Rock Star of the Month (November 2015) – Theo Soulopulos
Our Rock Star has excelled at JCA since he started back in 1998. A master of all trades, our Rock Star is an ace problem solver who can lock down network security, install SQL Server, spin up an Amazon instance or sleuth out a programming problem—all with considerable ease. While these traits are worthy of a Rock Star, our November/December Rock Star sets himself apart from all others by his sheer dedication and willingness to go the extra mile. I’m talking about none other than our Chief Technical Officer, Theo Soulopulos!
As you all undoubtedly know, JCA embarked on a rigorous network upgrade and relocation on Friday, November 13. Despite detailed planning and preparation, the move took longer than expected. Perhaps scheduling this for Friday, the 13th, had something to do with it …. Regardless, with help from Theo’s crack network staff and Hugh Vasconcellos’ uncle, the team managed to move all of the equipment from our old colocation facility to our new one. I can’t emphasize enough how heavy and bulky this equipment is, and how hard these guys worked to tear it down at one site and reinstall it at another. But the story doesn’t end there. Theo worked well into the night and then most of the day on Saturday to restore the network services that we all depend on so much. Deprived of sleep, Theo actually fell asleep during one of the system reboots only to be woken up by my phone call, frantic that I couldn’t download my email for my flight to the UK, which was leaving at 7:30pm that Saturday night. Racing against time, Theo helped me update my VPN with minutes to spare!
While Theo did a yeoman’s job that weekend, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that he was a master negotiator when dealing with our colocation facilities and our Internet provider. As we can all attest, the speed and reliability of the network has been phenomenal—and provided at a cost that’s just a few dollars more than what we had previously been paying. Awesome!
Please join me in congratulating Theo as our November/December 2015 JCA Rock Star!