"For everything there is a time": embarking on a new journey

by **krankyd** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:02 pm

It's been a long time I've been working closely with the Waze community world wide, and now it's time for me to move on to new projects and challenges.

I've learned so much about Waze through its community - before I joined the company, some 3 years ago, I never believed people can have so much devotion to an idea, no matter how great it is.
I've seen you guys build maps in Europe before Waze even launched outside of the US. You opened your own IRC channels, facebook groups, twitter feeds, forums and localized websites just to promote Waze in your countries. You turned protective about Waze with against those that could not see the value of Waze, and proud (as you should be) when the communities you helped build started shaping up in more and more countries.
You helped each other - with tips and tricks, how-to videos, 'hacked' status pages, shared projects, grease-monkey scripts and just generally share of ideas and encouragements on the forum. You stood strong when Waze messed things up (and I know we did a couple of times... not too many I hope). You helped Waze localize to over 35 languages in writing and 20 different in audio, and some of you even recorded family members just to have Waze speak in your own language.

On all these I did my best to help - with magnificent support from the great people here at Waze. Shirli, Ori, Ron and Amit - the greatest support staff ever; Adrian, Daniel and Elizabeth - our social media experts; Perlin, Nir and Ron D - our excellent QA team. We always try to be your voice here at Waze, and push your ideas as far as possible - and I think we accomplished some amazing things along the way!

Like I said, I'm staying in Waze but moving to a different position in the company - I'll still visit the forums to see how everybody's doing and keep in touch.

I leave you guys in the great hands of Chen (or by his waze user name: Rustika). Chen comes with great technical knowledge for any query you might have, but even more important - he knows and cherishes the value of our community, and will continue to push your ideas inside the company. I know for fact you are in good hands, so you'll just have to take my word on this one

Good luck Chen!

Dror (aka krankyd)

by **gettingthere** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:34 pm

Dror,

Thanks so much for all of your support! I am sure it has been quite difficult working with all of us around the world. So many languages, requests, and issues to sort through. It was a pleasure meeting you in person in Palo Alto. Waze and all of us in the Waze community will surely miss you and the great work that you have done supporting Waze and the community.

Best of luck to you in your next adventure!

gettingthere

by **gerben** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:52 pm

Dror,

Good to hear you will not leave Waze, but sad to loose you as 'community manager'.

Gerben

by **gettingthere** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:55 pm

gerben wrote:Dror,

Good to hear you will not leave Waze, but sad to loose you as 'community manager'.

Gerben

I read Dror's post as that Dror is not longer going to be an employee of Waze but will keep in touch with us as a peer in the Waze community.

by **jasonh300** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:56 pm

Dror,

Sorry to hear this...you've done such a good job and taken all the pestering in stride. Good luck with whatever you're moving on to!

Now, I'll need this Chen's direct e-mail and personal cell phone # so I can start pestering him... :twisted:

Jason

dmcconachie · by **dmcconachie** » Sat May 19, 2012 6:00 pm

It's been a pleasure joining you on the ride over the past couple of years, Dror and even more so to meet you in Paris last November! You were undoubtedly a driving force behind everything that the waze community has achieved and I'm sure you'll be equally successful in your next endeavour! Hope you do keep in touch though! :-)

Chen, welcome to the madhouse. I'm sure Dror has warned you as to who the troublemakers are. Guilty as charged! ;-)

Look forward to building a successful relationship with you too!

Darren
(dmcconachie)

via Tapatalk

by **kieranrawley** » Sat May 19, 2012 7:09 pm

Please don't let this be a mass exodus of the top guys in the Waze company. It's a force to be reckoned with now and needs dedicated and ingenious people to drive it on. Hope it wasn't our moaning that spurred you to move on

- we only want the best for the app, honest!

Have fun in your new venture and check in regularly to let us know of any exciting developments that you come up with.

If there's another meet up in Paris, will we see you there?

Kieran

by **gerben** » Sat May 19, 2012 7:56 pm

gettingthere wrote:
gerben wrote:Dror,

Good to hear you will not leave Waze, but sad to loose you as 'community manager'.

Gerben

I read Dror's post as that Dror is not longer going to be an employee of Waze but will keep in touch with us as a peer in the Waze community.

Dror wrote:I'm staying in Waze but moving to some new challenges

by **gettingthere** » Sat May 19, 2012 8:49 pm

gerben wrote:
Dror wrote:I'm staying in Waze but moving to some new challenges

OK, either I mis-read it initially or the OP has changed....

:oops:

by **fvwazing** » Sat May 19, 2012 9:26 pm

Good luck with everything you do, Dror!