Happy Nerd Year! In this joyful new year of nerdiness, we’re honoring our January Big Nerd of the Month, Chris Donnelly. Chris is still new to Big Nerd Ranch, but he’s made a big impact.

In addition to being our IT guru, Chris’ talents include home brewery and finger magic. Yes, we said finger magic (it’s actually pretty great).

His past work with nonprofits has taken him from Haiti to D.C. to Iowa, but we’re thrilled he’s made it back to Atlanta to share his talents with us. As part of his initiation into our Big Nerd hall of fame, we sat down with Chris to bask in the glow of his majesty.

Big Nerd Ranch: Congratulations on being voted January’s Big Nerd of the Month! What new swag will you be adding to the trophy?

Chris: And ruin the reveal?! Nice try.

BNR: The suspense is going to kill us! I guess we’ll just have to wait and see… You’re still pretty new to Big Nerd Ranch. Will you share how you ended up here?

Chris:  I’ve known Marcus Owens since college. One night, a couple of months after he had started as a project strategist at Big Nerd Ranch, he mentioned this job opening he thought I would be a good fit for. Interested, I read the posting and promptly determined that I was woefully under-qualified for this IT-managing, CRM-wrangling, operations-engineering madness of a position. I’m still not certain how he convinced me to apply, but he did.

TL;DR: blame Marcus!

BNR: Obviously, you severely underestimated yourself—just look at all you’re doing now! We’re thrilled to have you. We’re curious; what were your first impressions of us?

Chris: The first meeting I attended was scheduled for an hour, but lasted only about 10 minutes. I thought, “Wow, it’s actually about getting stuff done!” Nothing has swayed me from that first reaction. I’m regularly impressed with the depth of knowledge, sense of humor and feeling of community here. I feel right at home.

BNR: The joys of working with fellow nerds. Do you have a favorite thing about working for Big Nerd Ranch so far?

Chris: The best thing here is that we have the freedom to try and fail in the pursuit of something better.  

BNR: You’ve got to be able to take those chances in order to create good work! Speaking of good work, we know you’ve worked with a couple of nonprofits in the past. Can you share what drew you to those organizations?

Chris:  I wanted to spend my time doing something that I could feel good about at the end of the day. Working those jobs put me near people from all walks of life and really broadened my horizons.

BNR: And you’ve gotten to spend time in a few different countries while working for Habitat for Humanity, right? Do you have a favorite?

Chris: Oddly enough, Haiti was my favorite. It was dangerous and destitute and staggeringly beautiful—I have never been somewhere with such vivid contrasts. Seeing the opposite extreme of life made me begin to re-evaluate what happiness means to me. That trip caused me to grow personally more than any other event I can remember.

BNR: Sounds like you’ve had some great working experiences! We hope we can continue the trend. On a more personal level, we hear you’re a home brewer. How did you get into that?

Chris: I recently moved to Atlanta from southwest Georgia. Living in the middle of nowhere as a beer snob was hard! A friend and I were lamenting the lack of good brew and decided to take matters into our own hands. One kitchen sacrificed to fermentors and vats of sanitizer later, we had corny kegs full of our very own beer.

BNR: We have many proud beer aficionados at the Ranch, so it looks like you fit in wonderfully. Thanks so much for chatting with us, Chris, and congratulations again on being voted Big Nerd of the Month. You deserve it!

Think you’ve got what it takes to become a Nerd? Check out our open positions and apply to join the team.

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The holidays have come to an end, but we can’t finish out the season without announcing the winners of our “My Very Nerdy Wish List” Pinterest contest.

Drumroll, please

Our first winner is Mirlan Bayaman, who filled his wish list with bewitching treasures that would warm the heart of any nerd. Our favorite item may be the pocket microscope. Or maybe the self-lacing shoes. Who wouldn’t want those?

Our second winner is Eric Suydam, whose love for iOS proves undeniable with his repins of some of our very own programming guides. He also included one of our favorite Macbook decals. However, the best pin is the photo of Big Nerd Ranch alumni captioned, “All I want for Christmas is an HTML5 bootcamp.”

Congratulations to Mirlan and Eric, who each won a discounted bootcamp and Big Nerd Ranch swag. Winners, don’t forget to contact us to claim your prizes.

