Meet the Staff!!! Interview with Irving!
Hello fellow Terribles and readers alike! As promised, we are whittling through the list of those who are behind the scenes making things happen! Here is an interview with the “Master Mind” at the core of the Terribles website, Irving, a.k.a. “bc24fl.”
Aaron: Irving, please tell us a little about yourself, where you’ve been, and how you became involved with Computer Science.
Irving: I was born in New York and raised in Miami Florida and am married with a 5 y/o son. I currently work as a system administrator / programmer for a building materials manufacturer / distributor and have been there 10 years. Before that I served 4 years Active Duty Air Force and studied Computer Science at the University of West Florida. Computers have been my passion since I was a teen and continue to be a big part of my life today. In summary all I can say is that it is an addiction that I very much enjoy.
Aaron: That’s interesting stuff! How did you become interested in RC? Do you remember your first real RC car? Have you ventured into RC airplanes as well?
Irving: I got into RC during my early teens in the 80’s when I purchased a 1/10th off-road Grasshopper with a 380 / 540 sized motor and used to race in schools and behind hobby shops with other kids. Several years later I got heavily into RC airplanes and enjoyed it so much I purchased 4 others and an electric helicopter. I really liked the excitement and risk (being broke at the time) of controlling an object in the air without crashing it and making it do what I wanted.
Aaron: Wow, the risk taker! I know where you’re coming from in regards to battling the risks involved with RC flying, having crashed a couple myself! So it seems that you took some time off from RC cars, what brought you back?
Irving: A few years later I saw an ad about the new Jato 3.3 that came out and I purchased it as a basher and had a blast waking up my neighbors and racing my friends in small fields. Soon thereafter I was introduced to the first “real” off-road track in Miami and saw the 1/8th scales in action and loved the noise and excitement of the racing behind it. Then sold my Jato, and after doing much research I decided to purchase a Caster 1/8th scale truggy that I still enjoy today as they are easy to drive and extremely affordable. I’m also an “honorary” team driver for Caster and enjoy helping them out when I can. Not sure if the “honorary” prefix was put in their as an insult or joke but you’ll have to ask Mike Mazza for that answer. =))
Aaron: Irving, I’ll be sure to ask Mike when I get the chance! Moving forward, how did you become involved with Team Terribles? You mentioned earlier before we started the interview, that there were certain requirements with choosing the proper website creator/editing software. Can you explain more about this?
Irving: I met James Allara on RC Tech when he was recruiting members to join the team. After joining I asked if I could help build the website since there wasn’t one at the time. After speaking to James on the phone and compiling his goals we made a decision to go with Drupal Content Management System. One of the requirements was that the website scale to the needs of the team as we grew and to have the capability to easily add more features to the site per the team’s needs. We also needed a website that was manageable by our users so that content can be added to the site as needed without requiring any technical assistance. In retrospect, I believe Drupal was the right decision as evidence by how fast we were able to accomplish our goals. In less than a year, we have a community based website with over 500 team members, hundreds of organized future racing events, and a store with over 12,000 products in stock.
Aaron: It’s no secret that the work behind the scenes is quite extensive. How were you able to create the Terribles website so quickly? Who else is hiding behind the scenes?
Irving: Since I work a full time job I didn’t have the time to put in the hours necessary to do it all myself. Zach was first on board and he helped us out tremendously. Since his professional background is technical I knew he could handle the technical side of things with ease when I was away or busy. He has laid out a solid foundation for the team and as a result is one of the primary reasons we are so successful today. Many of the operations going on for the past months are running smoothly because of it.
Soon thereafter, Zach brought Greg on board who has also put in countless personal hours. Greg has worked so hard he has moved his way up the ladder pretty quickly and now has the big responsibility of managing the online store. I cannot say enough about Greg’s work ethic. This guy has literally stocked the online store, priced, and got pictures of nearly 12,000 items you see in the store today.
Aaron: So it seems that there is really a Team, behind the Team. This is awesome stuff, and it really illuminates the core fundamentals of how a Team should work!
Irving: Yes, and I also want to thank every volunteer who has helped us out with the site and team goals (moderators, reps, verifications committee, designers, editor(you) etc..), and our lead designer Nathan (N8Racer) who has also done a wonderful job providing us graphics for the website, banners and flyers.
I would also like to say that I have the utmost respect for Zach and Greg because they can get the job done despite the real life situations they humbly overcome on a day to day basis, that would have broken me and many others, but they choose to remain strong in their faith and beliefs and continue to move the team forward.
Aaron: We’re almost ready to wrap this up, just a couple more topics. Have there been any other profound learning experiences you would like to share?
Irving: I’ve learned that I and 500 plus team members can make history and change the sport of RC for the better. You can thank James and his leadership for that.
OH, and never call James a biatch again or at least to his face! LOL.
Aaron: I’ll let James fill me in on that one… I have a feeling his side of the story will be very entertaining! To wrap up this interview, with the website nearing completion, what is your next mission?
Irving: Well for now we have to make sure the on-line store is as stable as it can be and streamlined. In about a week, I will be traveling to Arizona to help Vareck setup his computer systems for the new Terribles RC Hobby store as well as configuring the ability to sync up inventory and orders from the website to his physical store. This will literally save him months of data entry and product management work.
As far as future projects.... you will soon get to write an article on that with details that should excite the members even further. Thanks for all your help. – Irving
And thank you, Irving for doing a wonderful job getting everything lined out. Since joining the staff, I have heard and read many great things about the work you are doing behind the scenes! – Aaron Bullock, CCE, TT.