Scott Avery

Scott Edward Avery passed away in Seattle, WA on October 24th after a sudden illness.  Scott was born June 19, 1969 in Roseburg Oregon to Donna and Stewart Avery.  He graduated from Roseburg High School in 1987 and Oregon State University in 1992.

Scott lived in Woodinville, WA for the last 9 years and worked at Microsoft for 21 years. He leaves behind his wife Kim, 15 month old daughter Kira, Parents Donna and Stewart Avery, his cousins Diane Sievers, Cindy Rich, and Lisa Nelson and his cats Nick and Jason, who he thought of as part of the family.

Family was the most important thing in Scott’s life.  He embraced life with his wife and young daughter with love and enthusiasm.  Scott learned the joy of a loving household from his parents who he was very close to his entire life.

Scott was known for his passion for adventure, the outdoors, and things that go fast.  He was an accomplished motorcycle rider and racer and spent many happy hours riding, both alone and with Kim.  He also loved to go fast on boats, jet skis, and on the snow.  He especially loved doing these things with good friends and sharing camaraderie and laughter.  He would laugh just as easily at his own misadventures as those of his friends.

He loved to travel, especially to go camping or on adventures and was always planning the families’ next trip.  He also loved playing hockey and other sports.

He had a lifelong love of technology and computers that he turned into a long, successful career at Microsoft as an Engineer and Program Manager.  He was well known for always having the latest and greatest new gadgets and would delight in showing them off.

Scott was a lover of all animals, but had a special place in his heart for cats.  He would never miss chance to pet one.  He adopted and raised several unwanted kitties and raised them lovingly.

Scott leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter, happiness and passion.  Most of all he leaves behind a beautiful family, close friendships and many loving memories of his kind, generous and mischievous spirit.

I’m going to use this page as a place to keep people updated over the coming days re: what the arrangements are, how they can help, etc.  Please share this link with anyone who would be interested in knowing more.  If you have info you’d like to see added here email me at brianlockhart@gmail.com and I’ll get it done.

Full link: http://brianlockhart.com/2012/10/25/remembering-scott-avery/

Short link: http://wp.me/p15kt4-do

Funeral Arrangements:

Update 10/28:  Scott’s family has arranged for a memorial service to take place in Kirkland, WA.  All are welcome.

When: Saturday November 3, 2012 at 3pm

Where: Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church & Chapel

• Church website: http://www.northlakeuu.org
• Directions: http://www.northlakeuu.org/about/directions/

Remembrance Ceremony:

Update 10/28:  Scotty would want his friends and family to come together and celebrate his life – after the memorial service in Kirkland please join us for a drink at one of Scott’s favorite places to gather with friends.

Notes:

• This is a bar – 21 and over only, no children permitted.
• This is about a 25 minute drive away from the memorial service.  We’re investigating possible taxi / bus / group transportation options and will update here, but please plan accordingly.

When: Saturday November 3, 2012 at 6pm

Where: Smarty Pants

• Smarty Pants website: http://smartypantsseattle.com/
• Directions from memorial service to Smarty Pants (Google Maps): http://goo.gl/maps/5SSpi
• Parking: we’ve arranged for parking in the private lot across the street from Smarty Pants.

Call for photos and videos of Scott!

Let’s take a moment to gather up some of our favorite photos, videos, etc. of Scott Avery for use at his ceremony. Almost everyone in his world has digital photos of him, pick your favorites and let’s share. Once we’ve got a pile of photos, we’ll go through them with Kim and let her pick out some favorites. In the interest of (hopefully) making this easy and central, I’m going to try coordinating this project using DropBox. It’s an online file sharing service – free, works on almost every computing and mobile phone platform out there, and kicks ass. If you don’t already have an account with DropBox, click here to get one. Please use this link, I get free space for each friend referral – more space = more room for Scotty photos.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b10oaorjtrq12mc/pDzdm9jRyI

If all of this is too complicated, you can take the old school approach and just email me the photos and I’ll put them in that folder for you.  Send pics to brianlockhart@gmail.com

More about Scott Avery:

Facebook profile: Scott Avery on Facebook

LinkedIn profile: Scott Avery on LinkedIn

Great post from Scotty’s friend, coworker, and hockey buddy : Scott Avery, Pivot Pro!

