Our Fearless Editor has an opportunity to sit down, one-on-one and have an informal chat/interview with Director of Technical Operations Scott Brown, 10-year Appliedi veteran, MCITP and computer scientist with a Bachelors degree in computer science. Surprisingly enough, he’s not just brains and good looks, he’s full of wit, charm and personality.
Scott Brown: My first day was April 4, 2002, when I was hired for Front Level Technical Support. They almost didn’t hire me! They decided to take a chance and hire two people at a time instead of just one and I was the second choice behind someone that didn’t work out after a very short period of time!
FE: Lucky for everyone the first guy didn’t work out! So what had you been doing previously?
SB: I was working in entirely different areas, including as a lifeguard and water ski instructor at a day camp, and a waiter at a local BBQ joint.
FE: So tell us a little bit about The-Man-Behind-the-Legend-that-is-Scott Brown.
SB: I’m originally from Buffalo, NY. I currently live in Boynton Beach, FL, not too far from Applied Innovations’ offices in Boca Raton. No wife, no kids, no pets.
FE: Sounds like a nice, uncomplicated life. Short commute. No hassles. How about hobbies?
SB: Tennis, poker, running, watching football. Not necessarily in that order.
FE: What’s your energizing beverage of choice? Are you a stereotypical geek with a case of Red Bull under your desk? Or do you throw caution to the wind and reach for a Jolt or a Mountain Dew.
SB: Mountain Dew is the only valid answer to this question. And I’m a Nerd, not a Geek.
FE: Are you a Browser Bigot?
SB: Chrome is probably my first choice… anything but Safari.
FE: Spoken like a true Windows guy. How about telling us something interesting only a few people know about you?
SB: I once almost drowned in a lake trying to chase down a fun noodle.
FE: Seriously, dude, you like to live on the wild side, huh? Alright, do you have any particularly funny anecdotes from the last 10 years?
SB: I once ripped my pants trying to fix something underneath a coworker’s desk.
FE: Ah, nice. Okay, so let’s talk about the work. What’s the most interesting thing about your job?
SB: New problems to solve on a regular basis
FE: Do you have a proudest accomplishment?
SB: I completed a massive migration that involved replacing 1500+ IP addresses used by various sites and servers.
FE: Impressive! How about new technologies or skill sets… what are you working on right now?
SB: Lately I’ve started working on my PowerShell skills.
FE: And you were recently in Redmond, Washington for a week at some sort of training with Microsoft, right? What were you doing there?
SB: Relates to stuff that we’re under NDA about so if I told you I’d have to kill you.
FE: Okay, but do you have any takeaways or reflections on the whole experience of working with the Microsoft team?
SB: That Microsoft takes feedback seriously. We can name at least half a dozen items that we have specifically requested in the past few years which have been added to the next version of Windows Server. Our main contact at Microsoft who arranged everything was awesome, and all the various product team members that came in to do demos and training were super helpful and nice.
FE: What else was interesting about the trip? Did you get to do any sightseeing or go out around the area?
SB: Not really, we were at the Microsoft campus for training 9 hours a day and our sleep schedules were really out of whack from the time difference. We did make it over to the Microsoft Company Store which is in the middle of what’s basically a small mall in the middle of the Microsoft Campus. That was cool to see. The weather was 30-40 degrees every day, which was a nice change of pace from the heat in Florida. We also got to see a very small amount of snow. And we found an amazing place the first night called Bai Tong Thai Restaurant. The Crispy Garlic Chicken was awesome.
FE: Okay, let’s wrap up with a few questions that might shed a little bit of light on the Real Scott Brown. Angry Birds or Words with Friends?
SB: Words with Friends
FE: Do you put ketchup on your eggs?
SB: Nope
FE: What Super Hero would you like to be?
SB: Iron Man.
FE: Geico Lizard or Cavemen?
SB: The Lizard didn’t spawn a terribly unfunny sitcom so it wins.
FE: What’s in your pocket?
SB: My cell phone and a dime.
FE: What’s for lunch?
SB: Subway.
FE: There you have it, folks. A brief but illuminating profile of Mr. Scott “Call Me Iron Man” Brown, Employee of the Month. To connect with Scott, you can email him at sbrown@appliedi.net