diff --git a/content/about.md b/content/about.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8db7ac91 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/about.md @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ +--- +title: About Eric +menu: + main: + weight: 3 +--- + +## Hello, I'm Eric Wagoner + +I'm a software developer, agricultural innovator, creative maker, and accidental entrepreneur living in Athens, Georgia. + +### The Tech Side + +I'm the Vice President of Technology at [Infinity Interactive](https://iinteractive.com), where I've been part of their "hired gun" developer team since 2016. Starting as a Senior Software Engineer, I've grown into leadership roles—Team Lead, Manager of Software Delivery, and now VP of Technology. + +I've been doing web development since 1996, working primarily in Node.js and JavaScript, but comfortable across the full stack with Ruby, Python, PHP, Dart/Flutter, and whatever else the project needs. At Infinity, I've built everything from lab management systems for cutting-edge bio-labs to touchscreen interfaces for lab robots, from tax filing applications to data collection tools for blasting crews, from legal news archives to financial document storage systems. + +My career in tech spans over 30 years, beginning at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory where I turned data from a homemade radio telescope in India into a searchable graphical sky map. I spent 18 years at Partner Software, joining just months after its founding and experiencing every role a software startup has to offer—from building web-based configuration tools to creating PDF reporting systems that replaced expensive enterprise solutions. + +But my most personally significant tech work is [LocallyGrown.net](https://locallygrown.net)—a platform I accidentally created in 2002 that became the world's first online farmers market. What started as a PHP project evolved into a Ruby on Rails platform that has processed nearly $16 million in direct farmer sales. Running this as a one-person operation for over 20 years, I handle everything from coding to system administration to customer support. In 2025, I completed a herculean six-month migration from dying Rails 3 to modern SvelteKit, [saving the platform from extinction](/posts/locallygrown-origin-story/). + +### The Unconventional Path + +My journey to tech wasn't typical. I started with a BS in Astrophysics (with Honors) from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, where I was a member of Sigma Pi Sigma physics honor society. Socorro still pulls at me no matter where I am. + +After college, I've been a middle school math and social studies teacher (the only male teacher on staff), an engineering tech at Socorro Electric Cooperative managing their GIS and materials warehouse, worked on radio telescope data at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and directed live theater. I took trapeze classes for almost four years. Each experience taught me something valuable about systems, people, and problem-solving that I carry into my work today. + +### The Agricultural Roots + +I grew up on a small homestead with gardens, poultry, and milk goats—a "back to the land" childhood in the 1970s that shaped everything that came after. That sensibility led me to create LocallyGrown.net, combining my software skills with a deep understanding of local food systems. For 19 years, I also ran the Athens Locally Grown market, the flagship that started it all, before closing it in 2021. + +### Recognition for Impact + +My work with LocallyGrown.net has been recognized by leading agricultural and environmental organizations: + +- **Barbara Petit Pollinator Award** (Georgia Organics, 2015) - Honored for creating a national model for connecting growers to consumers. As their Executive Director said: *"No other person has facilitated revenues for farmers and connected consumers with local produce quite like Eric Wagoner. He is truly Mr. Farm to Fork."* + +- **Alec Little Environmental Award** (Eugene P. Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, 2012) - Recognized for environmental responsibility in the Athens area, joining a distinguished group of individuals and organizations working to protect Georgia's environment. + +### The Creative Pursuits + +When I'm not writing code or thinking about sustainable agriculture, you'll find me: + +- Creating episodes for my YouTube cooking show, the [Random Recipe Project](https://www.youtube.com/@RandomRecipeProject) +- Sewing elaborate costumes (currently working on a corset vest) +- Planning leather working projects +- Podcasting at [Eric Says Hi](https://podcasts.kestrelsnest.social/@EricSaysHi) and [Brothers Grimm Lunch](https://grimmlunch.org) +- Serving as Costuming Track Director for [CONpossible](https://www.conpossible.com) +- Photographing my cats and sharing them on [Pixelfed](https://pix.kestrelsnest.social/@eric) + +### The Digital Presence + +After Twitter's implosion, I've embraced the federated web: +- [Mastodon](https://toots.kestrelsnest.social/@eric) for thoughts and updates +- [Pixelfed](https://pix.kestrelsnest.social/@eric) for photography +- [BookWyrm](https://books.kestrelsnest.social/user/eric) for reading logs +- This blog for longer-form writing + +### The Philosophy + +I believe in building practical technology that helps us achieve more—software that takes the drudgery out of tasks and is a pleasure to use. Whether it's helping farmers sell directly to their neighbors or creating touchscreen interfaces for lab robots, I focus on human-scale technology that makes a tangible difference. + +As I've learned through my varied career, the best solutions come from turning odd skills into paychecks and finding creative ways to solve real problems. Technology should serve real communities, not abstract metrics. + +I'm still recovering from the intensity of the LocallyGrown migration—a marathon that consumed everything for months. But I'm slowly reconnecting with the creative projects that feed my soul, remembering that the best technology serves people, not the other way around. + +### Want to Connect? + +- Email: [eric@ericwagoner.com](mailto:eric@ericwagoner.com?subject=Blog) +- Mastodon: [@eric@toots.kestrelsnest.social](https://toots.kestrelsnest.social/@eric) +- GitHub: [ewagoner](https://github.com/ewagoner) +- LinkedIn: [Eric Wagoner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wagonereric/) + +--- + +*This blog is where I share thoughts on technology, local food systems, creative making, and whatever else catches my interest from my corner of Athens, Georgia.