Squawk is a Ruby gem that uses Twitter to track site activity.
Presentations
Getting Closer to Your Customers
In this talk I gave at TaskRabbit, I explored ways to better understand
what your customers are thinking and feeling, and how customer support
tools can help guide better product decision making.
Before Rails had an asset pipeline, it wasn’t easy to manage CSS and JS.
In this talk I gave at Refresh Chicago and the Chicago Ruby User Group, I
discuss a Rack-based approach to packaging assets.
In this presentation to the Chicago Ruby User Group, I demonstrated an
efficient solution to form validation with AJAX that provides a more
interactive user experience, while leveraging server-side rules.
I delivered a company-wide presentation at Clarity Consulting highlighting
the benefits of proper XHTML and CSS, and demonstrating the principles of
good web design.
“It’s rare you find an engineer who cares as much about the design as they
do the development of a product. Fortunately Avand is that engineer. He
truly cares about the product and advocates for the customer. Even if it
makes his role as an engineer more difficult, so long as it makes the
product easier to use he’s all about it. You don’t find engineers like
Avand everyday!”
Shay Howe,
Director of Product at
Belly
“I was always impressed by the passion Avand brought to his work. Avand
isn’t just a strong software engineer, he also has great product design
sense and is incredible with people. He knows how to bring out the best
in himself and his team. It’s rare to find someone who has that
cross-section of skills.”
Shawn Reigsecker,
CEO at
Centro
“I’ve hired Avand in the past and would hire him again without hesitation.
He is an excellent builder, communicator, and teammate. He has a versatile
but focused skill set that allows him to contribute effectively towards
all aspects of software development.”
Nick Kishfy,
CEO at
MojoTech
“You want Avand on your team. It’s incredibly rare to find someone with
his range of skills and passion for building great products. Full stack
engineer, product designer, amazing teammate. He’s the total package.”
Eric Berson,
Director of Sales at
Mystery Science
“The only person I can be sure cares about what they’re doing as much
as I do, if not more, is Avand. He has a relentless, almost uncompromising
desire to do the best possible work, whatever it might be. It’s incredibly
refreshing. I’ve worked with Avand several times over the years, and I’ve
never enjoyed working with anymore more—you’d be lucky to have a chance to
work with him.”
Brandon Weiss,
Engineering Manager at
Intercom