Throughout my life I’ve often called Toronto home. Although I’ve lived in 8 different cities across Ontario it has always been the hub for my family and friends. As of September 9th I will be moving on from my “hometown”. New York, the city that never sleeps, has open it’s arms and kindly accepted me in. The reason for this move? I will be joining one of the best creative agencies in the industry, Fi (Fantasy Interactive, http://f-i.com), helping continue to build award winning experiences. Toronto, and Canada as a whole, will always be my home but for now, I seek to grow and spread my proverbial wings beyond this city.

Why Fantasy Interactive?

They are awesome! Honestly. For over 4 years I’ve closely watched Fi grow and continue to develop rich/immersive web experiences. They’ve led the way on so many fronts and are continuing to forge ahead utilizing the latest web technologies. I’ve always respected their work and am humbled to join their ranks.

Along with exceptional work, Fi has bred a fun work environment and culture. With 4 different offices across the globe the team likes to connect and share their experiences through the company’s social network Kontain and livestream using FWA TV. Sharing knowledge, laughter and a few drinks are all ways a team can grow closer and create better work. Having great office space helps too, as the pictures show below.

What about DealPage & Themify?

If you know me well you know that I’ve helped co-found two incredible companies here in Toronto, DealPage & Themify. Respectively, Wes Bos & Nick La, have both given me encouragement and support while I’ve made this new Chapter in my life a reality. DealPage will continue to be looked after and maintained by both Wes and I while Themify has already begun to be run solely by Nick. Knowing this, I am still heavily involved in the WordPress community and have discussed a few options with how I will be able to maintain & support the platform Nick and I’ve built at Themify.

What about Toronto?

Toronto has a mature tech scene. I am proud to say that I have lived there in a time when entrepreneurs truly stuck out their necks and put their all behind their companies. Not only has the startup scene flourished but industry giants have flocked to the city. Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft etc. have all found their way into Canada through our “unofficial” nations capital.

My departure may be a disappointment to many in the development community. A community that grows strong just to see so many leave. I know, in my heart, that the only way for Toronto to truly become a hot bed for foreign talent will be for the great local developers to stick around. That said, I’m leaving Toronto and Toronto’s tech scene in some great hands who will continue to foster this community.

Toronto’s Best & Brightest

• Wes Bos @wesbos – Freelance
• Verne Ho @verneho – Jet Cooper
• Satish Kanwar @skanwar – Jet Cooper
• Moeed Mohammad @mmhd – Freelance
• Charlene Tan @tan_charlene – Bnotions
• Andrea Liew @andrealiew – Bnotions
• Ryan Bannon @rdbannon – Playground
• Sami Sadaghiani @PlaygroundSami – Playground
• Stephen Megitt @steeben – Filament Group
• Linda Nakanishi @lnakanishi – Humber College
• Mustafa Al Qinneh @malqinneh – Teehan & Lax
• Jon Lax @jlax – Teehan & Lax
• Jen Fong-Adwent @ednapiranha – Freelance
• Zach Aysan @zachaysan – Freelance
• Gavin Smith @gavinsmith – Jet Cooper
• Matt Rintoul @matt416 – Say Yeah!
• Lee Dale @smack416 – Say Yeah!
• Afshin Musavian @_afshin – Sequentia
• Darius Bashar @Dariusbashar – ExtremeGroup
• Dominic Bortolussi @dombort – TWG
• Andrés Aquino @eh_eh – TWG
• Jon Lim @jonlim – TWG
• Brian Gilham @bgilham – TWG
• Ali Ghafour @AliGhafour – Viafoura
• Jesse Moeinifar @viafoura – Viafoura
• Simon Jung @simonleojung – Viafoura
• Alex Ikonn @alexikonn – Luxxy Hair Extensions
• Wayne Sang @waynesang – Freelance
• Max Cameron @maxcameron – Big Bang
• Cameron Westland @camwest – Big Bang
• Alkarim Nasser @alkarim – Bnotions
• Mark Reale @markreale – Bnotions
• Logan Aube @Lowgain – Bnotions
• Aaron Ritchie @vsmantis – Bnotions
• Vinny Verma @vinnyverma – Eitheen Eighty
• Rob Robichaud @rob_robichaud – RBC
• Gianni Chiappetta @gf3 – Freelance
• Andrew Peek @drupeek – Rocketr
• Rayanne Langdon @rlangdon – High Road Communications
• Sunta Sem @suntasem – Freelance
• Daniel Patricio @danielpatricio – Pinpoint Social
• Sarah Prevette @SarahPrevette – Sprouter
• Erin Bury @erinbury – Sprouter
• Adil Dhalla @dildhalla – My City Lives
• Adam Ben-Aron @adambenaron – My City Lives
• Paul Jara @43n79w – My City Lives
• Amira Dhalla @amirad – My City Lives
• Ken Seto @kenseto – Massive Damage
• Garry Seto @garryseto – Massive Damage

There’s literally hundreds more people I could have added but these are the few that stuck out and all of which I consider friends. Every last person listed is a champion in their field and continues to excel by sharing experiences and working with one another. I look forward to seeing what things lay ahead for, not just these individuals but, everyone in the Toronto digital landscape. You will all be missed and never forgotten!

“To unpathed waters, undreamed shores.”

~William Shakepeare