* \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/now.md b/content/now.md index 76044fe3..e7620d23 100644 --- a/content/now.md +++ b/content/now.md @@ -12,33 +12,52 @@ title: Eric in the Present [pics]: https://pix.kestrelsnest.social/@eric [ericsayshi]: https://podcasts.kestrelsnest.social/@EricSaysHi [grimmlunch]: https://grimmlunch.org -[steampunk]: https://www.atlantasteampunkexpo.com +[locallygrown]: /posts/locallygrown-origin-story/ +[randomrecipe]: https://www.youtube.com/@RandomRecipeProject +[conpossible]: https://www.conpossible.com -This page is all about what I am doing *now*. It was last updated on January 7, 2023, and will be edited as things change. +This page is all about what I am doing *now*. It was last updated on September 23, 2025, and will be edited as things change. ## Where I am now -Living in Athens, GA in a home I had already been renting for five years before my partner and I bought it several months into the pandemic. +Still living in Athens, GA in the home my partner and I bought several months into the pandemic. Same house, same neighborhood, same roots growing deeper. ## Who I am around now -Our house has three people and three cats. The people include me, my partner, and my youngest daughter who spends every other week with us. My eldest child moved away to Georgia State University in the fall of 2022, something I'm still processing. +Our house has three people and two cats. The people include me, my partner, and my youngest daughter who spends every other week with us—she's a sophomore in high school and doing great things. My eldest is now a senior at Georgia State University. -The cats like to keep me company while I'm working, so you'll find plenty of photos of them in [my gallery][pics]. +We [lost Charlie](/posts/2023-07-24-goodbye,-charlie/) but our two remaining cats continue to keep me company while I'm working. You'll find plenty of photos of them in [my gallery][pics]. ## What I am doing now -I'm on the management team and am a senior developer at [Infinity Interactive][infinity]. In practice, that means I get loaned out to companies who need some help building great software. I just wrapped up a two-year-long stint helping a DNA foundry build the software that tracks everything in their lab. Now I'm helping a biotech robotics company get their new flagship robot out the door. +I'm the Vice President of Technology at [Infinity Interactive][infinity]. Our whole industry is in turmoil, so work is hard. We're doing a wide range of consulting—from technical infrastructure and software development to workflows and solving both simple and complex problems. Basically, all things having to do with technology and helping organizations organize what they have. + +Just completed a massive six-month migration of [LocallyGrown.net][locallygrown] from dying Rails 3 infrastructure to modern SvelteKit. The migration to new infrastructure is complete, but now the real journey is just beginning as we can take advantage of all the things the modern platform has to offer. Time to write new features, grow the service, and take it to the next couple of decades. ## What I am reading now -[The Nova Incident](https://dmoren.com/the-nova-incident/) by [Dan Moren](https://dmoren.com/) +Just finished a new short story by Dan Moren set in his Galactic Cold War series—it was wonderful. Currently a few pages into *Service Model* by Adrian Tchaikovsky. ## What else? -- focusing my anger on the destruction of Twitter by [creating my own][blog] [federated][mastodon] [social][pics] outlets -- releasing episodes of my new super short [daily podcast][ericsayshi] and slowly reviving my old [Brothers Grimm podcast][grimmlunch] -- thinking about costuming for a [space-themed steampunk event][steampunk] in February +### Emerging from the LocallyGrown Marathon +The LocallyGrown work consumed 100% of my free time over the last five months. Everything got dropped. I'm slowly emerging from that intensity and starting to pick things back up. Kind of in recovery mode, just slowly coming back out and getting to be myself again. + +### Creative Projects Resuming +- Working on a corset vest sewing project that I'm super excited about +- Eager to get back to my YouTube cooking series, the [Random Recipe Project][randomrecipe] +- Haven't released podcast episodes for [Eric Says Hi][ericsayshi] or [Brothers Grimm Lunch][grimmlunch] in quite a while, but want to start again—I just need to do it +- Eyeing some leather working projects with supplies sitting ready for this fall + +### Upcoming Events +- **Wild Rumpus** (end of October) - Athens' big outdoor Halloween parade festival. Need to decide on and create my costume soon! +- **[CONpossible][conpossible]** (2026) - I'm the Costuming Track Director for this annual convention that started as steampunk but has expanded to embrace all of the "punks." This year's theme is "Through the Faerie Ring"—magic mixed with technology should be a lot of fun + +## Where my head is + +Really just trying to emerge from the LocallyGrown marathon. I knew it was going to take a lot out of me, but I wasn't quite ready for how much effort it took and how all-consuming it was. Slowly rediscovering equilibrium and reconnecting with the creative projects that feed my soul. + +--- Checkout the [/now page movement][nowff] started by [Derek Sivers][]. You can get a [profile][] if you set up a `/now` page.