Welcome our latest Guidebook’s Employee Spotlight! In this series, you’ll meet the awesome team members who work behind the scenes to make it possible for us to provide Guidebook apps for events, conferences, campuses, and more. Meet Chris Casey, Director of Engineering in our San Francisco office. Chris is a Bay Area native and (arguably) Guidebook’s most passionate Golden State Warriors fan!

What does your role as Director of Engineering entail?

As Director of Engineering, my job is to make sure we ship code.  I do project planning, goal setting, build timelines and communicate with other departments.  I manage all of the engineers on the backend team and make sure we have a positive, inclusive culture where everyone can do their best and continue to improve their skills.

What do you think is special or unique about our Engineering culture?

The engineering team at Guidebook is full of incredibly talented yet incredibly humble individuals.  It’s rare to see that combination of traits and it makes coming to work every day a pleasure.

What’s some of the best advice you’ve gotten in your career?

The advice that has stuck with me the most in my career is to always be evaluating the value of what I’m working on.  It’s so easy to get lost in the day-to-day shuffle and I think it’s important to constantly ask yourself “Is this the most important thing I should be doing right now?  What value is this adding to the company as a whole?”. If I find myself doing low-value work, I try to find a more efficient way of completing that task or re-evaluate if I should even be doing it at all.

What do you like to do outside of work?

My favorite thing to do outside of work is to spend time with my 3-year-old daughter Miya and my wife Allison.  We enjoy hanging out at the park (my daughter is currently obsessed with swings), hitting the farmers market, and exploring new places to eat. Other than that, I enjoy cooking, going to concerts and watching the dubs!

Being a Bay Area native, are there any secret spots or hidden gems you can share with us?

Oh man, there are just too many to list.  I’ve recently gotten a lot of Guidebookers obsessed with TuLan Vietnamese restaurant.  Order #17 and you can thank me later! 

Finally, you can only have three mobile apps on your phone (besides Guidebook, of course). What three apps would you choose and why?

1. Downcast - I’m a podcast junky.
2. Reddit - If you know, you know.
3. Spotify - If I’m not listening to a podcast, I’m listening to music.  It helps me focus and is a great way to kill time during my commute.

Thanks, Chris!  Want to work alongside Chris? Check out our latest career opportunities at Guidebook!