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‘Tis the season to be nerdy! One special, very merry Nerd has personified this festive motto all holiday season: our December Big Nerd of the Month, Mikey Ward. Mikey is our self-pronounced cuddliest nerd. And for good reason. Have you met him? If not, go give him a hug; you’ll feel better.

When a fellow instructor got sick this month, Mikey came to the rescue and flew to Ireland to teach a Beginning iOS bootcamp with only a few hours’ notice. He is also the organizer of the Atlanta CocoaHeads group, oversees the Big Nerd Ranch game night and co-authored the second edition of our Objective-C programming guide. He does it all!

We sat down with him to get a few tips for achieving nerdy perfection.

BNR: Congratulations on being voted Big Nerd of the Month! What new swag will you be adding to the trophy?

Mikey: I’ve had a Lego Chewbacca on my keychain for years. I’ll likely be adding one just like it.

BNR: How fitting, considering your Star Wars-related nickname. You go by many names, including “Wookiee” and “Big Nerd Ranch’s cuddliest nerd.” How’d you’d get those monikers?

Mikey: I’ve been making Wookiee calls as long as I can remember. It’s my most common form of greeting. It’s gotten to the point where I’ll make a Wookiee call when I enter a room and get a call or two in response from the folks nearby. I’m also a huge fan of bear (Wookiee?) hugs.

BNR: Sounds like you have lots of fun at work! If you had to pick, what’s your favorite thing about working at Big Nerd Ranch?

Mikey: The people I get to work with, hands down. My friends at Big Nerd Ranch are some of the best friends I’ve got, and all of them are dedicated to doing excellent work and treating each other with respect. They’re just good people.

BNR: We obviously think the same of you, since we voted you Big Nerd of the Month. We know you’re doing a lot of teaching right now. What’s your favorite part of teaching our bootcamps?

Mikey: Watching lightbulbs go off. Being around for that “aha!” moment when something difficult clicks into place is incredibly rewarding. So is getting to talk to students to hear what they plan to do with their new knowledge. I feel like I’m personally invested in their future success. I often run into students at conferences and get to hear about their accomplishments since taking a class with us, which is a wonderful feeling.

BNR: How great, and that’s what makes you such a good teacher! What advice would you give to new developers trying to break into the industry?

Mikey: I’ve got three bits of advice:

• Build things. Whether you read a book or take a class, knowledge stagnates without practice. And folks hiring iOS developers can’t ask for 10+ years’ experience like they can for Mac or Windows development, which means you need to have a portfolio. Put some apps on the App Store so that you can point to them on a resume or during a job interview.
• Make friends in the community. Get on App.net and Twitter (I’m @wookiee on both), and follow the developers of some of your favorite apps. Then start replying to them and taking part in conversations (tactfully, of course). Personally, I prefer App.net. It’s what Twitter was during its first year: comprised mostly of nerds.
• Consider attending conferences. WWDC is an awesome but expensive one, and there are lots of excellent community conferences (NSConference, CocoaConf and 360iDev, to name a few) that are breeding grounds for long-lasting friendships in the developer community. If you do attend conferences, seek out other attendees you’ve met online and introduce yourself in person. I can’t even begin to describe how valuable the friendships I’ve made with other developers in the community have been to me, both personally and professionally.

BNR: Wonderful advice! Speaking of lasting friendships, you do some great stuff around the office to foster at-work friendships. We know you’re helping reinstitute game night at the Ranch. How are you going about this?

Mikey: It’s all about going from saying “We should plan a game night” to just doing it. I started inviting folks to stay after work on alternating Tuesdays to play games. We started with Carcassonne, Munchkin and a bit of Magic: The Gathering. There’s also been a few classics, including Scattergories. We’ve set up an internal mailing list (credit to AJ for that), so that we can discuss plans and game ideas. It all comes down to the age-old “less-with-the-talking, more-with-the-doing.”

BNR: We can tell that you’re all about the “more-with-the-doing” mindset. You’ve blown away the rest of our Fitbit team (and they’re no slouches!), thanks to your treadmill desk . How do you program while on a treadmill?

Mikey: I love it. I got a console-less treadmill deck and built a desk around it, and tend to keep a nice walking pace. Try to go too fast, and you won’t be able to concentrate or type. I get in about 10-12 miles in a normal workday. It’s only done a little for my weight, but it’s done wonders for my energy levels over the course of a day; I no longer feel an afternoon lull where I want to take a nap.

BNR: Since you’re our December Nerd, tell us: What’s your favorite thing about the holiday season?

