Confessions of a Weather Underground Employee
Before I get into why I am writing this blog, I must give two disclosures. First, writing this blog was my idea. I came to the idea to write it after thinking that some in the Weather Underground community would like to hear an employee's point of view regarding Weather Underground becoming part of The Weather Channel Companies. I have not been asked to write this blog and these are my own words. Second, I am speaking mostly from a meteorological perspective. I am not technically in the Development Department, Sales Department, or Marketing Department. Although I work very closely with each of these departments, I do not claim to be speaking for them.
For those of you who haven't heard of me or read my blogs, my name is Shaun Tanner. I have worked for Weather Underground since February 2004, many of those years as its Head of Meteorological Operations. I am responsible for a variety of things, including taking media requests, reporting on weather events, and producing weather-based products. My job, along with nearly all of the other positions at Weather Underground, requires me to wear multiple hats. While I am a trained meteorologist and am responsible for keeping up with major weather events, I also extensively program. Needless to say, I have grown with Weather Underground the past 8.5 years and I have gotten to know many in its community.
So, when I first found out Weather Underground was to merge with The Weather Channel Companies, I went through many emotions. After all, I had literally been with the company through blood, sweat, and tears, so it felt as if something was being taken from me. It took a few days before I began to realize the possibilities of a partnership with The Weather Channel Companies. While this eventually became clear to me, it will take some explaining for it to become clear to you.
When I first came to Weather Underground, the company was very small. There were three meteorologists, one of which was Dr. Jeff Masters. We had a small Sales Department of a couple people, and no formal Marketing Department. While much has changed over the years, we still "only" have 8 meteorologists. I say "only" because other weather companies have many multiple times this amount. Although it is amazing what we have produced with this amount of meteorologists working hand-in-hand with the other departments, we can do so much more.
The atmosphere in our office has always been free-flowing. Departments freely exchange ideas, both good and bad, with other departments in hopes of developing an innovative new way of imaginging weather and the way the public sees it. WunderMap was one of these projects that was imagined by the Development Department and took cooperation with every other department to make it happen. Thus, today we have a product that has really revolutionalized weather imagery. There are many more examples, if you've got the time.
No idea is too crazy for Weather Underground. Crazy ideas often have a way of becoming brilliantly innovative. While we do not act on every crazy idea, we sure love to entertain them often. This brings me to the possibilities of a partnership with The Weather Channel Companies. An expanding imagination is the biggest of these. I could literally name around a dozen weather, climate, and environment products off the top of my head that I have not been able to develop over the past few years. These products have not failed due to the will of the company or any other negative attitude, but rather because I have not had the time or resources to see these products to their full potential. And, by the way, I am no wiz kid. I am willing to bet that each Weather Underground employee has at least a similar amount of fantastic ideas floating around that could once again revolutionize weather. We need to pull these products out, let them mature, and open them up to the Weather Underground community. A partnership with The Weather Channel Companies will allow this to happen. This is why I am excited. Weather is at the core of what The Weather Channel Companies does. Because of this, we will have at our disposal over 200 meterologists and a vast array of other resources that we will be able to use to bring to the Weather Underground community some more innovative products we have always been known for producing.
You are the Community
The last thing I want to write about is you, the Weather Underground community. The community you have built on our site is like no other in the weather industry. We have created, and you have produced, a robust blog network, millions of WunderPhotos, the most widespread Personal Weather Station network on the web, and a weather site with a community as its foundation. This is what makes Weather Underground so special. Many of you reading this blog have even been using the site longer than I have been employed at the company. I still receive emails occasionally from customers who used the initial telnet site back in the mid-1990s. How awesome is that! There is no one aspect of Weather Underground we should thank more that its community. But, guess what? That community is about to get bigger. That community packed full of weather fanatics, "wunderful" photographers, and backyard meteorologists is about to receive a bunch of new members that didn't even know the community ever existed. And that, perhaps, is the most exciting part. If the community made Weather Underground what it is today, what will you make it tomorrow?
Finally, I will leave you with this thought. I was exchanging an email with a co-worker regarding what we had accomplished over the past 8 years and what we could accomplish in the next 20. He responded with all the crazy ideas that went on to flourish along with the crazy ideas that fell flat on the cutting room floor. Then, at the bottom of the email he wrote, "Let's bring the crazy with us."
Yes, let's do that.
Reader Comments
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Much appreciated that's for sure.
I'm all for Crazy,as per rumor.
Thank you very much for the honest personal look at the inner workings of WU.
I hope it doesn't turn out that way but I seen it too many times not to voice my concerns over it.
-Orion
It is all dictated by what some media executive feels is the best approach for the overall conglomerate, whereas WU was all about the weather.
I would like to extend my thanks to all the WU employees.
While I understand your enthusiasm I'm afraid that Wunderground.com will lose it's uniqueness and just aggregate Weather.com's content. I hope that you stay an independent entity within their corporation and continue to provide the great content and forecasts that I rely on.
The small $ for ad removal, the personal weather station access, easy-to-find reams of information and lack of ego presentation are just a few of the things I fear we will see slowly disappear. I hope not
I will be here for the foreseeable future, and it has been a hell of a ride... Congratulations, and thank you for the many years of great service...
