If there’s one good thing that happened in 2020, it was that Erick Caceres joined TGG as our Director of Quality Assurance!
We’re celebrating his one-year “workiversary” by learning more about him and his profession in geospatial.
Tell us about your role at The Gartrell Group! What do you do?
Hi! I’m the Director of Quality Assurance and I basically take care of all things testing here. It's a new business avenue for TGG and we're working on offering testing services within the geo space and potentially beyond. Molly, Bryce, and I agreed that QA, testing, and the overall culture of quality is something this industry needs to expand on and we want to be at the forefront of that. Not only do I provide our testing services for customers, but I’m also involved in spreading knowledge.
What motivates you to wake up and go to work?
Honestly, in the cheesiest way possible, I just love getting up and working on the projects we have right now and the possibility of new ones coming in. I'm new to geo and I'm learning something new and wild every day. Another motivation is my family, which includes my wife and two daughters, Misha and Sophia. I love my job and I'm grateful to have that privilege after a lot of years in jobs that weren't my favorite. It lends to more happiness at home for me and allows me to be more present for the fam.
If you had to choose three words to describe working at TGG, what would they be?
Zang! Rad! Excellent!
What’s one of your favorite projects you've worked on?
I've been working on a pretty large field and web mapping project for an enterprise utilities company, which spans over several years. It's been a pretty big undertaking for a small firm, but those of us within TGG on this project have a good flow and collaboration to get the job done. One part that I've really enjoyed within this project is the ability to automate regression testing to make my life easier day to day. Along with managing several testing resources in countless testing cycles, test coverage is expansive and getting an automation framework and test suite up and running in a couple of months has really helped us work within a tight schedule.
What's one of your favorite memories with the team or while on the job?
Several come to mind. My first Christmas with TGG was last year, while we were all in the thick of the pandemic. I had yet to meet everyone in person, but Bryce and Molly put together a virtual company holiday party, which was really neat. The icing on the cake, so to speak, was that Molly hand-delivered gift bags to all the employees in town. Each gift bag was tailored specifically for each person. She remembered all our favorite snacks and other things we’d mentioned throughout the year. It was really personal and really made me feel like part of the family. The rest of the good memories have been making my way back into the office a few times a week and spending time with team members in person at a pretty rad office space.
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career in GIS?
Don't. Just kidding! I don't know if I could provide any advice for someone specifically pursuing a career in this space, but I do know that once you are a part of it, a lot of folks really welcome you with open arms. While geospatial data and GIS are an integral part of our society and how we operate, the industry is still somewhat smaller than most other tech fields that I've experienced, but it creates a more personal space. I've already spoken at a couple of local GIS conferences about testing and everyone has been really kind and welcoming.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I’m a first-generation Chilean American. My mom and dad are from Chile and migrated here due to a dictatorship in the 1970s. My first language was Spanish and eventually became bilingual.
What do you like to do when you aren't working?
Skateboarding, playing drums (I used to be a professional musician), hanging with my wife and kids, working on never-ending house projects, eating, sleeping, driving my truck.