K. Wolfe - Member of the Month November 2012

Another month has gone by and with that a new Member of the Month needed to be found. It was a tough decision, but we are glad to announce the Member of the Month for November 2012 is…

K. Wolfe

And now to the interview…

You’ve been around these forums for a very long time, but maybe you still remember: what brought you to Sitepoint, what made you stay?

I believe I was a Freshman or Sophomore in high school when I joined. A short time before that I was given a copy of Macromedia (yes, Macromedia) Dreamweaver. I found it so cool that I had a piece of technology that let me easily design a webpage. I believe I actually started out with a website devoted to Red Alert 2 strategies as I was huge fan of the Command & Conquer series back then. I don’t remember this site ever going public, along with probably 10 other halfway done projects back then. This didn’t bother me at all though as I was constantly soaking up knowledge and experience, making the anticipation of a new project so much fun. Along my journey through Google looking for solutions, I came across SP. I was very driven back then to discover everything and anything about the web and SP brought me that perfect community to be apart of.

You are putting a lot of effort in answering peoples questions. What motivates you to help others?

I’ve just recently returned to the forums, and honestly, my motivation is almost completely self-indulgent. Working for a very large company as a data analyst (for about two years) has opened a new way of looking at problems for me. Along with this job though came a very high amount of stress. I’m looking back at the small personal projects and the few small business sites that I put out for next to nothing and I remember how much fun I had doing it. My goal now is to try to wiggle my way back in to the web world so that I may find myself on a new career path. One which may lead to being less stressful and filled with enjoyment. I do know what it’s like to be stuck on a problem for a while, pulling my hair out and then getting past that hurdle either by a revelation or from the help of another. Helping others get over a problem is always a good feeling.

I’ve seen you posting a lot in the PHP and the Database & MySQL forums. Very much in line with the skill set you put in your profile. Can you tell us where it all started, and how you became who you are today?

Well I suppose I already went into detail on how I found SP. All of my experience in PHP stems from personal projects, and one or two small business sites. While I knew a bit about databases at that time, most of my experience has come from the last two years as an Analyst.

Any words of wisdom you’d like to give to someone who may be aspiring to become a Database Analyst?

There’s nothing wrong with being a little OCD and taking a project the whole nine yards. Even if you weren’t asked to (or even get yelled at for it; in my case) as it saves yourself some trouble 9 out of 10 times down the road.

Being a resident of Columbus, OH myself, I’m interested. Did you grow up there? If not, what made you move to Columbus?

I’m actually originally from Columbiana, OH, a small country town south of Youngstown, OH. We all know the US job market isn’t the greatest at the moment, and as you probably know, one of the places it shows the worst in Ohio is that Youngstown area. I struggled for some time in that area before finally yielding to a family member harping on me to move to Columbus where they had moved to and had success. I made the move two years ago and I do not regret it one bit. Now it is time to work up the courage again to make a move out of the craziness of Ohio’s weather.

It’s your chance to change one thing about SitePoint Forums … what would you change?

Though I have been a member for some time, I have not been active the entire time, and only recently returned. I think I’ll wait on this one until I’ve amounted a longer streak of activity.

In your profile you say you are interested in poker. I’m sure you have a few good stories to tell? Biggest win? Biggest loss?

Well, I play poker as long as my bankroll allows it. I have a rule to never dip into more than $50 of my own money that wasn’t part of my winnings to get my bankroll going. This often means away time from the game, such as right now. I occasionally play at a local poker club, usually buying in to one of their nightly tournaments. I believe my biggest cash was for about $1700 on a $100 buy in. Eventually I hope to get a bankroll that would allow me to buy in to some of the larger ones, multiple times, for a shot at a much larger pot.

Are there any other interests (other than poker) that you are active in outside of the work place?

My recent time off has been spent diving in the web world once again in hopes to make it full time. Outside of work on top of work, I have a great group of friends that I have found myself with once I moved to Columbus. My time off is usually spent doing whatever sounds fun with the group at that time. Watching football, camping trips, etc.

This is your chance at blatant self promotion. Is there anything that you would like to promote?

No personal projects to show at this time, soon though! But for those who have not experienced the most amazing food ever (as I and I’m sure cpradio has since he is in the Columbus area):

Mmmm, lunchtime! Time to go!

Many congrats to K. Wolfe!! & thanks for the advice.

Congratulations, K. Wolfe. Thanks for your contributions to the forums. Keep it up! It was an enjoyable interview, guys. :slight_smile:

Congratulations K Wolfe - keep up the good work :slight_smile:

Congratulations. Well deserved award.
And a great job from both on the interview :slight_smile:

Congratulations! Keep it up :slight_smile:

Ah! Thank you! This is very much appreciated! I plan on sticking around this time, answering all I can and also picking everyone’s brains to learn more :smiley:

I like that your first site was for Red Alert 2 in Dreamweaver. My first site was for Starcraft in MS Word. :stuck_out_tongue:

And Poker. :slight_smile:

Congratulations on an award well earned.
That interview was top-notch (from both sides)!

Congratulations K. Wolfe. It is great to have you around. Well done.

cpradio, that was a great interview… obviously, you’ve learnt from a master (me?) :stuck_out_tongue:

Hey K Wolfe,

Way to go! You’ve been awesome and deserve this!

@cpradio; Great job on the interview and @K_Wolfe;

And @molona, I think you meant to say that you learned your interviewing mastery from a ServerStorm :wink: Just Kidding :smiley:

Thanks!

And @molona ;, of course I did (learned the interview mastery from you and others), along with @guido2004 ;, and @ULTiMATE ;

Oh, red alert! Now those were the days! :slight_smile:

I remember being at a LAN party once with a guy who was playing RA2 but was so wasted he just had his head on the table and every once in a while clicked somewhere and then put his head back again. He still managed to win from the other party with ease. He was pretty good at that game :slight_smile:

Anyway, I digress. Congatulations K. Wolfe on MOTM, and we do hope you stick around! :slight_smile:

Yes, you say that you’re kidding but you don’t mean it… you’re safe… for the moment :stuck_out_tongue:

I taught them all :shifty: but you’ve been a good student, nevertheless… now about that whisky that you were going to serve me… :stuck_out_tongue:

Kyle, I’d agree you might as well practice applying your website skills on based a hobby if you want to keep up the enthusiasm and passion when beginning and experimenting. Yes they do say you have to have some obsessive traits and tenacity to be a quality webmaster, etc.

It’s good to hear you are planning on following something you enjoy doing and learning more; rather than just stressing. Congratulations with the November MOTM. :slight_smile:

Thank you very much @xhtmlcoder ;!