From Oliver McClellan

I met Jim while working on a training project for BellSouth in 2000. As a vendor consultant I was accustomed to being treated as an “outsider” when I started a new business relationship, but I was pleasantly surprised when Jim and his colleagues immediately took me into their work team. Jim was still protective of some information, as he should be, but he provided everything I requested and offered helpful suggestions on how to deal with some topics. So Jim was a genuinely nice guy, but I also learned he was also very good at understanding products and technology, and at relating it in a way that people understood. The more I watched Jim work and create courseware, the more my appreciation for his development talents increased. You have to understand that I’ve dealt with many “training specialists” in various companies that don’t have any talent or experience in developing or delivering training. Jim was that rare person who could use their knowledge and experience to interpret technical concepts and products, and then put their thoughts and ideas about a topic onto paper. He is an excellent writer/developer and all I had to do was get out of the way and let him work. We’ve worked together on many projects since starting that first project back on 2000, and Jim and I have continued to work together since he left BellSouth. I know he’ll hang up the developer tool bag at some point, but I hope he will continue to call me his friend.