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title: "Chris Parsons: work with me"
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      <h1><a>Chris Parsons: work with me</a></h1>
      <p>I am a freelance programmer, coach, speaker and trainer. If you'd like to work with me, <a href='mailto:chris@thinkcodelearn.com'>get in touch today</a>.
      <p>Some recent work I've done is shown below:

      <h2><a href='http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk'>E-petitions</a></h2>
      <img class='portfolio' src='/files/portfolio/e-petitions.png'/>
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        June - August 2011
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        <a class='tag' href='/tag/ruby'>ruby</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/javascript'>javascript</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/government'>government</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/chef'>chef</a>
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      <p>The new UK government e-petition site. I was a programmer as part of a small team and worked on all aspects of the site, including the ruby/solr back end, and the Javascript/HTML5 front-end.</p>
      <p>I also led the design and chef configuration of the hosting architecture for the site.</p>

      <h2 class='clearfix'><a href='http://www.bbcacademy.com/academy/index.php'>BBC Academy</a></h2>
      <img class='portfolio' src='/files/portfolio/bbc.png'/>
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        August 2011
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        <a class='tag' href='/tag/training'>training</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/team'>team</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/ruby'>ruby</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/cucumber'>cucumber</a>
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      <p>I spent three days training for the BBC Academy, helping programmers from BBC News &amp; Knowledge with an introduction to basic Ruby programming, and how to use Cucumber most effectively.</p>
      <p>The course was highly interactive, with a day long workshop focusing on real issues faced by the programmers during their work.</p>

      <h2 class='clearfix'><a href='http://www.vitsoe.com/en/rw/shop/606/sketchtool'>Vitsœ sketchtool</a></h2>
      <img class='portfolio' src='/files/portfolio/vitsoe.png'/>
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        September 2010 - January 2011
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        <a class='tag' href='/tag/javascript'>javascript</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/team'>team</a>
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      <p>The sketchtool allows a prospective customer to dynamically create a preview of their shelving purchase by dragging and dropping items of furniture and watching the price update in real time.</p>
      <p>I led the development on the sketchtool application for the Vitsœ website, building the entire system in javascript from the ground up.</p>
      <h2><a href='http://www.easons.ie'>Easons</a></h2>
      <img class='portfolio' src='/files/portfolio/easons.png'/>
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        April - May 2011
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        <a class='tag' href='/tag/ruby'>ruby</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/javascript'>javascript</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/team'>team</a>
        <a class='tag' href='/tag/process'>process</a>
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      <p>During the absence of the website team lead I came in to cover the running the eason website development team.</p>
      <p>I instituted daily "standup" phone calls, took a hands on role build new features, managed the product backlog, and continued the building in the integration of a new e-books platform.</p>
      <h2>How I can help you</h2>
      <ul>
        <li>I can join your team as an experienced programmer. I aim to add lots of value as quickly as possible, whilst producing clean reusable code. I coach less experienced team members where appropriate.</li>
        <li>I can help your team to improve their responsiveness to change and to become more proficient in Ruby and test automation.</li>
        <li>I practice and teach the principles of clean code wherever I go, and can guide you as you improve your own practice.</li>
        <li>I can teach your teams introductory Ruby, test-driven development and good use of Cucumber through participatory 1 - 3 day training courses.</li>
      </ul>
      <p><a href='mailto:chris@thinkcodelearn.com'>Get in touch today</a>
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