Mikey: Spending time with friends and family. My older brother (I’m 30, he’s 35) and I turn into little children around the holidays. We both spend the week of Christmas at my parents’ house, sleeping in the bedrooms we grew up in. We’ll watch movies and play video games and decorate the tree, and excitedly gather in the living room on Christmas morning to wait for our parents to get the day started. I like to pretend I’m a kid all the time, but doing it with family and friends is the best.

BNR: How fun! We can’t leave our Big Nerd of the Month interview without asking our favorite question: What’s the nerdiest thing you’ve ever done?

Mikey: Oh, goodness, that’s a toughie. I don’t rightly know, but here’s one that comes to mind. When I was about 10 years old, I spent a few weeks periodically duct-taping my fingers into the Vulcan Salute when I was watching TV or reading. This was to train my hand/finger muscles to more easily make the gesture without thinking about it or bending my fingers weirdly. I’d gotten the idea from my aunt, who’d told me that when she was young, she’d had to suck on a peanut to train the lisp out of her voice.

BNR: We hope you still have photos of learning to make the Vulcan Salute. Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us, and congratulations on being voted our Big Nerd of the Month!

Think you’ve got what it takes to become a Nerd? Check out our open positions and apply to join the team.

The post Big Nerd of the Month: Mikey Ward appeared first on Big Nerd Ranch.

Want to win Big Nerd Ranch swag and a discounted bootcamp of your choice? Our Pinterest contest could make your nerdy dreams come true.

To join in on the fun, follow us on Pinterest and peruse “Our Very Nerdy Wish List,” where the finest nerdy treasures in all the land can be found. Start a new board called “My Very Nerdy Big Nerd Ranch Wish List,” and tell us which gadgets you’re geeking out over. On January 1, we’ll select two winners and then announce them on our blog.

Are you up for the challenge? See the official rules below.

OFFICIAL RULES

By entering the “My Very Nerdy Big Nerd Ranch Wish List” contest, the entrant acknowledges that he/she is over 18 years of age, is eligible to enter the contest and agrees to be bound by these Official Rules.

**1. Eligibility
**Employees and contractors of Big Nerd Ranch are not eligible to win this contest.

2. Participation Period
The participation period for the Big Nerd Ranch contest is between Dec. 13, 2013, at 9 a.m. EST and Jan. 1, 2014, at 9 a.m. EST. Big Nerd Ranch is the official time keeper.

3. How to Participate
Participants must follow Big Nerd Ranch on Pinterest and then start a new board called “My Very Nerdy Big Nerd Ranch Wish List.” They will then pin items to this board in order to create a wish list for the holiday season. The winner will win a swag bag of Big Nerd Ranch goodies and 10% off of a bootcamp of his or her choice. A participant who attempts to obtain more than one registration by any means will void that participant’s entries and that participant will be disqualified from participating in this contest. Entries that do not meet the eligibility requirements will not be considered.

4. Announcement of Winners
Big Nerd Ranch will determine the prize winners. Prize winners will be announced on the Big Nerd Blog in January 2014.

5. Prizes
Two winners will be randomly selected from qualified entrants. Prizes are non-transferable and no substitution will be made except at Big Nerd Ranch’s sole discretion. Bootcamps must be claimed by January 1, 2015. All taxes and fees associated with any prize acceptance and use are the sole responsibility of the winner. Odds of winning a prize depend upon the number of participants.

6. Entry Conditions and Release
By entering the “My Very Nerdy Big Nerd Ranch Wish List” contest, the participant agrees to: (a) comply with and be bound by these Official Rules, all applicable laws, rules and regulations, and Pinterest terms and conditions; and (b) indemnify, defend and hold harmless Big Nerd Ranch and its past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives from and against any and all claims, expenses, costs, damages, losses and liability of any kind arising out of or relating in any way to participant’s entry and/or participation in this contest or participant’s acceptance or use of a prize.

Big Nerd Ranch reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend the contest for any reason. Participant agrees that Big Nerd Ranch’s decisions related to the contest are final. No responsibility is assumed for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of entries; any technical malfunctions; failure of any entry to be received; or any damage or injury to participant or participant’s property related to or resulting from participation in the contest.

