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@Shog9, a longtime Community Manager here at Stack Exchange, has just tweeted that he is no longer working at Stack Overflow:

@shog9: Well... I suddenly find myself in need of work.
If anyone's hiring: C++, JavaScript, C#, SQL + solid background in social software, community-driven development.

In light of this, I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you.

Thank you, Shog. You've been an integral part of Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network since the very beginning. You were among the most helpful people on the network, especially for moderators.
Losing your sense of humor, unique sense of communication, and point of view is a deep blow to SE.

Thank you for everything you've done for SE and the community. Good luck in whatever you choose to do next. *salutes*

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  • 264
    Not enough sad emojis for this :(
    – Machavity
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 16:51
  • 268
    I'm simply reeling. What the heck is going on?
    – Rubiksmoose
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 16:54
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    Also destaffed: Robert Cartaino
    – John Dvorak
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 16:56
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    One of the most professional, well-spoken staff members... Gone. Such a loss.
    – Spevacus Mod
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 16:57
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    Darn it, Shog, I thought you said you wouldn't die on that hill. What happened? You said something, right?
    – Frédéric Hamidi
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 17:05
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    Is it too soon to say "We're sorry to see you go"? Bravo SE, Bravo.
    – David DPG
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 17:28
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    Am I the only one who thinks SE just doesn't care about community's opinion anymore? Obviously, this is an internal matter; but after all we've been through, no sane company would let one of few employees who is in good terms with the community go. I suppose they think they already have enough material to stay alive without our contribution.
    – M--
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 18:27
  • 193
    This hits me far harder than any moderator resignation. Up until now, I could convince myself that things could get better, since at least one intelligent and trustworthy person still worked for Stack Exchange.
    – mmyers
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 20:19
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    I guess that's it then. Journey over. Time to log out for the first time in nearly 10 years.
    – ben is uǝq backwards
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 21:59
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    Half of meta consists of Shog contributions. At least sometimes it feels like this. His contribution to what StackOverflow made great is unmeasurable. Thanks Shog, for everything.
    – NoDataDumpNoContribution
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 22:30
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    Shog, what are you guilty of? Being intelligent? Being reasonable? Being patient? Willing to listen, to talk, to discuss, to explain? Putting your heart and soul into everything you do?
    – Fabio says Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 0:37
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    I clicked this thinking this would be a nice post from one of the CMs thanking Shog for many years of service and that he announced he was moving on. I am.... disappointing to say the least.
    – David says Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 2:45
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    @problemofficer - Yes.
    – Mithical
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 8:05
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    Shocked but not shocked. Shog9 has always been the pinnacle of professionalism and community spirit, and SO has been moving further and further away from those things. Saddened to see you leave, but I know you will be successful wherever you end up next. The impact Shog9 has had on this community should not be underestimated.
    – DavidG
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 10:34
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    @JonH They apparently got fired. For what reason is presently unclear, although the vaguely threatening message about "aligning the company" they posted after that leaves little room for a charitable interpretation.
    – Magisch
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 14:08

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Shog, in the hopes you read this.

My heart goes out to you.

Words do not do justice to the feelings that are swirling through my head. The questions this raises are another matter...

Many of the times we interacted together revolved around bad activity.
We have fought whole sock drawers together. We banished countless spammers (remember "I LOVE CORN SO MUCH").
You have been a rock that us mods could always trust and call for help. You have been the cool and clear head and the firm and direct one. Truly this is a loss for the SE community. Shog you did so much. You had a reputation for saying the things we wish we could say. You were always "the one" we could ping, it seemed you were always here.
You touched so much of this network, so many of us.

Your absence is going to leave a big hole to fill.

However this really went down, we will never know - it sucks.

So Long, thanks for everything, and all the fish.

Farewell

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    Reminds me of something like "farewell winter bash"
    – U13-Forward
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 6:52
  • In reality it's all just one spammer that loves food :P
    – user651518
    Commented Jan 15, 2020 at 1:25
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    Thank you, David. And... Let's be honest: corn is pretty great!
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:22
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Well. I guess that's that.

Lights out for the last time

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    It is both very funny and very sad at the same time.
    – This_is_NOT_a_forum
    Commented Jan 15, 2020 at 6:00
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    Good night and good luck... ;-)
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:31
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I've come late to this, and I've just OK'd the "This question has more than thirty answers already: make sure you're adding something new" message.

That there are already thirty answers saying much the same thing speaks volumes.

What this says to me is that the company thinks it knows the cost of everything [although recent events may give the lie to that] and definitely does not know the value of anything.

