Designer/Developer

Nicholas Tal Salisbury

Artistech enables me to express myself technically, artistically and philosophically.

Reasons for working at Artistech:  It’s a challenging work environment within my chosen industry. Artistech enables me to express myself technically, artistically and philosophically. Many other agencies, web firms, marketing companies (etc.) will pigeon-hole their employees into one position or another. Artistech has hired me. Not just the part of me that knows software.

My Boss:  I don’t really have a boss… Just a mentor / creative director, super suave upper echelon sales guy with skills that I don’t have. He happens to be a co-owner and one of the few who started the company. But I can’t call him a boss, because he doesn’t treat me like an employee. We work together.

Giuseppe, Brad, Vivian – all bring something unique to the table and are a pleasure to work ‘with’.

Co-Workers:  Though the team has grown, changed, and evolved during my years here – it always attracts a unique brand of people. Everyone has something to offer. It may be an area of industry expertise, but often includes something else that goes far beyond just knowing how to do “the job.” I love the people I work with and have developed friendships with many of them.

We’re tight knit. It allows for subtle yet effective communication. Somebody might wink at you on the way to grab a cup of (free) hot coffee from the kitchen, and if you’re paying attention, you know exactly what you need to be doing (or what they’re going to be doing) for the next 20 minutes and why that’s important.

Defining moment of choosing to work here:  I almost died … Seriously.

At the time, I was working for another web-development firm. I was fresh out of (an expensive, poorly thought-out) tech school. I was just excited to be working within my industry. On the other hand, I knew that this other place was not a good work environment for me. I was doing mundane tasks, and all of the ‘fun’ suggestions (that are necessary in our line of work to create award winning products and services) were just squashed as soon as they were birthed. I knew I couldn’t stay there forever.

An opportunity at Artistech was brought to my attention and I was actually shocked to get an interview. The defining “yes” moment happened for me while dangling off the side of an 80 foot cliff in the middle of winter above rocks and an icy lake. I was questioning myself, my reasons for being there, what I wanted in life … and also, ‘how the hell am I going to get off this rock face?’

It was that moment that I decided I’d way rather be working ‘at’ Artistech instead of ‘for’ this other company. I thought to myself - “If I were to die today, I’d regret not taking this new opportunity.  At least with Artistech I’ll get to do the type of work that got me into this industry in the first place. At least it’ll help me grow as a person.”

Needless to say, I got off that icy rock and I’ve been enjoying life here at the ‘tech’ ever since.

The Flat Side:  The type of work we do is so specific in nature that, sometimes it becomes difficult to communicate goals or ideas. It’s difficult because sometimes a small decision or compromise one way or the other, can make all the difference in whether or not a project is successful.

Even with effective communication, it can be impossible to express a concept to a peer who has spent years thinking differently than you do. But in the end, we always manage and then learn from cause and effect.

Why I still like it here:  I like it here because Artistech is not a job. It’s a place to grow and explore oneself. Today we’re a digital agency but tomorrow we’ll change the world.

Or at the very least, we’ll help those that have dreams bring them to life and share them with the world.

If ever a time comes where money is no longer important and appreciation / respect becomes the new currency – Artistech will be rich. We do the best we can.