A Farewell and Thank You Note from Liam Eagle

From my perspective, the community is one of the key elements of the business of hosting. It turns out, I’ve been a part of the hosting community for a very long time. And for most of my career, I’ve made it my mission and the mission of the WHIR to foster that community however we could.

As we made fairly clear on Tuesday with the news that Nicole Henderson would be taking over as editor in chief of the Web Host Industry Review, I’m going to be leaving the WHIR to pursue other opportunities. And today – Friday, February 15th – was my final day on the job.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 13 years since I began working at the WHIR, back in 2000. And, as you can probably imagine, it was pretty difficult to pull the trigger on the decision to move on from the position I’ve spent almost all of my professional life in, and one that I have honestly loved.

One of the most important factors in the decision, for me, was making sure that the WHIR was going to be in good hands going forward. After all these years, I care a whole lot about this project, and I think the WHIR has become not just a publication, but an important piece of the hosting community.

I’m fortunate (as are WHIR readers, in my opinion) that the WHIR has the talent on-staff to continue to fill that important role excellently in the years to come, between Nicole Henderson and Justin Lee. I’ve worked with both of them for years, and I’m a big fan.

More than anything else, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to that hosting community, for embracing the WHIR and what it can do, while I’ve been here and in the future. In the time I’ve worked at the WHIR, and in the shorter time I’ve been involved with HostingCon, I’ve always been deeply impressed and even a little moved by how generous the people in this business are with their time and their insight, and how generally committed they are to helping each other succeed through sharing their opinions and ideas.

I’ve been very lucky to be a conduit for that, and a means to help spread some awesome ideas. At the risk of sounding immodest, I’m really proud of some of the great work we’ve been able to do over the years.

The community is the heart of the hosting business, and I’m extremely grateful to have been a part of it with the WHIR. I’ll continue to be a part of the hosting community. And I look forward to the opportunities I’ll have to work with the people I’ve met through the WHIR in the future. Look me up, guys. I’m pretty easy to find.

So, as much as I would have liked to edit together a super-cut of embarrassing slow-mo clips of me on WHIR TV, maybe set to something like Winds of Change by the Scorpions (or something similarly self-indulgent), it turns out I was pretty busy during my last week, and you’ll have to settle for this:

Thank you, very, very much.

Liam

About Liam Eagle

Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle