and samples – more than speaking, although I certainly enjoy to travel every now and then. This aligns nicely with the idea I have of myself that I thrive when I can learn something by doing and use that experience to make the journey easier for those who follow.
Thank you!
I’d like to thank Ricardo for his friendship, Jeff for inviting me to come on board, all other Appcelerati for bearing with me, but most of all I’d like to thank you. The Titanium community might be big in number, but its events were like family gatherings.
So yes.. Code Strong! ?
In shock. I found your tools and answers really helpful. All the best for your future.
Hi Fokke,
Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for all your great work. I can imagine that for a curious mind there comes the time to move on to keep the joy and the excitement. I wish you all the best on your new endeavour. I wont be surprised that we meet again on another cool dev community which might have you at it’s core.
Cheers and all the best!
Richard
Dear Fokke
I am newer to this community than you. But I have learned a lot from you – via blogs and helping on various questions on StackOverflow.
I fully understand your decision and respect it. But on the other hand I am really unhappy – and your place will be a difficult one to take over :-(
But keep up the spirit – and find the passion again. I hope I’ll stumble into you again somewhere out there!
Dear Fokke,
I’m sorry to see you go. For me you are the face of Appcelerator this last year and a half. I learned a lot from you – and you are probably the reason why I didn’t switch my mobile platform in hard times with the platform.
I wish you luck in whatever path you choose, and I’ll keep following you because I know it’ll be an interesting one.
Thank you for all the help and the tools.
Hello, Good luck to you on your new adventure. Titanium community wouldn’t be same without you. Your guides helped a lot for so many people. Keep in touch.
Hi Fokke,
Sorry to hear this. The Appcelerator community will miss you.
Hope you find what you are looking for. Wish you all the best on your journey.
Regards,
The NativeScript community is a fun and welcoming place. Let me know if you want help getting up to speed with NativeScript.
Thanks Dan, but I’m not planning to switch and I also don’t expect my next gig to be in the mobile industry.
Hi fokke, thank you for everything. And good luck for your next adventure!
Hi Fokke,
Thanks so much for all you’ve given to the Titanium community. I’ve really appreciated all your writing, products, examples and the positive attitude that you’ve brought. We’ve been blessed to have you give what you’ve already given. It was also very inspiring to see you raise awareness for Compassion through your Rwandan ride. My family also supports children through Compassion and it was great to see you use your talents to bring attention to this great cause. Which ever community, cause or group you are involved with will certainly be blessed. All the best with your next chapter.
Thank you and live strong!
Anthony
I really hope you getting sky in your next step
Ricardo and Fokke leaving community in same time :(
Good luck Fokke! You will be missed!
Hello Fokke,
I was talking to my Appcelerator rep last week about what a treasure you are and you are a flat out coding genius! I am happy that the gems you have created are still here to help us along and saddened that, for Titanium at least, there will be no more.
Good luck and God bless in your future endeavors!