If you know me at all, you will have got the Whitesnake reference…
Yes, today is my last day at Dennis Publishing, and I am ready to go out into the wide world on my own as a freelancer.
However, before I depart, I wanted to look back on my three years at the company and mention a few highlights.
Maggie Holland (@Magacious) hired me back in 2009, despite the fact my job beforehand had been at Tunnels and Tunnelling magazine. I will never forget the interview I had with her and Nicole Kobie (@NJKobie). I still remember the black long-sleeved dress and purple tights I was wearing, my excitement at the reception desk being a fishtank and the feeling of dread I had when I left, realising I had spent the entire interview talking about World of Warcraft!
Nevertheless, I joined IT Pro and embarked on what has so far been an incredibly enjoyable career in tech journalism.
In my two and a half years at an amazing business tech publication, I worked with my fellow three witches of IT Pro, as well as Benny Hareven (@Bhareven), Asavin Wattanajantra (@asavin), Rich Goodwin (@richardg00dwin – now ruling the roost as features editor of Know Your Mobile), Alan ‘panda’ Lu (@alanitpanda) and, the first person I was allowed to manage, Tom ‘T-Brew’ Brewster (@IBlameTom).
It introduced me to the industry I now call home and gave me amazing experiences, building a huge profile of contacts and leading to an awful lot of boozing at our local King and Queen.
In the summer of 2011, I moved from IT Pro a whole one desk over to join a fellow cricket fan on Dennis’ new launch, Cloud Pro. Max Cooter (@MaxCotter) and I worked very hard to establish the title and make people know, not only was cloud the biggest thing in technology, but Cloud Pro was the place to read it.
Now, after three years, I am bidding them goodbye.
It is not just the titles I worked for I am thankful of though. There are too many people to mention who have become some of my firmest friends at Dennis, including numerous characters from Computer Shopper, Micro Mart, Custom PC and Know your Mobile – as well as some fine publishers I will never forget.
Thanks to my opportunities at Dennis, I also made many friends outside of the industry at so-called ‘rival titles’ including ZDnet, eWeek, CBR, SC Magazine, TechWorld, Computing and Trusted Reviews.
Also, as many of you know, one of the biggest things I have to thank Dennis for is finding the love of my life and one of the biggest supports for me going freelance, Tom Morgan (@TomMorgan3).
But now it is time to go. I have packed up the last of my wine supplies, taken down the wall of tacky posters – including Sebastian Bach and Brian Cox, as well as much photo-shopping from my dearest friend Andrew (@wwwdotandrew) – and I leave Dennis with a heavy heart, amazing experiences, great friends and a bursting contacts book.
Sorry for the Oscars style speech but, guys, it has been emotional. Expect me to appear pitching in your inboxes soon…
JSco x
Jennifer Scott - Journalist (@NifS) 