A huge loss to every SE community, and the company -- in that order. A huge gain for whoever snaps Shog up, which I trust will happen quickly.

Shog, you've been kind to me in the past; you've been blunt; you've always had your head screwed on right, as we say here. I hope everything works out.

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    Thank you, Andrew. It's been great - I hope sincerely that it will be again.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:31
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A true anchor of sanity and constructiveness.

A couple of years down the road we'll suddenly see something incredible like Microsoft's Q&A finally starting to make sense, or a completely new but long awaited thing will come to life, and it's going to be no surprise it was the work of a certain someone.

Good luck on your future endeavours! And don't forget to take a break when needed.

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    An acquisition of Stack Exchange by Microsoft (like GitHub) is much more likely than an IPO.
    – This_is_NOT_a_forum
    Commented Jan 15, 2020 at 5:57
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    Thank you, user1306322. I believe in this idea, this community, this great collective work. Its success or failure will come, not from people like me, but from those like you and the hard work done every day.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:26
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Shog, big surprise to me!

Thanks for all you help to SO,

I always thought you were a fixed staff on SE, I always lookup to you as a very good staff doing all the jobs correct!

Thanks so much!

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    Thanks for the kind words, U10; much appreciated!
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:20
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    @Shog9 Wow, great to see you still comenting here :-), thank you
    – U13-Forward
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:21
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Farewell, Mr. Shog.

We're sorry to see you go.

*bursts into tears*

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    Boromir: Our people... I would have followed you, my brother... my captain... my king. [dies]
    – tchrist
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 13:07
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    It's not goodbye, just... see you later, Justin.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:22
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@Shog -

Thank you Shog, you are a true idol of knowledge.

Shog was the heart of the community. Everyone here adores the guy, and not without good reason. He is an oracle, and wise beyond his years.

@SE -

WTF.

Honestly, I didn't really think it was possible for this much momentum to be interrupted over time, but this is truly a sobering act. Time for people to step down or get removed by the Board. You are lucky this thing isn't a public entity.

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    "Everyone here adores the guy". Which is probably why he had to go.
    – Andras Deak -- Слава Україні
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 22:22
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    Thank you Travis - you're one of those folks I always look forward to encountering; you've always got something to say, and usually say it well.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:33
  • @Shog9 - Hopefully I said it well here haha :) At the time I wrote this my heart was heavy and it was honestly difficult to write a meaningful farewell to you because the distress was real. Still not used to seeing your name without the diamond. Still planning on somehow getting to CO for a beer / whiskey / rum?, I swear, but seriously I haven't even taken a vacation in like 18 months.
    – Travis J
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 20:17
  • Well, sounds like you need one then... Lemme know if you make it through!
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 20:19
  • Absolutely will!
    – Travis J
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 21:56
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SE is strategically ridding themselves of people who are able and willing to deliver substantial critique to the decision makers.

They are dumbing themselves down: The remaining court of yeasayers will render SE incapable of necessary course corrections.

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    I suppose that there is more behind such moves than just changes to the company atmosphere. What about this: Cutting off those mods who have strong ties with the general public and have the most contributions to lose, then move everything to subscription-based, or some other legal form of commons-grabbing. No proof, just an attempt to find a rational motive.
    – ccorn
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 14:20
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    @ccorn It does not make sense alienating a whole community before driving in a subscription-based model.
    – Rui F Ribeiro
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 15:39
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    @ccorn "More to it": I agree. The firings are part of a larger strategy. One shift is obvious from the Monica Cellio scandal and also the CEO's recent message. It's the shift towards being "more inclusive and welcoming". Never mind that questions of newcomers (specifically on SO) are most of the times worse than useless: They take time away from users and mods to flag them as duplicates. (There are only so many questions a beginner can ask about C.) I also think that 10% questions by women likely reflect their share of the coder workforce, lamentably or not (coding is kindof dry, isn't it.)
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jan 23, 2020 at 8:24
  • While there's life, there's hope: no matter how bad, things may get better if only folks are willing to make them do so. Keep looking up, Peter!
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:37
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I am sorry that I had to write an answer this late. I was literally speechless when I saw this meta post and immediately logged out. Today I have logged in again to say Thank you.

Thank you Shog for everything.

I learnt a lot from you. You have been my idol on Stack Exchange.

You were one of the best writers I have ever seen.
I learnt how to talk when our mind is not calm.
I learnt how to talk less yet impact more.
I learnt how to moderate.

Nog Shine will not be the same without you.

Your impact will be there on me wherever I be. Thank you again!

