"Here's the story on $Heidi Chambers. At deviantART one of the most flattering compliments I receive from outside companies and incoming employees is in regards to our internal culture. There's a common trait that many of the people behind deviantART share. It's easy to say that we look for the smartest and the brightest. It is true, we do. We also take completely for granted a persons ability to be exceptional at the job they are applying for. Of course you can do the job! Right? Otherwise you wouldn't be considered at all!

What we really look for is the fit between a new person and our current culture. How will this person fit in? Will they change the culture or improve the culture? What will they be adding besides just their skills?

Chris Bolt (the namesake of this award) is 1/2 of the secret to deviantART's successful company culture. Heidi Chambers is the other 1/2. And this is the brief story of why.

$Heidi joined deviantART right out of DMusic and was our second official employee. When deviantART was still headquartered in my bedroom, she sat on a medium sized blue exercise ball as a chair. Her desk where she put her laptop was on my bed, and I sat at the only desk in the room. Her filing cabinet for hosting facility contracts and bandwidth arrangements was the nightstand that my bedroom television sat on. And at around noon every day we looked forward to the obnoxious sound of a megaphone strapped to a vehicle that would pass outside carrying snacks.  $Heidi would bounce up; "FRUIT TRUCK!!!" (which eventually had an associated hand gesture). It was hilarious.

Point #1. $Heidi builds culture wherever she is. She finds what's neat and interesting about a place or its surroundings and she makes you keenly aware of why it's ... fun. If it were just me, that horn would have just been annoying and I'd hardly have stopped working on deviantART to go get some watermelon. But she nurtured culture, and she made working at deviantART more fun.

Later, the first American Idol to ever air came on television and $Heidi was buzzing about it. And from the very first moment she saw one particular candidate she was already dead set on who was going to win even though there was still an entire season to go. She stayed with her choice all the way through. When it was time to start hitting the phones, she called literally 100 times a night to vote for Kelly. Kelly this, Kelly that. She'd talk about Kelly all day long, and she'd intensely state Kelly's case as winner if you remotely indicated interest in anyone else.  As we now know, Kelly Clarkson won, and is largely responsible for proving the concept of that show and therefore much of its massive success.

Fast forward a bit: $Heidi knows which shirt is going to be the best seller in a new deviantWEAR series almost every time. She states it early, she sticks with it, rarely wavers and is often very accurate.

Point #2. $Heidi has confidence in her instinct and she continually challenges herself to prove that instinct. This is a trait I admire greatly about her, and this is a trait I seek in others.

In all the years I've known $Heidi, her single favorite thing outside of her flashlight collection is to receive physical mail. Now for the net rat that she is, this strikes me as particularly humorous. Much to $Heidi's great dissatisfaction, not many people physically mail things anymore. So what she does is she gives to others the thing she loves most. If she goes to Minnesota to visit her grand parents? EVERYONE is getting a post card. You, your mom, your friends that she met once. EVERYONE. She sends you a birthday card in the mail, even though she sees you every day and could hand it to you. She sends you a valentines day card in addition to the birthday card, because your birthday is on Valentine's Day. (err at least mine is. lol)  You get the idea.

Many of you have purchased deviantWEAR and if you have, some of you have received little stick figure cartoon drawings with little bubble messages on the side. $Heidi literally goes down to the mail room sometimes and draws on the packages going out to deviants so that they'll be packed with a little bit more love than they otherwise would. No one has ever asked her to do this.

Point #3. $Heidi is nice. $Heidi is kind. $Heidi is all love. And to work at the worlds most emotional destination on the web, where the number 1 search term is the word LOVE (a little known fact), it's very important that you be sensitive to the way that people feel and to proactively work towards making peoples lives better.

It shouldn't surprise you that she's responsible for deviantART's Holiday Card Project where we send deviant-designed Christmas cards to hospital patients all over Southern California.

And now that you've read a bit about $Heidi it shouldn't surprise you that she's the recipient of the 2008 Bolt Award and also the second person other than Chris Bolt to receive it. But I bet you're wondering why she's the other 1/2 to the secret of deviantART's culture.

To date, I've had a say in some way shape or form in every addition to the deviantART team. Once a person is established as having the correct skill and all the right components to join our staff, I ask myself two questions.

1. Would Chris Bolt like this person?
2. Would Heidi Chambers like this person?

If either is a no, then I say no. And it is this way that I've kept a common bond within our staff and built the culture that we have.

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

As for $Heidi, to know her is to love her. That's just the way it is.

Now let me tell you a thing or two about her mom..."

                

"$Heidi is a superhero.  She has wielded her epic power to head various positions throughout the company with ease and style.  Her quick wit and sense of humor have been known to cause many lols and she's single-handedly responsible for the reincarnation of the statement "Your Mom".  Although elevators are known to be her 'kryptonite,' her powers include things like catching fly baseballs, reciting by memory various moments in the "Gilmore Girls," and organizing any group of people for any particular reason.  In short, $Heidi is made of win and we'd fall apart without her which is why she's the perfect choice for this year's Bolt Award."

                

"I've always pictured $Heidi as Fella's spine. Not only because without $Heidi, we wouldn't have our awesome Fella Plushies, but also because $Heidi is one of the people who made deviantART what it is today. Having known $Heidi since December 2003, I can honestly say that she is super woman. $Heidi eats, lives, and breathes deviantART—her dedication is truly inspiring. She can be found online doing work as early at 7am and commonly will be doing work till after midnight. Even though $Heidi is relatively unknown to the majority of the community, she has worked in every possible department (even managing some early IT projects—scary, I know!). Ex-Gilmore Girl addict, Dodgers fanatic, ketchup lover, clautophobic, sarcasm master, and 'Your mom' joke enthusiast; $Heidi  is the epitome of a deviant at heart. It's been a great experience to have worked for $Heidi for over 2 years and I look forward to working with her for many more years to come. Congrats boss!"