Devin Reams wearing a teal shirt in front of a teal sign that says 'trouble'

Howdy! I’m Devin. I’m sensibly impulsive, consistently non-committal, and passionately impartial. I’m a technologist living in Denver, Colorado.

Team Breck at Hope on the Slopes

On February 22, 2014 I will be skiing on “Team Breck” at Hope on the Slopes in Breckenridge. Hope on the Slopes, Ski & Ride for a Cure is a fundraising event for skiers and boarders, held at ski areas around the country. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society (ACS), and support their mission to eliminate cancer as a major health problem through prevention, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy and service.

Cancer has affected my family and, more recently, a friend. If you’d like to donate towards my team please feel free to use this link.

The End of Chapter 1: my fond farewell to Crowd Favorite

After five-and-a-half excellent years of managing web projects and a great team, I’ll be exploring new technologies, skills, and customers as a technical account manager at GitHub.

Second Annual Denver Brewery Tour Weekend

A compilation of various restaurants, breweries, and stops we made during a four-day tour of Denver and Fort Collins.

The science of snow forecasting and reporting at Breck

I can’t believe the ski season has already been in full swing for a few weeks now. To help kick the season off I authored a guest post over on the Breckenridge Blog talking about the art (science?) of snow forecasting and how snowfall is reported at Breckenridge. I plan to do a number of guest posts this season and expand some of my “snow writing”. Stay tuned…

What kind of Muppet are you, chaos or order?

This very accurately describes the relationship Rachel and I have. Order Muppet in the streets, Chaos Muppet steals the sheets.

Preferred Contact Methods

I’ve been struggling lately with: how to locate, interact, coordinate, and communicate with people. Unfortunately social etiquette has trailed technological advances.

Managing Up, Down, and Sideways by Breandán Knowlton

From the Digital PM Summit, exploring four relational models to help resolve conflict, smooth a discussion, or help with negotiation.

Virgin America Safety (Music) Video

I love everything about this music video and overall campaign for Virgin America’s safety video. The self-awareness (“for the .001% of you who have never operated a seatbelt before…”), catchiness, and entertainment value is not hard to produce but is a much more enjoyable (required) experience. My guess is other airlines aren’t doing something like this for two reasons: 1) safety is a priority and should not be relegated to a side show, and 2) it’s not the way it’s been done before.

This whole thing makes me step back and wonder why the safety and instructional videos are shown (or demonstrated) in-flight and not something all fliers should pre-qualify for1 — like a drivers license test — before getting on a plane.

  1. I believe Bruce Schneier or someone similar proposed this when discussing security, TSA, flying, etc. 

Content Before Design: a shift in how to manage web projects

We may already realize its easier to create a design once you know what will be presented. Trying to answer “how?” before “what?” can lead to costly errors and rework as presented at the Digital PM Summit.

Reviewing the “Design Process” for Project Managers

If you’re a project manager or support those that design websites, you may know the process. But, this refresher, presented at the Digital PM Summit, helps cement what you need to know.