So after the Non Profit Developers Summit, I managed to get myself at Yahoo! HQ in Sunnyvale, CA. These are the creators of the most popular website on the Web if you need to be reminded.
This was a Monday afternoon and I took BART and CalTrain from Oakland to Sunnyvale Train station from where my host Rabble took me to Yahoo! HQ. I printed myself a visitor badge and proudly wore it. We passed by Yahoo's Cafeteria where I got a delicious piece of pizza and a cup of Capuccino. The pizza in US is much thicker than that in Malawi and Yahoo!'s pizza isn't an exception, by the way. Then we headed to the building where all the web celebrities at Yahoo! spend their day. OK not all of them but a good number of them.
I met Leonard Lin, who co-founded upcoming.org and now runs Yahoo events like Hack Day. I also met Pasha Sadir who developed Yahoo Travel Planner and created the coolest web application of the moment, Yahoo! Pipes. I also met kevnull and Daniel Raffel (just finished listening to his SXSW 2007 podcast) who also work on Pipes.
After some minutes, I realised I was sitting next to Caterina Fake's desk. Caterina is the co-founder of Flickr. In fact, the book I picked and started browsing through belonged to her. She cheerfully came into the room and you can rightly tell from her blog posts how cheerful she is.
"Actually, you can have that book" she said to me while I held a "Design Like You Give a Damn" book in my hands. "Thanks", I responded and took the opportunity to get an autograph from the web celebrity :) Since I couldn't get a picture at Yahoo, this is the only graphical evidence that I met her, right?
I also wished I took a picture of the room but kevnull already has one on Flickr so I don't have to describe it. It really feels like a good place to work at despite not getting as much publicity as Google does.
Thanks to all Yahoo Engineers aka Technical Yahoos, for making me feel welcome. Thanks for the schwag too. I got something to give my techie friends when I got back in Malawi. And you know what? My coding kung-fu is getting better already!
16 comments:
i'm glad you enjoyed the tour. You're welcome back any time.
Hallo Soyapi,
Its always good to have someone telling us a story of his journey.
Im a mozambican, historian, researcher at the SOUTHER AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTRE-MAPUTO OFFICE, and a blogger. I lived in Malawi during a time when Mozambique was in a war (FROM 1986-1992). I lived in Nsanje District then moved to Blantyre. I always remember how Malawians welcomed us and I dont forget that.
Thats why I always try to remeber the country's history because, i think, I made part of its transitional process.
So, I just want to say hie, once again.
Pleae, I dont know how good are u in portuguese but please, visit by two portals and leave a commment, please:
http://ideiasdemocambique.blogspot.com/
http://egidiovaz.wordpress.com/
I'll be back soon, I mean, always were togehter.
EV
Soyapi, it was great to meet you, and I'm glad you came by to visit us at Yahoo! The guy who wrote the book, Cameron Sinclair, actually wrote to me and told me about this blog post and asked if I wanted another copy of the book. I already have a copy of it at home, but I'm happy you have the other one.
Best wishes!
Caterina, Thanks, once again for the book. I enjoyed meeting you and your fellow Yahoos.
It's interesting how a simple blog post with some links link made that connection. I love the Web!
Thanks Cameron for the offer to Caterina.
Great you enjoyed the trip. Write more on the trip! Any first time sights? Any frustrations? Any personal embarrasments? I wish I saw a photo...What impressed you most? Well this might be an interview on this blog isn't it?
Posted by Chris Bassoo
Congrats on being blogger of note...great commentary and great blog...BRAVO
from your friends in Canada
warmest of regards Christopher Bassoo
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Yahoo HQ sounds wicked cool! Why couldn't you take pictures though? Are they that strict on visitors?
Hi Soyapi,
You happen to have the fortunate distinction of being the inspiration behind my new blog: www.ontheditchbank.blogspot.com . I'd been meaning to start one for awhile. I ran across yours while surfing blogger.com and decided to bite the bullet.
I also happen to be a techie -so I was really impressed by your visit to Yahoo HQ. That is cool!
Stop by my blog and say hello when you get the chance.
I also do some research for an African Proverbs research project (www.afriprov.org). Do you happen to have any Malawian proverbs or sayings you can share ?
Congratulations!!very well, excelent site.Is very interested!!Good, good , good...
hi soyapi...i am a big fan of your blog!!IT WAS HARD TO LOCATE U.LEKIN MAINE DHOOND NIKALA.(i.e i found you out!)
HAPPY BLOGGING.NICE POST.5 STARS TO U. VISIT ME AT RUCHIBHATT.BLOGSPOT.COM. HOW GOOD FRIENZ I HAVE MADE HERE ANYWAYS..I SHALL ALWAYS BE LOOKING FORWARD TO UR WONDERFUL COMMENTS!!!
THANKS!
education does pay off
interesting article :)
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