I’m often asked why I choose to spend my time in Phoenix, as opposed to some place like San Francisco or New York. More often then not its myself asking these questions, as opposed to someone else, and more often then not I’m unable to come up with a good response. I have no real ties to this area to speak of. All of my family, along with the majority of my friends, are two thousand miles away. I’m single, and have thus far been successful at what I do, why wouldn’t I want to surround myself with like minded people in an area better suited for my lifestyle?

When I have these conversations I think back to six months ago. I knew I was due for a change, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. Luckily I was fortunate enough to have 3 very appealing options in front of me…

• Work as an independent Rails consultant making great money when billing, but always having to worry about the next contract.
• Head to the Bay area and roll the dice with one of hundreds of new technology startups.
• Join on as the lead developer for this little Rails consulting shop whose office was in the upstairs of a candy distribution warehouse.

As an independent consultant I would be limited to small to medium sized projects in which I would spend the majority of my days working alone, or on-site with a client. While the independence appeals to me, I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend half of my time out pounding pavement looking for that next $5k contract.

The Bay area is intriguing due to the large number of exciting opportunities which present themselves each day. The only problem here is that unless you hit it big relatively quickly, you’re going to go broke trying as it’s a very expensive place to live. Additionally I would be a very small fish in a very big pond.

My final option at the time was to join Integrum, a small Rails consulting company with hopes of doing big things. The moment I met these guys I was excited. They had assembled the beginnings of a great team, and my skills complemented things quite well.

In the end the decision came down to where I felt I could make the most difference. I’m sure I would have done quite well as an independent developer, and equally as well in the Bay area, but when it came down to decision time I couldn’t pass up the opportunity help the local tech community grow while getting in on the ground floor and be able to truly make a difference with this great group of talented individuals.

It has been 6 months now, and our team has doubled in size from 6 to 12. There has obviously been some growing pains (and not the funny Kirk Cameron variety) but we have been very fortunate and have had some great success. Tonight we opened our doors and hosted an open house to take the opportunity to thank our family, friends and everyone in the local tech community who have stood by and encouraged us along the way. We had over 50 people show up, which was a huge surprise! I am very proud to work with a great group of talented people and know now more then ever that I’ve made the right decision.

Both myself personally, as well as Integrum as a whole, are dedicated to helping to grow the local tech community. By hosting this event tonight we’re trying to set an example in which we hope others will follow. The only way we will all continue to grow is if we gather together and congratulate each other on our successes and support each other through our failures. I challenge all of my local peers to follow our example and start thinking about how you can open your doors to try and make a difference in the local tech community.

To all those who came out tonight I sincerely thank you, without your support we would have never made it this far. To everyone who couldn’t make it, don’t worry as this will not be the last one of these events which we host!