wrote on 17. May 2018 at 15:09:
Wow - many many years ago I started a commerce degree at University of NSW where I majored in Marketing - finished in 1977. In about 1984 I did my Masters Degree in Commerce - market research - I honestly can’t remember when I started to use SPSS - it was version 3.2 and in DOS. I remember doing a survey for my bachelor degree and starting to do data entry using the punch card machine and then deciding that it was too hard and taking the surveys down to IBM at North Sydney and getting them to do the data entry onto cards.
Then after a few years in market research executive side I moved to the new technology - computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) - I wanted to start a family and my directors said that I couldn’t handle clients from home but I could run a DP department. So, 32 years ago I started running a DP department from home writing CATI scripts and producing reports (in Quantum) - no internet and support done via Telex. After a few moves I started working for a software company called Surveycraft - best CATI software ever (I still think this) - on Friday 13th November 1998 we were bought by SPSS.
Over the next few years SPSS the company and product looked after me very well and I learnt to love the product now known as SPSS Statistics. No-one told me I could buy employee shares until about 2008 and I started to buy some then and owned just a few when in 2009 the company was bought by IBM (not enough shares to make a difference financially unfortunately).
I am still with IBM - I now do presales for a few products -including SPSS Statistics.
I am very proud and pleased that IBM is heavily investing in SPSS Statistics and look forward to using the new interface.
What’s SPSS done for me - well apart from being amazing software and always ahead of its time it’s allowed me to work with an amazing bunch of people and experience an amazing work life - we had really good fun at SPSS - one dinner that Richard Scionti paid for in Grasse above Cannes at an ESOMAR conference which I think probably broke a record for an expensed dinner was so memorable that 13 years later I still have the menu on my desk. I met the smartest people that I’ve ever known - some of whom are still with IBM and some who’ve left - I won’t mention names as I might leave someone out - but I will say that Jack Noonan led from the top - no airs, no graces - just a very very smart guy who always treated you as if you were the most important person in the room if he was talking to you. At SPSS Sydney we had a great photo of Jack and our office junior arm in arm at a pub playing pool - he was the best senior executive I have experienced.
My memories of SPSS are very very happy
Then after a few years in market research executive side I moved to the new technology - computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) - I wanted to start a family and my directors said that I couldn’t handle clients from home but I could run a DP department. So, 32 years ago I started running a DP department from home writing CATI scripts and producing reports (in Quantum) - no internet and support done via Telex. After a few moves I started working for a software company called Surveycraft - best CATI software ever (I still think this) - on Friday 13th November 1998 we were bought by SPSS.
Over the next few years SPSS the company and product looked after me very well and I learnt to love the product now known as SPSS Statistics. No-one told me I could buy employee shares until about 2008 and I started to buy some then and owned just a few when in 2009 the company was bought by IBM (not enough shares to make a difference financially unfortunately).
I am still with IBM - I now do presales for a few products -including SPSS Statistics.
I am very proud and pleased that IBM is heavily investing in SPSS Statistics and look forward to using the new interface.
What’s SPSS done for me - well apart from being amazing software and always ahead of its time it’s allowed me to work with an amazing bunch of people and experience an amazing work life - we had really good fun at SPSS - one dinner that Richard Scionti paid for in Grasse above Cannes at an ESOMAR conference which I think probably broke a record for an expensed dinner was so memorable that 13 years later I still have the menu on my desk. I met the smartest people that I’ve ever known - some of whom are still with IBM and some who’ve left - I won’t mention names as I might leave someone out - but I will say that Jack Noonan led from the top - no airs, no graces - just a very very smart guy who always treated you as if you were the most important person in the room if he was talking to you. At SPSS Sydney we had a great photo of Jack and our office junior arm in arm at a pub playing pool - he was the best senior executive I have experienced.
My memories of SPSS are very very happy