As some of you remember a while ago our super-talented Ruby on Rails Team made a Ruby LipDub. We had loads of fun while shooting it and have a ton of behind-the-scenes material. Now, it’s the time to share it.
Ladies and Gents, that’s how the Applicake LipDub was made! Enjoy!
I was asked to write a few words about my Euruko presentation (Vimeo video here). It was an amazing experience so I thought it would be a great opportunity to share it.
If you’re interested, you can find the code for the presentation here and some more resources here.
I came up with the idea for the presentation when we were working on a Todo app at Applicake, however I wanted to sync it with the Things GTD app. I ended up writing a ruby gem which solved my problem. You can find it at my github account. After doing that I heard that there was a call for speakers for Euruko and thought that this might be good material for a talk.
I sent my proposal for a 20-minute talk and was very excited when I received and email saying I was accepted. Of course my excitement lasted around 4 seconds when I realized I will be speaking in front of a whole auditorium. I’m used to giving talks to Applicakers during Railstalks, but this was waaay bigger. So, I did what most people do in a situation like this – I panicked.
Well, to be precise, I took my time. I started panicking around 1 month before the conference. I prepared a first draft of the speech and delivered it to Applicakers. I can’t thank then enough for bashing that first draft with criticism. It was bad, I can safely say that now. But it took me back to the drawing board and I started improving what I had, so when I delivered it again to Applicakers, they liked it much more.
When I was done, Euruko was set to start. I was to speak right after the lunch break – I loved the time slot because I could set myself up earlier and try the presentation. That was the best idea ever – 30 minutes before the talk I tested it out on the projectors and it turned out that code examples are unreadable! With support of the few people in the room I managed to fix that right before the start time.
I was a bit shook up by the last second changes, but there was no time to think about it – it was time to start! So there I was, in front of almost 300 people looking at me. Absolutely terrifying moment. However, once I started talking, the nervousness faded. There was one moment when I tried to throw in a joke and nobody laughed, but I managed to recover by keeping my cool and moving on.
After it was over and I answered some questions (I’d like to thank for some great suggestions that came from the audience), I sat down and only then I started to relax. An awesome party the same night also helped 
It was my first time speaking at a conference and I’m still reflecting on the experience. I have to say it was stressful and I’m still finding out what I could have done better but it was very rewarding. I highly recommend anyone taking up such challenge – you’ll love it. And once you do it, you’ll want to do it again. I know I do.
Well, for the last few days we’ve been teasing you all with photos and tweets about that THING we did the other day. No more secrets, here is an official press release (any Press out there to care about it, guys?).
Applicake, a team of growing rock stars (not only in tech!) finally released their first music video.
So what it is? It’s a fantastic, well-performed LipDub (feel free to use the exact quote, dear Press). Applicake and PipeJump team supported by @josevalim and Socha (guest performance) wanted to give something back to the awesome Ruby community. They chose the song “Ruby” by Kaiser Chiefs to tell a both touching and romantic story of a Ruby lover. The Rubyist is trying various things and activities but they can’t stop thinking of Ruby. Ruby is, for better and for worse, their destiny.
And now seriously – we had great time shooting it and we do hope you love it! Watch out for the “LipDub – The Making of” video (we’re working on it, it’s hilarious) and for some really great updates and events organized by Applicake. Subscribe to our newsletter at the end of the video – and we’ll make sure to keep you posted.
You can see the lyrics here. Credits: LipDub idea by Dorota, script by Ela, Dorota, Agata and Socha, video by Wiciu.
After we posted this photo album on our Facebook profile people literally stormed us with questions like ‘what it’s gonna be?’. As 15 of us are leaving for Applicake sailing trip right now (feel free to hate us), we’ll just post a small teaser. The date of the premiere of the whole THING is set on Monday. I’ll say what I always say – stay tuned!
A good couple of weeks ago two of talented and overall great guys joined Applicake Team. It’s the highest time to introduce them officially 
Dear Everyone, please, meet Karolina – Web Apps Tester and Michał – Senior Ruby on Rails Coder.
As they both went through a very tough recruitment process, I KINDLY asked them to answer a few more questions. What for? So that you could get to know them better!
1. Which cake ingredient are you?
Karolina: Which cake? Seriously, this is an important question! Probably yeast. I make everything grow..
