Achernar Solutions
Trust Me. I'm A Salesman [tmias.com] is a Ruby on Rails application that was launched in April 2008. At it's core, TMIAS is a social network and story sharing site for people involved in sales, and is the brainchild and work of a team of current and ex-salesmen who wanted to help share their stories with the world.
The site allows users to post stories and polls, discuss them, and take part in rating the content for the "most trusted" authors.
Including a precise and complex design prepared by TMIAS's designer, and including integration with OpenID and the production of a substantial number of RSS feeds, I have helped George to take the site from a concept to reality in just over 6 months.
To build the application, TMIAS's designer provided me with several images showing the site design, and via email and phone calls, we were able to discuss and arrange the logic and behaviour behind each part of the site. From there, I set about developing the site, sending the team frequent progress updates so as that they could continue to refine their ideas for the site as it was built.
During this time I was also able to provide the TMIAS team with advice on how best to host the site in a way that will be both cost effective, and able to scale quickly once in production.
One of the key members of the TMIAS team, George had this to say about the project in his traditional salesman like way :
Look if you're reading this you're probably wanting to hire Jason Stirk for some sort of web development work. Before I tell you about Jason, I'll first explain a bit about myself so you can put my words into perspective.
My name is George Atherley and I've worked with Jason in the capacity of a Multimedia Designer. When I was fifteen I worked as an intern to a German design studio and ended up designing all their corporate identity work. Straight out of school I was hired into one of the best design firms in my home town. After working there I have done every type of sales job imaginable , from door to door vacuum cleaners to selling real estate in Indonesia, after, and during the bombings. I have worked in the north of China right next the Russian border with a mining exploration crew and worked with everyone from the guys from digging trenches (I dug too) to the head of the company. From VIP clubs in Beijing to the mountain huts of Heaboshan.
Basically my point is that I'm not just some retro Adidas sneaker wearing designer who spends his life critiquing other peoples work and waiting outside the apple store for a new release. So when I say that Jason Stirk is great to work with I want you to understand my full meaning.
Technically he is so good that it is just not and issue. I don't say this to flatter him, but from your point of view, if it is possible, he can do it. So you just don't have to worry about whether or not "he" can do it.
The other part of Jason, and a big reason why I can so easily recommend him is that he is very good at understanding what it is you want. More importantly he can easily formulate how you can both work together to achieve that result.
Polite well spoken, never angry (despite my best efforts) ,he just does so much right that you just don't have to worry about anything else but the job in hand. I've personally been working with him for about 2.5 to 3years on various projects.
He will not take instruction blindly which I think is very important for the kind of work I do. For instance I'll ask him do it a certain way, and if he passionately believes it is the wrong way he will let me now and suggest the best possible solution each time. This is not to say that he won't do what you want. More to say that he always aims for the best possible work.
At the end of the day, I don't know what kind of project you have in store for him. But I do know I have no trouble in the world recommending him as he will get the job done, his skills are unquestionable and he's fantastic to work with. What more could you possibly want?
You too can take advantage of my experience in building your next web application or if you require Ruby and Rails consulting support.
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