To The Qrew,
My time at Quickbase is coming to an end. Wednesday, July 29th will be my last day with the company. After 8 wonderful years working with Quickbase customers and partners, I’m logging off and starting a new challenge elsewhere.
I’ll never forget Empower 2019 in Miami. During the keynote, Product Managers were on stage being treated like celebrities. Customers sat in the audience and gave raucous ovations to announcements to things like Dashboards and Formulas and Automations. Customers discussed tips and tricks while standing in line for breakfast, laptops were open everywhere and the only topic being discussed was Quickbase. The only complaint I heard all week was from customers who couldn’t fit into the most popular sessions. Fear not, those sessions would be offered again later in the week. It was Disneyland for no-code problem solvers.
I couldn’t believe the level of enthusiasm radiating through the room. Prior to Quickbase, I worked at companies where it was rare to see any form of passion other than sheer anger coming from customers towards the vendor. Quickbase was different, the customers clearly loved the product.
The main takeaway from Empower Miami was about this community. The talent, the passion, the creativity, there were so many individuals who had their careers catapulted into something new and awesome because of how well they gravitated towards using software Legos to build custom databases. It was infectious. In 2023, the opportunity to make a change in my career arrived, and I jumped on it.
I became a Community Manager.
But first we needed a name. Enter “The Qrew”. A collective of problem-solvers who just get it.
Next we needed a way to celebrate the individuals who went above and beyond for this Community. We created The Qrew Legend Award, and I was so proud to see Mark Shnier, Sharon Faust, and Tammie King become the first three recipients. Legends indeed!
Qrew Groups expanded from virtual-only to being held in-person. Online we met over Pipelines and Governance and whatever else you were willing to share. I’ll miss the meetups.
At some point a Discord server was created and I started participating. I was there mostly to listen, but soon after joining it became one of my favorite ways to connect with Qrew members.
And finally, yes. Empower came back. The conversations in the breakfast buffet were about Pipelines and Jinja now; while the energy of this community hasn’t changed, the product certainly has. It’s still incredible to me what you all can do with a Quickbase app.
The Qrew has an amazing team here at HQ keeping this train moving. Esther LaVielle and Maria Peralta are Qrew diehards, committed to giving you the best community experience possible. Caroline Englert will oversee The Qrew as well as our Advocacy efforts. As someone who has worked closely with Caroline for so long, there’s no one I would rather have run this incredible community than her. Be good to her or you’ll hear from me!
I want to thank you for this incredible experience. A great product is useless without great users. I loved seeing the infinite ways Qrew members were solving problems at their respective companies. Quickbase the product + The Qrew is a power duo that will thrive in the years ahead. You taught me about the value a strong community can bring to a business, and more importantly, to each other. I won’t forget it.
Forever grateful,
Ben