Congratulations on your work anniversary

Our next company birthday is still a while away, so we're using the time to celebrate someone else: Jens has been an integral part of the ingenit team for 25 years!

Dear Jens, congratulations on your 25th work anniversary! We are so glad that we have been through thick and thin with you all this time and have grown together.

Jens and Thomas – the founder and one of ingenit's two Managing Directors – shared an apartment while at TU Dortmund. While Thomas studied computer science and founded the company, Jens, then a prospective education graduate (Diplom-Pädagoge), focused on adult education and media education. With the Xanten project, one of the company's first contracts, it must have come up during one of the many conversations in the shared kitchen that Thomas and his co-founder were looking for someone to take on some HTML programming. Jens already had experience in that area, and so he became one of the first employees. He started as a working student for a few hours a week and, as the order volume grew, was quickly hired full-time.

Looking back, Jens has witnessed – and been responsible for – many great milestones. He saw ingenit grow, change its legal form and hire more and more employees. He accompanied the introduction of the European top-level domain (TLD) .eu in 2005 and, with it, took on the support of the first major customers such as “DPD” and “Adecco” (both companies are still our customers – something he surely played a part in). He was actively involved in strategically expanding our range of TLDs available worldwide, and he advised – and still advises – our in-house software developers on the requirements of today's customer portal DBMS (domain and brand management system). There is so much more that Jens has experienced and helped shape – it would go far beyond the scope of this article.

Our customers, our partner companies and all of us love Jens' friendly and positive nature. For 25 years, he has supported our customers and colleagues with expertise, dedication and an open ear. No matter how big the challenge, he always finds a way. His pragmatic view and creative approach make him a valued problem solver. His humor, patience and positive attitude always make working with him a pleasure. Today – and hopefully for the next 25 years as well!

Jens finds his balance to work in music and in the mountains. Thomas and Jens no longer share a home, but they do share their passion for their band Colourflow. Just recently, they played a gig with their fellow musicians at the brewery festival in Soest. The mountains are another source of balance for Jens, where he goes hiking and trail running. His vacation reports and photos never fail to amaze his colleagues. If you'd like to know what Jens experiences in the mountains, visit his blog https://www.motivatedbynature.eu/. Jens is now the father of a bright young boy and, after many years in Dortmund, lives with his family in Cologne. Fortunately, there are band rehearsals – which makes coming to the office on Thursdays doubly worthwhile.

Dear Jens, we can't thank you enough for the past 25 years and your commitment as a loyal employee and valued colleague. We are delighted that, even after all this time, we still see or hear from you every day, and we look forward to many more years and experiences with you!

Your ingenit team