No, that's not a typo. Back in the day — 1943 to be exact — the football team that began life as the Pittsburgh Pirates was known as the Pittsburgh Steagles for one year. That happened because the team was merged with the Philadelphia Eagles due to depleted football rosters during World War II. The year after that, they were merged with the Cardinals, which led to their short-lived name as the Card-Pitt team. Today, of course, you know this team as the Pittsburgh Steelers — a team which, as we at Equinox are acutely aware, has some of the most loyal and avid fans in the NFL. I say that because the team's number one fan works right here at Equinox.
Originally hailing from Pittsburgh, Derek Drake is a diehard fan of the iconic black and gold. When he's not following his team or reminding the rest of us just how many Super Bowls the Steelers have won, you can find Derek designing and creating the frontend interfaces for both our Protector and TeleLink products.
After graduating from Union University in 1995, Derek joined Equinox as a junior developer. Over the years, he developed an expertise in user interfaces, ultimately leading to his current position as the senior developer in charge of all interface efforts for both products. Derek understands the importance of the work he does as it relates to our customers. While the work of an application happens behind the scenes, "the user's experience and overall satisfaction with the application is heavily, if not totally, dictated by the user interface." That's exactly why Derek actively participates in our annual Protector User Group Meeting — to engage customers directly in discussions about system features and future enhancements. Having that firsthand knowledge helps Derek create interfaces that balance backend power with a great frontend user experience.
This month marks Derek's 20th anniversary with Equinox. When I asked him to reflect on the thousands of interface elements, screens, and web pages he's created during his tenure, he said his favorite part of the process is watching an interface go from inception to maturity — through all its various iterations and customer additions along the way. He also noted that he's been looking for a way to sneakily incorporate the Steelers logo somewhere in TeleLink and Protector, so keep your eye out for that in future releases.
All kidding aside, Derek loves working at Equinox because of the philosophy that work comes second to family. He has two children and spends his free time following his team, lifting weights, and playing basketball. Equinox is grateful for the contributions Derek's made to our products these past 20 years, and we hope he sticks around for another 20 — or the next Steelers Super Bowl win, whichever comes first.
About the Author — Amy Oldham manages corporate communications, technical documentation, customer publications, newsletters, email campaigns, and social media for Equinox Information Systems. To learn more, visit equinoxis.com or call (615) 612-1200.