Getting to know our Chief of the Techie Stuff

January 14, 2020 by Wink's RockStars

Wink’s CTO is one of TWO Wink employees that worked with the company CEO over 20 years ago. He actively serves as a Bible study leader, camping enthusiast, AND a killer Java Technical Lead and once taught German and Italian software sales engineers (in the auto industry) how to use software while speaking Spanish. Intrigued enough to find out more about the most interesting man alive (in technology at Wink)? I got you.

• He is the Chief of the Techie Stuff at Wink; meaning that he writes the website code, coordinates technology requests with vendors, and helps troubleshoot for Wink customers (doh, Internet Explorer!)
• While he considers himself an “Iowan” today, he was born in Chicago, Illinois and is a first-generation American
• He was employed by three different insurance company home offices (technicality, due to an acquisition!)
• He can carry on conversations in Spanish with Wink’s CEO, whose first language was Español
• He knows 13 different programming languages, in addition to English and Spanish
• His first pair of Nike Jordan shoes now retails for over $1,200- if ONLY he had kept those shoes!
• He garners guffaws for explaining to his peers that he “Does ALL things IT-related, from ordering ink for the printers to building databases and web servers in the Cloud at Wink” (We’re not sure either; must be a nerd joke?)
• His nickname became “Vinnie Barbarino” in primary school because of John Travolta’s character in the television series “Welcome Back, Kotter,” and later “My Cousin Vinny” because of the famous Joe Pesci comedy in high school
• His software technical expertise is so vast that he could school you on a new program for every day in the month
• He was going to go into being a comic book artist, if things didn’t work out for him in the technology field, due to his amazing skills drawing characters such as Spiderman and Wolverine
• He has extensive experience in enough frameworks and APIs that he could practically show you a different one each day in February. Not kidding.
• He was (faithfully) saved by God on December 31, 1989, while being (professionally) saved by Wink on July 15, 2019
• He earned a BS in Industrial Technology Manufacturing from Iowa State University in 1998 and regularly appeared on the Dean’s List
• He earned a wife for life from Iowa State University too; he and Marcia have been married for 25 years *applause here*
• He designed and developed web applications on the insurance agent extranet for the first insurance home office he ever worked for
• His oldest of four children (each two years apart) is now a student at Iowa State University- are you seeing a pattern here?!
• He was responsible for technical design, development, and implementation of automation testing platforms, automated deployments, and software engineering tools at his last job
• His name was inspired by a famous Mexican singer, named “Vincente Fernandez,” whose music he does NOT appreciate
• He is both a Certified Scrum Developer and a Sun Certified Programmer of Java 2 Platforms
• He earned street cred at Wink by admitting to crying during the infamous penny scene on his favorite movie, “Ghost,” starring Patrick Swayze
• He serves as a youth leader for young men at church, in the city he calls “Home”
• He is addicted to the Hay Day app on iPhone and feels it allows him to be a virtual “farm boy,” despite his city roots
• He has advanced the technology at Wink, Inc. more in seven months than their previous technology vendor did in seven years

Vince’s Words of Inspiration

“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.”  –Steve Jobs

Originally Posted at Wink, Inc. on January 2020 by Wink's RockStars.