Goodbye, Justin

I’m sad to report that Justin S is leaving Emmis Interactive, starting next week. It’s a difficult thing to see him go (and I know it was a difficult decision for him to leave). But he’s gotten a very interesting role in an up and coming business… and it’s definitely an exciting next step for him.

Back when I was a manager, I remember vetting Justin’s portfolio. At the time, I knew that he was someone that Rey knew (a son of a friend). Before we looked over his stuff, I wasn’t sure whether it was going to be one of those “courtesy interview” things.

Happily and luckily for us, Justin was the real deal. He had the chops and then some, and has created some great stuff for us during the time he was part of the Design team.

On Friday, a lot of us headed out to lunch together as a big group. We headed over to Epic Burger for a group outing, and a final farewell.

The burgers are, naturally, quite tasty. However… I’ve had some recent bloodwork done, and it turns out my cholesterol is actually kind of high. Not dangerously so, but enough that I need to cut down on the meats and ramp up my exercise/cardio routine a little bit more.

So… I had a portabella mushroom burger. It was, you know. Good. But it was no burger. A bit like watching an action movie with all the cuss words bleeped out. It’s still an action movie, but just not quite the same.

I didn’t get a lot of photos (we had a huge table of folks), but I did snap this one of TJ and Justin.

Can anyone say dress alike buddies?

*cough* shirts available for purchase at shycogco.com *cough*

A fun thing about Epic Burger – they have a flatscreen running Tweetdeck, showing any mentions or references of their name on Twitter. In the top left corner, you can see Ben’s Twitter message.

Like most others at work, Justin’s departure is a bit of a mixture. We’re sad to see him go, but also excited at what lies ahead for him. He’s a good guy who designs good things. We all wish him the very best.

Related:
Unexpected Dress Alike Buddies
Unexpected Dress Alike Buddies, Revisited
Copycats
Joining The Dress Alike Club