7. Publicity
By registering for and participating in the contest, participant grants to Big Nerd Ranch an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free right to use, reproduce, edit, display, transmit, prepare other derivative works of, modify, publish and otherwise make use of participant’s name, likeness, image, voice and appearance in any and all media, including, but not limited to, web, print, video and audio for any purpose (“Production Materials”). Participation in the Pinterest contest is completely voluntary. Big Nerd Ranch owns the Production Materials and participant understands and agrees he/she has no rights of any kind in such Production Materials. Participant releases Big Nerd Ranch, its affiliates and agents from any and all claims, damages, losses or liability in connection with the Production Materials.

8. General Conditions
Big Nerd Ranch reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it believes to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal or civil law and should such an attempt be made, Big Nerd Ranch reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Big Nerd Ranch’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Any attempt by a participant to obtain more than the stated number of registrations by using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void that participant’s entries and that participant may be disqualified. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in disqualification.

9. Disclaimer
Big Nerd Ranch is not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by participant, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the contest; (2) technical failures of any kind; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the contest; and (4) damage, liability, loss, or injury to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entry and/or participation in the Pinterest contest or the receipt, use or misuse of any prize.

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The holidays are here at last. Which Nerd are we most thankful for this November? Congratulations, Stafford Brooke, you’re our November Nerd of the Month!

With more than eight years of coding expertise under his belt, Stafford is one sharp cookie, and he’s been awing us all month long with his work on two internal projects. In addition to his coding efforts, Stafford enjoys eating delicious food (who doesn’t?), biking and downing large quantities of caffeinated wonder (ah…coffee). You can imagine he does each of these seemingly normal tasks with an elegance far greater than your average nerd—for he is, after all, our Big Nerd of the Month.

We sat down with Stafford to ponder his brilliance.

Big Nerd Ranch: Congratulations on being voted Big Nerd of the Month! What new swag can we expect to see on our trophy?

Stafford: I turned the diamond on the trophy into a ruby, because Ruby is awesome.

BNR: The trophy is looking good! Very crafty. Speaking of, we hear you’re quite the craftsman. What projects are you working on now? Do you have a favorite project you can tell us about?

Stafford: I am currently working on Project Hovercraft (a rebuild of our course registration system) and Nerd Association (a new place for our bootcamp alumni to discuss our courses and related topics).

These internal projects have been very rewarding, but I think my absolute favorite project has been with our client Think Through Math (TTM). It’s a site I worked on with Brandon Beacher and the incredible TTM team. Together, we built software that is used in middle schools across the nation to help children who are struggling in math class. Scale-wise, TTM is probably one of the biggest and most complex Rails applications we have built. We pushed Rails and Ruby to their limits and worked with the Heroku team to figure out how to push their platform past its limits.

BNR: Wow, that sounds like some really rewarding projects! You’re also leading our Global Day of Coderetreat, which we know you must be excited about. How did you get involved with that program?

Stafford: I got involved by attending a code retreat put on by Jonathan Wallace. I really enjoyed the event and asked how I could help at the next one. He said, “You can run it.” So I did.

BNR: What do you hope people take away from the event? What do you hope to take away?

Stafford: I hope people leave the event having stepped out of their comfort zones to try doing things in new and better ways. While the event focuses on good software design, it is many developers’ first experience with pairing and test-driven design. Seeing those “aha!” moments of realizing why those two things are such powerful tools is very exciting to me. That is why I enjoy putting on these events.

BNR: We know it will be a success; you really have a great teaching spirit. What’s your best advice to new coders trying to break into the industry?

Stafford: Don’t wait to feel leveled up to go after what you want. It can be scary and you will probably fail. But you will learn more from that failure than you will from a million easy wins. Make your ability to handle failures your biggest strength.

BNR: Solid advice. You always seem to be on top of the best new nerdy technologies, so we have to ask…are there any nerdy gadgets you’re currently swooning over?

The BNOTM trophy.

Stafford: I’ve been developing with Ruby for about three years now and it still makes me excited every day. While there are certainly new hot things happening elsewhere and some people always look toward the next big thing, Ruby is designed for developer happiness, and I enjoy being a happy developer. Although it isn’t without its drama, the Ruby community is really what makes Ruby the language I still swoon over after all this time.

BNR: We can’t leave without asking our favorite question: what’s the nerdiest thing you’ve ever done?

Stafford: I make spreadsheets and do a lot of theorycrafting for games like Starcraft 2. I’ve even been known to work from the bathtub from time to time.