Best,
Sam Bennett
I appreciate you taking the time put your thoughts it writing. I really want to see some of those crazy ideas come to life.
Time will tell..........
That's the reason I use Weather Underground. Getting access to actual NEXRAD (as opposed to TWC's dumbed-down radar) having access to actual NWS forecasts, the awesome new 3D radar, etc etc.
I can't imagine this will be anything but bad for WUG, becoming a commercialized useless site like weather.com.
I've been using WUG since 2000, give or take a few months. I've seen so many improvements (and watched TWC devolve into BS non-weather) that it hurts to see a great site going to an entity that will invariably encompass it with it's suck.
Greatly appreciated.
they turned thier backs on it and shut down the blogs...basically said sorry folk we are to busy to deal with it
thats when i found wunderground
Please don't change "storm tracks" on your radar page. This, in my opinion, is the only place to accurately track tornadoes and mesocyclones. I don't know why other weather stations don't use it.
Mike in northern Michigan
The "crazy" as in wildly creative and innovative aspect of wu is what attracts most users to wu vs elsewhere. The community you mention keeps many of the active members here.
Super enjoyed the wunder forecast competitions. Learned a lot and had lots of fun. Thanks for that!
Regarding the new ownership, I hope things work out the way you envision. Best wishes to you and all the wunderground, soon to be TWCC, employees.
A lot of culture issues can crop up when large firm buys a small firm that does that same thing... depending on how the large company is managed. In the case of TWCC this should be frighting. Very few large companies have a culture of free flowing ideas, instead management gets caught up in kingdom building and bureaucracy growing. Where at one time you could mock up an idea, program it, and try it out in a day. Now it turns in to board meetings on how this isn't competing with other existing projects, and what the return on investment will be.
Since I joined WU I've learned more about weather than I ever would have imagined, with just reading what members are discussing, looking at their maps and graphs. What has amazed me the most is the patience they have when it comes to explaining things to the "non-weather person" when questions come up.
Sure, there are the spats on occasion; then there are the personal notes that pop in during the weather-related conversations (new babies, personal storm damage, etc.); but best of all, what I enjoy most are the ongoing laughs between the members (eating crow, fresca, ages, etc) and the respect that the majority of the members have for one another.
I only hope that not only does the blog continue but that all the good "crazy" that happens, is never lost!
All the best to WU in its new endeavour!
Lindy
Thank you for your honesty. I truly hope all your and your workmates are able to develop your 'crazy' ideas. I also hope the blog continues to have the family atmosphere it does now. Only time will tell if everyone's wishes come true. I pray they will.
Again, thank you.
I sincerely hope that WU is an exception to typical M&A results, but there is not much chance of that.
Sad day for me.
Time will tell, and this is a strong community. Weather Channel will do doubt find many loyal Wundergrounders. Let's hope they repsect that!
If this grows into more than that, I'm worried that the individuals will get lost. Sure, WU may serve more people, but will it be a better service for it?
Great post! Change is scary but exciting too!
It would prolly take off and end up as a big hit.
i enjoyed the read and your outlook of it all
Other than that, I'm taking a wait-and-see policy with TWC-NBC. It could be a very good thing. Unfortunately, while at heart I'm an optimist, I'm also by experience a cynic...
Thanks for posting this. It does at least suggest that all the super Wundergrounders are not "fleeing the sinking ship"... so to speak.... LOL
If you are feeling at least cautiously optimistic, I will compose myself in patience...
To TWCC
,,please Handle us with care.
We family.
we've been beat up and battered 'round
Been sent up, and we've been shot down
You're the best thing that we've ever found
Handle Us with care
Reputations changeable
Situations tolerable
Baby, you're adorable
Handle Us with care
I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show Us that you really care
Everybody's got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to our's, and dream on
We've been fobbed off, and we've been fooled
We've been robbed and ridiculed
In day care centers and night schools
Handle Us with care
Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings, hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Handle Us with care
I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show Us that you really care
Everybody's got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to our's, and dream on
We've been uptight and made a mess
But we'll clean it up ourselves, I guess
Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle Us with care
Amen and amen. I have wondered about just such a venture for years. Indeed, I'd like to see something that was more about current weather and forecasts and less about about diversions. Anyone who thinks only a farmer with 20,000 acres cares about what the patterns say and when the drought is likely to break, isn't plugged in too well. And if "somebody" would offer more informative programming, more Americans might learn something and -- Heaven forbid! -- develop new industries, create new jobs, help Americans avoid weather pitfalls and thus save money, and on and on and on....
The WUnder community has never been static, and that has both been the source of strife and incredible sharing.
At the risk of sounding like the olde phart who yells "get off my lawn!", I hope that the unique interpersonal aspect of Wunderground doesn't markedly change; most of us -- I would guess -- aren't the type to walk through the gate and then want to lock it behind us, but we are the type to treasure the gem that this site has become. I hope the site doesn't grow suddenly to the point where it seems like all the other mainstream wx-mills.
You all have done and hopefully will continue to do amazing, groundbreaking things. We will continue to assist with the 'crazy'. Just think of us as inspiration, dream fodder, beta busters.
Thanks much for this blog and the space for us to all talk about it.
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