A tribute to Alec Saunders, VP Developer Relations at BlackBerry

“I have the second toughest mobile evangelist job,” I used to say when I was a Windows Phone champ. “The toughest job…that’s Alec’s.”

Anybody can promote the Android and iOS platforms to developers. Taking on the job of being the head of BlackBerry’s developer relations team in late 2011, in the era of iOS 5 and the beginnings of Android 4 called for a rock star, ninja, and Jedi master all rolled up into one person. Luckily, Alec Saunders fits that description, and for three years he worked tirelessly to bring developers to the BlackBerry platform.

Yesterday, he announced that his last day at BlackBerry/QNX would be “sometime between now and November 3”. I don’t know what his plans are, but from one tech evangelist to another, I wish him the best in whatever challenge he takes on next, and thank him for honoring the profession through his hard work, and his fearlessness in taking on a cheesy ’80s hit in a “rally the BlackBerry troops” music video. You know the one I’m talking about…

I can’t think of a more fitting way to send him a tribute than with the same song:

I’m wishing you the best of luck, Alec, but I know you’ll kick ass wherever you go.