Michał: I’m a raisin. You can have a cake without one, but it’s not the same cake anymore
2. Finish the sentence: „ I can’t imagine my life without…”
K: Just to be crystal clear – yes, this is gonna be the most tendentious answer ever! Here we go: music, sleep, my at-many-times-annoying boyfriend, my cellphone, eating muffins, dancing and designing.
M: Imagination. If not for imagination, would not even know what/who I am.
3. What makes you happy?
K: I hate those questions Ordinary things. I’m happy when buying new clothes (yes, pathethic and so girly!), meeting with friends, spending my time with my spouse (minus times when he’s annoying or he beats me in FIFA WorldCup), eating delicious stuff and knowing that people are happy with my designs…
M: Achievements, spending quality time with friends and popping bubble wraps!
4. Which color are you?
K: Few years ago I’d definitely say “black”… but now I have no idea. I don’t even know which one is my favorite. I can be RGB tho!
M: Today I feel like #4BD14E.
5. What is the last book you read?
K: It was “Designing with Type: The Essential Guide to Typography” by James Craig. A good one.
M: Last book this week would be “Rework”. I liked it a lot. It’s nice to have all things 37signals talk about in one place.
6. If someone wrote a biography about you – what would be the title?
K: “The most boring story ever. Don’t read it unless you’re forced to”. Both inviting and provocative
M: “Super awesome rainbow unicorns with shotguns”. Therefore I’m glad no one
has written one yet.
7. If you could have superpowers, what would it be?
K: Flying, traveling in time or ultimate I-can’t-die ability!
M: Flying would be nice, preferably with cold resistance, and lowered oxygen need so that I could gain decent altitude.
8. What is your favorite food?
K: Oh, I love eating! *the-chewing-pie-sound* I’m crazy about sweets so I have to admit that “sweets” in general are my fav thing. To be specific, I could die for carrot cupcakes! And muffins – I actually bake them often. If it comes to more healthy food, I adore salmon, tuna pasta, cottage cheese with radish & more. Don’t ever tell me to go on a diet!
M: Sushi. I’m addicted to rice with rice vinegar and raw fish.
9. What is your favorite movie?
K: NO, NO, NO! I won’t tell you! I don’t have a slightest idea which of all movies I’ve seen in my life is my favorite. YOU WILL NEVER FIND OUT!
M: Luc Besson’s “Léon” – the only one to make me shed manly tears
10. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who should play the main character?
K: Of course Scarlett Johansson. Who else could it be?
M: Sylvester Stallone. There would also be a lot of shooting, fast cars and “stuff”.
11. If you were a “House” (TV Series) character, which one would you be?
K: Definately “thirteen”. She’s extremely hot. If it comes to man I’m a combination of Chase and House. Actually I kind of adore House. He’s a master of irony and sarcasm, which I tend to use really often.
M: I’d be House probably. Although I’m only half as cynic as he is. I’m glad you haven’t asked about “Dexter” by the way.
12. How would you describe yourself in three words?
K: Crazy, open, visionary.
M: I would not
13. If you won the lottery, would you still work?
K: At first probably no… but after few months of boredom I would definitely get back to work. I’d dedicate myself to things I’m passionate about.
M: Sure. Probably less than today, but I don’t see a reason to stop doing what I love just because I can afford to.
As many of you know already, together with Paul, Tomasz and Agata I organized this year’s European Ruby Conference. Here’s the post I recently published on EuRuKo website.
Many people told me they thought EuRuKo 2010 logo was beautiful. In fact, they were asking if we had any free T-shirts to give away as they liked how the white ethnic pattern looked on a red T-shirt. That’s exactly why I thought I should share the design process we went through.
So what’s the story?
When we first announced the competition for EuRuKo 2010 logo, we only got few designs. We chose what we thought was the best one… but we still didn’t love it. Luckily, the designer – Aneta from Krakow-based web design agency Manto – agreed to work with me until everyone was happy with the final look & feel (huge THANKS Aneta!).
Designing a logo should be a quick one, right?
Wrong. Especially considering the fact that organizing EuRuKo was not really our full-time job and rather an after-work activity.
To be honest, the bar was set high:
EuRuKo 2009 logo was really beautiful and we liked the idea of mixing local inspirations with ‘good old’ ruby. Hopefully Berlin 2011 (congratulations guys!) team can continue this short-lived tradition!
Design decisions are always tough – they depend much on personal preferences and perspectives. We needed probably something like 3 months (!!) to produce EuRuKo vivid-yet-simple logo. That’s a long time when you think that the designer actually never got paid – the initial competition just like all EuRuKo-related tasks was considered ‘community effort’.
