It started way back in [topcoder] history
WOW…
It has been 17 years. 2005 I started as a graphic designer at Topcoder, focused on helping to design and deliver custom software applications. We only ran Topcoder contests for competitive programming and software development at that point in time. My job was to design and code the front-end and hand that off to Topcoder project managers, who would run contests to get the customer's applications built. Jessie and others started trying logo contests (for TCO!). We were asked if we could start running challenges to design and code everything… finally capturing each step of software development as atomized steps. Time to rally a design community within a community called Topcoder. Topcoder Studio was born!
From that day, my role was always focused on Topcoder customers and helping to deliver amazing outcomes through the Topcoder model and community. Design, information architecture, and UI prototyping was the easiest way to introduce the Topcoder model. I was teaching customers about crowdsourcing, educating them on the future of work, championing their success, and showing them how to build a relationship with the Topcoder community that understands their technology problems and brand. The other side of this role was crafting the work, understanding the problem(s), and architecting a sequence of steps (challenges) to show how the Topcoder community could tackle, fix or build something entirely new to solve their tough design and development problems.
This process has always invigorated me. The ability to tackle problems from a wide range of industries, explore cutting edge technologies, and the need to quickly learn and adapt but also explain to a global community the problem that needed to be solved and… why. The art of crafting new ways to engage all of you… “how fast can we solve a problem through Open Innovation”? The live-action fun of a LUX Challenge, the fear of failure on a grand scale, on a stage at a major event (and you never failed!). The evolution of the RUX, Design Concepts, Design Direction, UI Prototypes, Design Tournaments, TCO’s, etc.
The bonus to all of this was traveling and meeting the Topcoder community! The Topcoder Opens, TCO regional events, design workshops, dinners, butter chicken, and parties - spending one-on-one time with all of you who work, learn, and compete with each other every day to make our community feel like a family.
I not only want to say thank you, which does not cover the depth of my gratitude for knowing all of you, but that I became a better human through knowing all of you. I have learned so much about the world, relationships, cultures, and open communication through our shared language of competition, design, technology, opportunity, hard work, and success.
This week I leave Topcoder the company, but I will always be a Topcoder member (since 2002!), and we don’t say goodbye… we just take extended leaves of absence from each other and hope for the next competition, opportunity, or moment to connect again.
Seventeen years of genuine friendships in a supportive community - I leave a better person than when I arrived, so thank you.
Always remember - be bold or italic but never regular
Comments
Enjoy your sabbatical leave, Captain! Hope to see you around at any TCO Event, regional or main-event, or even when you travel around the globe.
I bid you a very fond farewell...
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@eriantoongko thank you! I look forward to seeing you again in Indonesia or around the world
It's been a great journey here at Topcoder, Adam. It's hard to see the image of Topcoder leaving..
one of the pillars of community for so many years. Thank you for being such an inspiration to me, mentoring all along the way to grow as a designer, copilot, CAB, and for caring and fighting for the community problems all the time . From seeing in USA at TCO in the arena under the pressure of competition, to having dinner in Tokyo and going to karaoke in Yogyakarta, it's been an awesome experience.
Once a Topcoder, always a Topcoder. I wish you endless success in your new role, the new company is lucky to have you.
@DaraK
It has been an incredible journey with you! For everyone else.. Dara speaks up every day, she lets Jessie, myself and the Topcoder team know what is important, what matters and always puts community first. We have worked together almost every day/week over the past few years - thank you for keeping me honest and always pushing forward!
Mr Morehead,
You have been absolutely instrumental in fashioning how I think/feel/solve over the last 8/9 years. And are possibly the most influencial person of my lifetime. Your insights have made me a better designer, and a better, empathy driven individual. A better man. You have helped me realise what I love doing as a profession. You helped me carve out a niche in my skillsets and focus on where I am strongest. While patiently, with a gentle hand, worked with me on where I am weakest.