BNR: Now that’s dedication. We hope you at least stop the work for a good meal. Word on the street is we have another foodie. Matt Raufman, our last Big Nerd of the Month, shared some of his signature dishes. What’s typically cooking in your kitchen on Saturday night? Do you have any restaurant suggestions for your fellow nerds?

Stafford: I like making pizza and baked goods at home, but Atlanta has some great restaurants. My personal favorites for dinner are The Optimist, Wisteria, and my good old neighborhood standby, The Shed at Glenwood. For lunch I love Homegrown, Folk Art, and of course anywhere that serves tacos or burritos. I usually sleep through breakfast.

BNR: Well, now we’re hungry. We hope you get to celebrate your reigning title with some delicious food! Congratulations again, Stafford. We couldn’t have honored a more deserving nerd.

Think you’ve got what it takes to become a Nerd? Check out our open positions and apply to join the team.

The post Big Nerd of the Month: Stafford Brooke appeared first on Big Nerd Ranch.

Last time, we declared Project Strategist Jenn Green Big Nerd of the Month, but who reigned supreme this month? Drumroll please…

The honor goes to Mobile UX Designer Matt Raufman! When Matt’s not creating rocking user mobile experiences, he’s designing hoodies for our team—a daunting task, to say the least. The only thing that inspires more Nerd passion than coding? Hoodies. Matt, you’ve done us proud.

We sat down with this hoodie master so we could find out just what makes him so awesome.

Big Nerd Ranch: Congratulations, Matt! It’s quite an honor to be named Big Nerd of the Month. You’re a great designer and we feel lucky to have you on the team. Will you start off by sharing how you ended up at Big Nerd Ranch?

Matt Raufman: I’ve gone the web-y, market-y route in my career. I’ve worked at a couple of small agencies in Atlanta, at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, and most recently at WebMD. There were some bumps in the road along the way, maybe even an all-out U turn, but I’m glad I’ve arrived.

BNR: We’re glad, too! But the Big Nerd Ranch work culture is a bit different from agency life. Tell us why you love your Big Nerd family…

Matt: I really do love working at Big Nerd Ranch. I think this is due mostly to the people and the culture. Our company is full of smart, kind and truly interesting people. And there’s a unique culture here, one I haven’t experienced anywhere else I have worked. It is very positive, values kindness and hard work, and allows you the freedom to work on your own terms. I’m rather introverted and sometimes I just need the ability to seclude myself and hammer out some work, and I love that I can do that without folks raising eyebrows.

BNR: Clearly you fit in well—you’ve got some cheerleaders who deemed you nerd-worthy to win this honor. We’ve got to know, what’s the nerdiest thing you’ve ever done?

Matt: This is a tough one! My wife said I should talk about the time I cancelled a date with a girl to play D&D. In my defense, we were in the middle of a campaign, and I recall it being more of a rescheduling than a cancellation. She was that girl, of course, so everything worked out all right in the end.

BNR: We hope you made it up to her by taking her out for a good meal! Speaking of food, we hear you’re quite the food expert. Do you have any signature meals we should know about?

Matt: I love to cook when I have the time. I have a really good recipe for keftedes (Greek meatballs), which we like to serve with tabbouleh. So good. I just bought a book on fermentation so I’ve been doing some experiments with that, along with some pickling.

BNR: Yum! While we’re picking your food-lover brain, what are your favorite Atlanta restaurants we should try?

Matt: The Iberian Pig is the absolute greatest. For something more low-key, I can’t say enough good things about Argosy.

BNR: You’ve sure made this a mouth-watering interview. One last thing before we let you go: what are your must-have tech gadgets or apps of the moment?

Matt: I’m not hard to please. In fact, I’m still riding high on the iOS 7 wave. Installing it was like getting a brand new iPhone, without having to buy any hardware. I’m not the kind of guy who has to have the newest, shiniest gadgets and technology. I like the truly useful stuff. My most-used app is probably Wunderlist. I can make a list for anything, and it’s so satisfying to hear that scratching sound when an item is ticked off the list.

BNR: That is a good feeling, isn’t it? And now you can check off that you were Big Nerd of the Month!

Matt: I still can’t believe I was nominated. I really believe this is due to some sort of clerical error.

BNR: Not a chance. Let the rest of the Nerds assure you of your reigning nerdiness! Congratulations again, Matt!

Think you’ve got what it takes to become a Nerd? Check out our open positions and apply to join the team.

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