For the past several years I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best video and advertising talent in Milwaukee. Most of those years were spent holding residency at Civilian Edit, then Wonder Wonder, but also freelancing for additional projects. Milwaukee is one of the only homes I’ve known, both professionally and personally. As of May 2012, that will no longer be the situation.
In January, I was approached by Code 42 Software in Minneapolis for a motion design position within the company. After many emails, Skype calls, and a trip to the Twin Cities, I signed the papers last week to accept the offer. I will be continuing my work at Wonder Wonder through the end of April, then packing up the family to move in the beginning of May.
This was an extremely difficult decision to make, in no small part because nearly our entire family, our support network, and most of my colleagues all reside in Milwaukee. To a lesser extent, but still a factor, moving to a full-time in-house position from a multi-client full-time freelance position had to be weighed ((This might warrant its own blog post as I’ve had several discussions with many wise people about this topic.)). In the end, my family and I decided we had to give it a chance.
Fortunately, we live in a time where my kids can have a video conversation with their grandparents back home, where most of my outside freelance work could be (and is) done remotely, where social networks and the Internet in our pockets let us easily communicate with anyone at any time. Distance is becoming less and less of an obstacle. But even when we do travel home, it’s only a five-and-a-half hour drive from Minneapolis to Milwaukee.
Every single person I know in Milwaukee we be missed. And I truly mean that. I hope to continue the relationships I have with everyone here.
So long, Milwaukee! We’ll keep in touch!