But, and most importantly, you have imbued me with the confidence to look challenges in the eye. Unblinking. Any challenge!
It is a sad day to know that others will not benefit from your wisedoms and Kung Fu. And that an epic chapter at Topcoder is coming to a close.
We have never met.
Let's fix that...I owe you too many, many beers and expensive bottles of whiskey.
Thank You Adam, Sensei!
Best of luck in your new endeavours.
@ToxicPixel I do miss our repartee (or your hot take on things while I try and process it all?). Thank you for always pushing us and Topcoder to be better and to make meaningful change. I have always appreciated your feedback on how we can improve/rethink our open design model, feedback process and competitions. We must meet someday - you do owe me many beers, ha!
It's just slight relief from organizer duties. Hope to see you more in the community then.
@Vipul1982 Yes! Exactly
Indeed you have always worked to make the Topcoder members especially on my end, I remember the first email I received with instructions of how I could improve in my challenges participation.
You made an impact, I can only see the positive results.
Have a Great Journey ahead and hope to see you in the Topcoder events.
Success in your endeavors.
@Rokit12 Robinson - Thank you for taking my advice and also jumping into all the programs (mulesoft success) and joining us on the Monday Community calls. I appreciate your dedication to Topcoder and your craft. I also hope to see you at future Topcoder events.
ONCE A TOPCODER, ALWAYS A TOPCODER
"Topcoder will always be here, come back when you feel it, and we will always welcome you", it's time to return those words to you
@fajar.mln I think I might have first said something similar to @ToxicPixel as he was off on an adventure.
I'm not sure where to start? You are amazing in your efforts and love for Topcoder and the community. I appreciate your friendship from the early Studio days, (+ many projects we have worked on together) and to the amazing Indonesia trips and design workshops. If it wasn't for you, I would not have taken the time to truly get out and experience Indonesia and its beauty. Thank you sir for being awesome!
It's definitely not goodbye... @adroc!
I am incredibly grateful for all I've learned from you over the years. In leading by example, you have set the tone for the leader I want to be and all those you have managed. This community is indebted to you for all you have done and all we are today. I think it's important you share your talents with others because we've selfishly kept you to ourselves for so long! I know you're going to be amazing in your next chapter.
Join our Celebration Tomorrow: May the 4th at 10:00 UTC-4
We are having a party in celebration of our design community, the kickoff of Gh3ablo's Design Month, and it will be a chance to wish Adam well on his new endeavors. It's happening in just over 24 hours and we hope you can stop in to say hello.
THANK YOU ADAM!! We will miss you!
Hello Adroc,
It's hard to say goodbye.
I have been helped a lot and have received good experiences, suggestions and Referrals over the years.
Good luck on your next journey. You will always be a part of us. we will see you.
@Rizqykhairani
Yes it is hard to say goodbye! Thank you and take care + good luck on future challenges
Thank you Adam, for the opportunity to learn graphic design and earn money from it! God bless!
@jivkoss so happy to see you back competing and I always appreciate your emails/questions and thoughts on ways to improve the model. You have come a long way on your graphic design journey - continue pushing/refining your vision and skill.
I am so grateful that I have been on your team for years. You will be missed, @adroc!
Wishing you luck in your future endeavors.
@kiril.kartunov
So happy we got to know each other over the past few years - thank you for helping/building/solving/fixing and just being awesome at what you do.
Door are gateways between what was and what is to come. I'm walking in the Topcoder door as you prepare to walk through it one last time. Your legacy is brighter and larger than you know. You've been referenced throughout my interview and onboarding process because of your passion and purpose over the years. It's been an honor to know you by proxy, and to benefit from your investment of time and talent here. Thank you for your perspective of extended absences...for we can say, "see you next time!"
PS-I'm really looking forward to meeting you this week
LOL!
Welcome @a.allaire to Topcoder! Make sure to meet the community and continue to find new opportunities for everyone. This is an amazing company and community!