How can I help?

Misc. Vounteer Opportunities

Please email brian@brianlockhart.com if you can help with the following:

• We’re looking for a videographer (professional or amateur) to capture video of any remembrance speeches at the 3pm memorial service.  This is mostly for his daughter Kira’s benefit, something she can be shown later when she’s older.

Charitable Donations

Scott was passionate about helping his family and his friends.  In lieu of flowers or other gifts, we believe Scott would have preferred folks make a donation to one of the following organizations that he supported:

Seattle Humane Society

• General Information: http://www.seattlehumane.org/
• Direct link to donate: Seattle Humane Society Donations

University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

• General Information: http://depts.washington.edu/adrcweb/
• Direct link to donate: UW Alzheimer’s Research Center Donations

Organ Donor Program

Scott needed a liver transplant, but despite the best efforts of medical staff a suitable one could not be found in time.  It’s a simple case of supply and demand – too many people need the help but not enough people have agreed to donate in the event of their own death.  If you haven’t already done so, PLEASE consider registering as an organ donor.  In the event you pass away, your gift could make all the difference to someone in desperate need of something you’ll no longer have any use for.  It’s ridiculously simple, and can change lives.

• General Information: http://www.lcnw.org/
• Direct link to donate: http://www.lcnw.org/financial-contribution-form/
• Organ Donor site on Facebook
• More about organ donation programs

We miss you buddy.

Executive Summary / TLDR version:

After a great 15 years I’m leaving Microsoft– my last day at the company is Friday September 14, 2012!

Long and rambling version:

Just over 15 years ago (June 30, 1997) I moved to Seattle to come work at Microsoft.  I wanted to be part of the rapidly growing “consumer internet space”; I saw the rapidly rising rate of non-computer-nerds (aka normal people) suddenly getting email addresses and using the internet, and wanted to be part of that shift as the internet changed the way we all live.  I knew it was going to be a huge shift – what was once the domain of computer nerds was rapidly becoming mainstream; I knew I needed to be part of that rollercoaster ride!  Microsoft offered an excellent opportunity to not only ride the rollercoaster, but to help design and build it.

Here’s the photo they took for my official Microsoft employee badge on June 30, 1997 – young, dumb, and happy!  That there is a genuine look of amazement that Microsoft actually hired me.

Now compare that photo above to my current employee badge – the hairstyle changed (thankfully), and it appears 15 years beat the smile out of me a bit…   Microsoft aged me horribly! :)

What a ride it’s been.  During my 15 years at the company I was fortunate enough to be on teams that built and ran some of the coolest consumer online offerings in Microsoft’s history, creating products and services that combined computer science with mainstream consumer productivity and entertainment.  Some of the products I helped build, ship, and run:

• MSNBC.COM online internet news service
• MSN.COM online internet service
• Xbox video game and entertainment console
• Xbox Live online gaming and entertainment service
• Xbox360 video game and entertainment console
• Zune music player & online music service
• Forza Motorsport automotive racing games for the Xbox

(plus a few other things to advance the state of Xbox consumer entertainment that are still cooking / won’t be out of the oven for awhile)

Watching everyday people use and enjoy technology I helped create has been hands down the most rewarding aspect of my career so far, and I’m honored to have been part of Microsoft’s success in bringing technology beyond the office and into the living rooms and laptops of people at home.  I’ve had an amazing experience at this company, and along the way I’ve learned more than I ever imagined – I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities that have been given to me, the people I’ve met, and the work we’ve accomplished together.  But the time has come for me to explore new opportunities and engage in what I believe is one of the next big “shifts” in how the world uses technology – Big Data and Data Science.

