I was working at a larger R&D firm (BBN Technologies, since acquired by Raytheon), and had some intriguing projects involving Semantic Web technologies (DAML: h

I was working at a larger R&D firm (BBN Technologies, since acquired by Raytheon), and had some intriguing projects involving Semantic Web technologies (DAML: http://www.daml.org/ http://www.daml.org/). I got interested in how that technology might support my separate interests in the completely unrelated field of digital technologies for Bible study. So i started: * blogging (http://semanticbible.com/blogos/ http://semanticbible.com/blogos/, now rather moribund) * creating hobby projects (like The Composite Gospel Index: http://semanticbible.com/cgi/cgi-overview.html http://semanticbible.com/cgi/cgi-overview.html and New Testament Names: http://semanticbible.com/ntn/ntn-overview.html http://semanticbible.com/ntn/ntn-overview.html) * submitting talk proposals to biblical studies conferences, though I had virtually no formal education in that field. It was a classic "FieldA + FieldB = Innovation" strategy: but at the time it wasn't a deliberate strategy, just what interested me. I met some folks at the conferences who made a software package I'd never heard of (Logos Bible Software), which led to discussions and a job offer. 13 years later, i'm the Director of Content Innovation there. My side projects were responsible for the original connection, as well as demonstrating my interests and competence, and the novel contributions I could make to the company.