Community Spotlight: Eddy Page, Customer Support Specialist - Addgene

Community Spotlight: In each newsletter, we invite you to learn a little more about your colleagues in the tech transfer community. For this interview, we thought it would be fun to introduce you to one of the Addgene employees (or “Addgenies”) that helps technology transfer professionals, like you, process incoming materials on a daily basis.

Eddy Page joined Addgene’s Office Team in 2014. As a Customer Support Specialist, Eddy handles administrative duties, approval of Request MTAs, and daily customer support. Other responsibilities include streamlining office task procedures and producing media content for Addgene.

Addgene (AG) - Why did you decide to work for a nonprofit organization?

Eddy Page (EP) - Personally, I was drawn to the goal of a nonprofit company serving a core mission instead of shareholders or bottom-line profits. The mission of serving the advancement of the greater scientific community affords employees of Addgene many opportunities to pursue new ventures within the company. As my first full-time job just out of college, Addgene has been nothing but supportive of my evolving career aspirations.

AG - What is a typical day like for you at Addgene?

EP - Each day is a pretty even mix of daily tasks and personal projects (often with a fire or two to put out at some point). Daily tasks are rotating and can consist of approving MTAs, processing payments, answering customer emails, etc. With the help of some coffee, I am usually done with those by early afternoon, at which point I can work on projects.

Recent projects have included creating screencast tutorials for our website and Help Center, producing a recurring podcast series for our blog, updating our various automated email templates, and streamlining daily task processes to make them more efficient.

Overall, this varied schedule helps to balance my day out and offers new challenges every time I come to the office.

AG - What do you find most rewarding about your job?

EP - I find the positive feedback that we receive from the scientific community to be extremely gratifying. As someone in a customer-facing role, I get to hear first-hand how our efforts are helping to improve scientific sharing and improve researchers’ access to information. I feel like we’re really making a positive impact.

AG- What coursework, prior jobs, or other experiences do you believe have helped you at Addgene?

EP - I think that my educational experience in college has helped me to do well working at Addgene. I graduated from Bowdoin College with a double major in Physics and Music Theory/Composition. Balancing analytical problem sets with more creatively inspired projects taught me to shift gears quickly and think on my feet. I’ve found those skills useful in the work that I do here.

AG - Do you currently hold any internal Addgene records or accolades?

EP - We often have company contests and tournaments at Addgene. I have still yet to win one; however, I am currently in the semi-finals of our company ping pong tournament and I would say my confidence is pretty high!

AG - What is your favorite Addgene memory?

EP - Being a part of the company hitting the mark of 500,000 plasmids distributed was a pretty cool experience. I really felt a collective sense of accomplishment throughout the entire company as we were celebrating that milestone.

AG - What do you do for fun?

EP - I enjoy long walks on the beach and sunsets….? I think that’s what I’m supposed to say on these things.

I definitely try to keep active when I’m not at work. My friends and I rock climb 2-3 times a week, which is my main source of exercise. I like that each climb is a puzzle that distracts you from how physically demanding the sport is.

Trips to the mountains to snowboard are common for me during the wintertime. I also like playing video games (huge Legend of Zelda fan) and going to the movies.

AG - What is your tv show and why? Please no spoilers!

EP - Growing up, my favorite show by far was Dragonball Z. I am pretty sure that I have seen every episode several times over. I even dressed up as the protagonist, Goku, for Halloween this year. More recently, I’ve been watching The Leftovers on HBO and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.