You have truly been my Good Friend!

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    Thank you, Nog - I'll forgive you the fingerprints on my keyboard ;-)
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:37
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Reading through other answers, I must say that I envy those who know Shog. I am not much of a frequent contributor and didn't have interactions with him like others, but from what I have seen here and there, he is a great guy and working with him was an honor for whoever had the chance.

I don't know you, but I'll miss you too!

And now that he has decided is forced 😞 to leave the company, I see this as the Captain leaving the ship.

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    I don't think he "decided" to leave the company ... his tweet reads more as if he was fired.
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 12:06
  • @Randal'Thor well then, that's worse than I thought
    – polfosol ఠ_ఠ
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 12:07
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    More like thrown overboard than leaving and more like Steward and Machinist than Captain but otherwise spot on. :)
    – NoDataDumpNoContribution
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 12:10
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    @Trilarion Luckily for Shog, he has a large inflatable life raft in his pocket, and there will be plenty of non-sinking ships passing by.
    – jpmc26
    Commented Jan 15, 2020 at 15:51
  • It is a pleasure to meet you, polfosol - regardless of circumstances.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:28
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One of the most effective mentors I had known within the Stack Overflow/Meta and Stack Exchange network. It is sad to know that you are moving on. You will be missed.

No doubt @Shog's dedicated all around efforts in building and maintaining this network will be always remembered.

Hats off to you @Shog.

I wish you all the best for your future endeavors.

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    Thank you, DebanjanB - and know this: I don't work here, but this has always been my community, and so it remains; we're in this together.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:25
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I never directly interacted with you, but, over the years, more than hundreds times I read your comments or answers. It helped me a lot to understand how things were supposed to be around here, and improve. Let me tell you this straight: you're the "the best damn cooler in the business". OK, you certainly deserve more than an excerpt of one of the Top 10 best worst movies of all time :-)

But, still, you were one of the leaders of the pack when it came to use common sense, decency, and just needed to Be Nice. You could chill out and keep a cool head when things heated up. That's why people liked you, respected you, and listened to you. That's why people like you, respect you, and listen to you.

As a non-native speaker, I had to search for "shog", and look for (what I thought were) hidden meanings, play-on-words... I found that, actually, it was a real noun/verb: here and here. So, let me tell you that seeing you go, Shog, was a real shog. But I have no doubt that you can now, head held high, shog.

You helped build and keep this community afloat and warm for almost a decade. For this, thanks. May you find a calm and light blue sea and favourable winds. So long.

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    I always thought "Shog" referred to Shoggoths from the Cthulhu mythos. IIRC his profile once read... "if I die in R'lyeh, at least I will die free".
    – S.L. Barth is on codidact.com
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 18:38
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    @S.L. thanks! From Lovecraft, I know only the name, never read anything, I'll check this in the future. I guess you're closer than me on this one :)
    – OldPadawan
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 18:46
  • You're welcome! Just warning you, Lovecraft was a master of horror stories... don't read him in the evening if you value your sleep!
    – S.L. Barth is on codidact.com
    Commented Jan 14, 2020 at 18:52
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    Thank you for the well-wishes, OldPadawan. It has been a pleasure!
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:30
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Sad to see you go, but to be honest you are better off not working for a company that will fire its longest serving and hardest working employees, but defend to the hilt (with large cash payouts, no less) somebody who has broken the law whilst acting as a spokesperson for the company.

You will easily find somewhere else where your talents are appreciated. Good Luck!

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    You may well be right here, razethestray. I believe that there is a purpose to everything, and this too will lead somewhere necessary. Thank you for the confidence!
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:34
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How did everything run so smoothly ?

Shog9
              Shog9 at the controls.

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    A remarkable likeness, Rob :-)
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:39
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I'm not sure whether we interacted directly, but I've always found your posts insightful, helpful, calm and incredibly professional. At a time when the community is up in arms more than not, that's surely an incredibly valuable skillset in its own right, so I'm stunned to see you've been let go.

That being said, I imagine you'll be snapped up rather quickly, and rightly so. You'll certainly be missed here, but I'm sure you'll reach new heights elsewhere. All the best on your new adventure.

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    Thank you, berry120 - I appreciate it, and whether heights or depths, I will always have a fondness for the good folks here.
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:32
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"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

Thank you Shog9 for all you have been and done for this community.

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    Ecclesiastes 9:10 KJV
    – jpmc26
    Commented Jan 31, 2020 at 1:52
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    Thank you, blestab. "Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?"
    – Shog9
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 5:39
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