Someone should be in charge (get ready for long hours!)
Having on a team people with different tastes is great.. but it makes things complicated, too. And – excuse my personal observation – men & tech people are rather conservative about design . A good tip for next year’s team – choose one person among you who ‘feels’ design and let them work with the designer. In our case that was me. An important thing to realize – in the beginning it seems that you only need logo but you will really need tons of stuff: website design, sponsorship pdf design, brochures, tickets, posters and all print stuff you can think of (including badges and drink coupons!). Make sure you work with a patient designer!
Final decisions…
In the end you ‘just’ have to reach that point when everyone accepts the final logo in one or another variation. In a bigger team (3+ people) a consensus of ‘liking it‘ or ‘loving it at first sight’ is very unlikely. People usually need time to get used to what they’ve just chosen and accept that they can’t mix ‘all the best things from every option’. That’s the paradox of choice, too. Before reaching that point of approval there will be moments when everyone just stares at all different logos… not feeling good about any of them. Or – hating every single one – because if you care about something (and boy did we care about EuRuKo!), things get emotional. Such dead-end is a good moment to ask for outsider’s advice. We asked just a few people and it really helped us speed up the process. We personally decided not to do ‘community voting’ because we didn’t think it was a good idea. Hope this helps
Here’s how the logo evolved in a chronological order:
Finally:
In the end – we’re all happy with the end result Which one do you like the most? Comment here or @ us on Twitter: @euruko or @elamadej!
We’re super-excited that this year’s European Ruby Conference is going to take place in Kraków (May 29th – 30th). What’s EuRuKo? ‘EuRuKo is an annual conference about the Ruby language with an informal atmosphere and lots of opportunities to listen, to talk, to hack and to have fun’. It surely is going to be an awesome event - 280 Rubyists, great agenda and afterparties… No wonder Applicake is among the event sponsors and the entire team is showing up. We’ll be wearing Applicake T-shirts so finding us should be relatively easy. To learn more about EuRuKo, follow @euruko Twitter feed.
We only work with serious people. Seriously. We only work with serious clients too – but that’s a story for another time.
Why we’re not going to hire you unless you’re serious?
Yeah, you probably realized that this post is not going to be about your sense of humor (because we know our audience is smart!). We all want to work with like-minded, smart and cheerful people who infect everyone around with their great attitude and energy. But this isn’t a ticket to work at Applicake yet.
In fact, to join Applicake team ALL you need is:
First two points might be difficult. So if you are not confident you’re a rockstar - do you care to become one? We can help you grow but this will demand time and effort. Two last points are also tricky. How could you know if Applicake is the right employer before working here? That’s a fair point but we do try to make this easier – we do communicate with the world. You can read this blog, you can meet us in our office (Open RailsTalks), at tech conferences (like EuRuKo 2010), talk with us on Twitter, via email or face-to-face. You can ask questions and send feedback - this shows your determination, too. Help APPLICAKE find YOU, it’s as simple as that.
Believe me, hiring is the most crucial task in a tech startup. It’s not easy for us to find good developers who could fit into the crazy family of ours. We work together, we laugh together, we support each other. Looking at the fantastic team that we have at Applicake – each and every one of us really (like REALLY) wanted to work here (or they are good actors!). We only work with serious people who know what they want and do it – it’s probably the basis of Applicake’s success.
If you want to learn more about hiring in startups (and more) watch this interview with Paul Graham, venture capitalist and great business essayist.
Some serious faces found on Flickr, our potential new hires:
If you managed to scroll all the way down here and the post hasn’t put you off yet – let us know at jobs@applicake.com. But only if you’re serious
Regarding new code, I will check staging on Monday. Thanks for all your efforts. You guys are rocking! The work thus far looks good and you are moving fast. I appreciate all your* and Agata/Josef’s work. Thanks!
Toby
Note: “your” means Michal’s. It’s a pleasure to work in such a strong team of talented people. Getting such emails makes us want to do what we do even more!
Update: Even more love from the same client.. that’s when big smiles shows on our faces and we share such emails between us and get excited like little kids
I have been very pleased with Applicake’s speed, professionalism and quality of integration into my existing application. I was hoping to secure some more development hours from you. Below is the features and a description of what I would like done. Thanks again for your flexibilty and I look forward to continuing to work with Applicake.
