mca blog

it was three years ago this month that i joined Matt McLarty and Ronnie Mitra to form the API Academy. and i've never regretted a minute of it.

Layer7's brain child

the idea for the API Academy came out of the core leadership of what was then known as Layer7. basically, it was the chance to pull together some of the great people involved in APIs for the Web and focus on promoting and supporting API-related technologies and practices. from the very beginning it was decided that the API Academy would focus on "big picture stuff" -- not a particular product or technology segment. and we dove in with both feet.

my first talk as part of the Academy was June 2012 on hypermedia and node.js at QCon NYC. Ronnie and i finally met face-to-face later that summer at the Layer7 office in Vancouver. we both talked at RESTFest 2012 where Layer7 became a key sponsor of that event. in December of 2012, Ronnie and I were proud to join Mehdi Medjaoui at the very first API Days in Paris. and we've been going strong ever since.

great people

the API Academy is an amazing group of people. over the last three years, along w/ Matt and Ronnie we've had the chance to host Alex Gaber, Holger Reinhardt -- both of whom have moved on to other things -- and Irakli Nadareishvili who came to us from his work at National Public Radio here in the US. the oppty to work side-by-side with people of this caliber is a gift and i am happy to be a part of it.

CA Technologies

since i joined API Academy, Layer7 has merged w/ CA Technologies and this has given us the chance to expand our reach and increase our contact w/ experienced people from all over the world. since joining w/ CA we've had the chance to travel to Australia, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, and several cities Eastern Europe. later this year there will be visits to Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro along w/ dozens of cities in the US and Europe. along the way the API Academy continues to meet w/ CA product teams and leadership offering to assist in any way we can to continue the same mission we had at our founding.

Help People Build Great APIs for the Web

i've worked lots of places, with diverse teams, in all sorts of cultures. i have to say that my experience w/ the API Academy and w/ CA continues to be one of the most rewarding and supportive i've ever enjoyed. i am very lucky that i get to do the kind of work i love w/ people that challenge my thinking, support my experimenting, and offer excellent opportunities to learn and grow along the way.

the last three years have been full of surprises and i can't wait to see what the next three years brings. i am truly a #luckyMan