 I’m tackling two projects, both are startups:

1) I’m joining Tableau Software – a mid-stage startup headquartered in Seattle.  They’re a market leader in data visualization software, and they are growing like crazy riding the “big data” wave as more and more people demand cross-platform tools to help them make sense of their data.  We’re in an era where there’s tons of data being produced and gathered by every device and service on the internet, but it’s still far too difficult to make that data into something that’s useful for most people.  Most companies with tons of data employ teams of BI (business intelligence) analysts to wade through it all.  But Tableau’s mission is to advance the state of Business Intelligence – to “democratize data analysis”, and help non-BI-nerds gain deeper insights and tell stories with their data.  It’s an exciting and transformational time in the computing industry as every device and service becomes interconnected and sharing data with each other, and more and more information workers look for value in that data.  Tableau is poised to take advantage of this shift, and I’m very excited to be a part of it.

2) I’m also growing a small “data centric” startup of my own – SufferHub.  It’s an online fitness data tracking + game service, using GPS-based fitness + biometric data (think Strava meets NikeFuel, but using GPS location plus heart rate and power data to keep score).  I’ve been a fitness enthusiast (especially cycling) for most of my life, and as technology has infiltrated my favorite sport I’ve been fascinated with the data analysis that is now possible with consumer-grade tracking and measuring devices, as well as the possibilities for adding gaming mechanics to that data.  What started off as a tiny personal hobby / coding side project has grown to the point where I’ve built SufferHub up to “working prototype” phase, now it’s time to hire a few real developers to take it to the next level over the winter in preparation for a larger scale launch next spring.  If you’re a cyclist, runner, or hiker and own a smartphone or Garmin fitness device, check it out and sign up for the Beta!

To my coworkers (both past and present): thanks to everyone I’ve had the pleasure to work with during my *excellent* tour of Microsoft!  I’ll see you around, either online or roaming around the Seattle area and beyond.  It’s a small town and a small industry, and I’m sure we will cross paths again.

To my non-computer-nerd friends and family members who have been there for me as my life and career have evolved and changed over the years: thanks for patiently listening to me ramble and rant about all things tech related from Microsoft over these past 15 years – my rants will change focus somewhat and the brand names and methodologies will differ, but I’m still glad to be one of the computer nerds in your life.  Rest assured I’m still focused on bringing technology to the mainstream, and I’ll continue to drag you into computer nerd-dom with me every chance I get!

Thanks for reading,

Brian Lockhart

Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas / Happy Chaunukka / Merry Kwanzaa / Happy Festivus!  Time once again for me to spam the intarwebs with our traditional obnoxious collection of family holiday photo goodness.  I’ll be mercifully brief this year and focus my efforts on the most photogenic member of our family, which won’t be hard because now that she’s a toddler we need to focus all our attention on her anyway.  Whew, these things take a lot more energy to wrangle once they stop sleeping all day and start running around the house!

Best way we could think of to encourage her to sit still for a Christmas photo:

Santa photos went a LOT better for us this year (as opposed to last year) – last year she was an angel the whole time waiting, then lost it right at the moment of truth.  This year, we had a world-class tantrum in the car on the way out there, then BAM when the lights came on she hit her marks and we got the shot.  Whew!

Other than that we’ve been having a nice mellow holiday season.  Per usual, MacKenzie did an excellent job decorating the house and infusing the environment with holiday spirit while I pretty much played the role of stage hand, picking up afterwards and lending technical support (i.e. lifting heavy things).  As I write this, we’re getting ready to host family for Christmas Eve dinner – then tuck in and wait for Santa to arrive.  Our resident elf is excited for sure:

Happy Holidays to everyone, hope you all have a great time with friends, family and loved ones as we finish up 2011 and prepare for the New Year!

Best wishes,

Brian, MacKenzie, Cadence and Maggie Lockhart

Related links:

• Happy Holidays from the Lockharts – 2010 edition