Derek Young

Derek Young worked at REI for 10 years until he and a few friends and co-workers left to start their own company. They created a consulting business that helps big companies set policies for their own call centers. I think they also help with the IT infrastructure for those call centers and also offer legal advice. But they are quick to note that they're NOT lawyers and that often clients must consult with legal advisers.

He also mentioned how different privacy laws are in Europe compared to America and how it's been difficult learning how things are handled over there.

Derek also started a popular blog about Tacoma, but he's slowly turning that over to other writers.

Derek is also well-known in the area for Suite 133. This is a place for entrepreneurs and other folks who need nice shared office space.

They may expand because his new business is growing and kind of taking over the space. They also need a more private setting because their contracts require anonymity, yet they work in the middle of an open public space!

The presentation was cut short by a fire alarm, so I followed Derek out and asked some questions about REI.

He said it's a great place to work, and it should be - they win Fortune's Best Places to Work every year. With that he said the IT department is good, but very competitive to get into since the company is so popular.

I asked what technologies they use and he could only think about some IBM stuff. Didn't mention .Net.