You always communicated strength, authority, calm and intellect - all the while being compassionate and understanding. A true leader. Best of luck in everything.
@Pena
I love your passion from day 1! You found us/we found you... and the rest has been history. Thank you for all of your hard work/effort with Alef and now with RDM's... (so much potential with RDM's = the future is bright with this and Topcoder. The key is to keep pushing to make each RDM better then the last one). Good luck!
Hi!,
adam,
Thank you so much for always supporting us.
A memory lasts forever, never will it die….true leader, Mentor, friends, stay together and they will never say goodbye! Take Care & Stay Happy! https://www.flickr.com/photos/53993064@N03/48479931017/in/album-72157708927547911/
@ngraphics
It was so much fun meeting you in Jaipur! What a great event, day... also the video(s) you have created have been inspiring. I always think of you as an amazing logo creator/illustrator and you have had your own amazing story/journey with Topcoder. Keep creating!
What can I say that have not been told before? It have been a real honor to share all these years of profesionalsim and genuine friendship.
Thank you to... The man, the legend, the boss, the one and only, @adroc!
PS: My home is your home! And I would love to see you visiting South America! I will wait for you in Chile.
@chekspir
What a crazy journey the two of us have been on! Appreciate your drive and passion to change your career and life to do something you are super passionate about. Thanks for all the help with writing cool design problems, pushing the boundaries of design in the RUX challenges (going all in on something that might blow everyone away and take 1st place... or might take last). I was just telling the family we have a place to stay in Chile and we should go visit! Lets see if we can make it happen. Keep pushing Trevor and Lynn
Thank you Adam for leading the UI protype track for a long time, it was so fun to participate in those challenges. I've learned a lot from those & became a Hero in UI development from Zero. I hope topcoder keeps growing following the ideas you gave to the team & thousands of young developers find it useful & also become a Hero.
@hi4sandy The creation of UI Prototype track and the core group that competed on it was so much fun. What an incredible Topcoder journey for you! Self-taught and a major advocate for doing it/coding/formatting things correctly! You helped to push us to be better with better specs and reviews. I think sometimes we had translation issues but we were able to overcome it and learn from each other and became better because of it. I love your Topcoder story and how you were able to get your current job. Keep going and keep improving yourself and when you have time, continue to push Topcoder as they rapidly grow. Hope to see you soon!
The Disney/Tokyo trip was awesome ^
Thank you so much for your patience and kindness to many of us in the community.
@VanitaW Thank you! Appreciate all that you do and particpate in at Topcoder. Thank you for helping with our new SEO content creation challenges!
@adroc, you will be missed around here.
Good luck on your new adventure!
@sah2ed Thank you! Take care
@adroc Best of luck for next endeavours, keep rocking.
@lazy_manushya same to you... Thank you!
@adroc Thank you Adam, I really appreciate and am honored to have had the opportunity to work with you, especially on the Adobe series projects, it was very fun and we made great achievements. You will be always missed, best wishes to you on your next adventure.
@billsedison so happy we were able to meet and hangout at TCO! The Adobe program was so much fun and I really like the work and the stories (for anyone who wants to view https://www.topcoder.com/community/member-programs/adobe?tracks[info]=0) Thank you for making it possible (as I know you are a copilot that is in-demand!) Take care of yourself and continue to rock everything you try.
Best wishes to you Adam
@nursoltan-s thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to regularly join our events and checking in like you do. Take care!
Hi Adam,
I cant imagine Topcoder without you.
Its really a shock to see you leave at the same time I am happy for you and wishing you the best in your next adventure.
For me you were the go to person for anything and everything Topcoder.
You've been a big source of motivation and inspiration and helped me keep pushing my limits.
Thank you for everything you've done here.
All the RUXs, LUXs, the bracket tournament, Design Direction Challenges, DRB, the various Design challenges, and the online and in-person parties and so much more.
It was a wonderful journey.
Lets keep in touch.
I hope we can catch up next time you are in Bangalore.
Wishing you all the best.
Regards
Rajesh
@rajeshrathod I can't imagine Topcoder without you!
We have been on a journey together and I love seeing your progress and success over the years. Thank you for jumping in and giving a RUX/LUX, design direction or a bracket tournament all of your energy and design thought and skill - you always push yourself to think about the problem, the user and what a potential (amazing) solve might be. Also, as part of sharing your energy you helped to make these event fun! Its great that we were able to connect in Bangalore during my visits and I look forward to seeing you again soon (in India or in the US - whatever happens first!)
Sad to hear you are leaving , we will miss you!
What an amazing journey you have , just thrilled to always know you more and work with you whatever little time we have worked together. Thank you for giving so much to the community.
Love and respect for you, I wish you all the success and happiness always!
@kalindikumari You are still in the early days of your Topcoder journey... keep going and sharing your infectious energy with everyone! I love that you just want to help and get things done (and done correctly). We will meet at some point!
we will miss youu adam...
thats an amazing journey... i remember when i creat this meme for adams on last years...
thanks a lot for giving so much to the community...
wish you all the succes and always healthy...
@arcnajib Love the meme's (design month and Indonesia events). Thank you and keep competing! More design work coming soon.
I had a one on one with him recently to communicate my appreciation, in addition to other topics we talked about.
Will reiterate here that whatever experiences I've had with him till date have been excellent, be it casual discussions, his insights during meetings and particularly during client projects. I've known him as a pretty clear and considerate person, who takes good care of people who work with him, while balancing it with client expectations.
It was a pleasure working with you Adam, and looking forward to catching up not too deep into the future.
@ketzjs09
It has been a lot of fun working with you over the past year and I appreciate the passion and effort you put in to the DS/ML/AI efforts we have. Thank you for all of your help and guidance on the Alef Program. I think you also figured out ways I was looking to push you to try/do some things differently and push everyone and the model. Thank you for taking the direction and running with it. It has been a pleasure working with you - we will connect again.
Hi adam, we will miss you, you are the best mentor, the first time I met you was at the topcoder workshop in Indonesia 2018. and at that time I was interested in joining topcoder until now.
Thank you very much for the design knowledge you have given us
I wish you all the best.
keep healthy, we will see you
I didn't think it would be this fast. Thank you Adam for everything, being our mentor, giving us lots of fun things... hope to see u around us at every topcoder event...good luck...
It was my first TCO, I was scared and my set up wasn't working properly. Then this beardless dude shows up, plays some tricks on my computer so I can compete in the design finals. I don't remember if I said thanks but I do remember thinking: this guy helps.
In short lines, that's one of my favorite memories of our journey in Topcoder because it defines that you have been doing all these years, helping out.
Your farewell statement doesn't do justice to the significance of your contribution to this community. You are the founder of a special track and this thing we call community which is an extended family. You are a genuine helper, you are bold, you are family.
I can't thank you enough for the trust you endowed me with in all the projects we worked together, for those lessons that made me an integral designer and a better person.
I wish you to be happy, to enjoy yourself in this new journey. I'll miss you terribly.
PS: see you in Arizona for a hike!
Adam is a very good person, taking care of his team and treat Topcoder members really well. Through hard times he stands for us for so long.
Smart and driven, kind and sincere, he is someone people will flock into. That patience + knowing when and what to talk is also a quality that helps a lot in this community. Through the years Adam has helped us to be better in skills and as a person. Things we've learned from examples and interactions, it matters.
Keep up the good works and building people, Adam! Thank you, we (and our family) are blessed.
It's been a long journey, I hope you'll find a more relaxed + an also wonderful one in your new season! Have a great one with peace and joy, along with your kids, wife and all your family!
(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as well 😆!)
Happy New Year Champ!
Happy New Year, Bang Fajar 😆!