About Offshoot

A Little History...

Offshoot began as an idea in a suburban basement, powered by an AMD Althon 700 with 512 MB of RAM (and 20 GB HHD to boot!), running Windows 2000 on a sweet (at the time) 21" NEC Multisync Monitor. Seriously.

While a lot has changed since that time, the same passion and creativity that sparked us in the suburbs still drives us today. It’s also what makes Offshoot as much a large, extended family as it is a business. Even though most of us have different last names, we’re all connected through our love for code, design and culture.

And that's the same attitude we carry over to our clients. We love working with good people and providing them with the best possible solutions to help them get things done. While our business is code, the real product we peddle is solutions.

We're always looking to strengthen and add to our ever-growing family, too. Get in touch with us through the contact section. In the meantime, you can get to know us better and learn more about the people responsible for Offshoot's success.

James Hamilton

Founder
It's safe to say James caught the design bug early. At the tender age of six, he won a local paper's art competition and was rewarded with two tickets to see "Krull" in 1983. With a background in fine art, and training in both web and print design, James has gradually exchanged day-to-day design responsibilities to focus on Offshoot business development. An ardent Liverpool and Toronto FC supporter (he swears he's going to start supporting winning teams soon) and lover of golf, football and his cat Richard Dunn, he lives to seize every wonderful opportunity each day brings.

Neil Hamilton

Cheif Strategist
Give Neil a mountain and he'll turn it into a molehill. With five years of experience crafting elegant XHTML and CSS, Neil's become our ringleader in managing deliverables and building jobs for the Offshoot development team. A stickler for details, Neil can take a client's big-picture idea and create a step-by-step process to get it done. He's the one who makes sure our work is executed effectively, efficiently and within budget contraints.

Chris Woodford

Senior Developer
Chris has one driving passion - to solve business challenges through programming - and he's worked with Offshoot for seven years honing his craft. Fluent in PHP, MySQL, Doctrine, Zend Framework and MVC architecture, Chris has a Rolodex of programming and analytical skills. A Zend-certified developer, Chris's core areas of expertise include domain modeling, object-oriented design, Zend Framework development and weaving well-ordered and efficient code. But his skills aren't limited to the keyboard - listen to him shatter the earth with his guitar, or read this great article he wrote for PHP Architect.

Zoe Hamilton

Office Manager (and Minister of Finance)
Projecting time budgets, overseeing due dates, daily planning and ensuring that we're on schedule are all part of Zoe's job - and that’s just her mornings. The rest of the time she's forecasting our monthly budgets and making sure we're setting aside funds to continue to grow. Never afraid to take on new tasks, Zoe's also on her way to completing her bookkeeping certificate at Humber College. An amazing event planner as well (our Mario Kart nights and Cupids For Cancer fundraiser are just a few of her recent successes), she suffers with James through every Liverpool and Toronto FC season.

Justin Mazur

Development
Justin is a modern-day tinkerer. If the HAM radio craze was still in full swing in 2011, he'd have the sweetest set-up this side of the Dakotas. With a degree in New Media Studies from Humber College, Justin hasn't stopped learning since he left school. He began at Offshoot as an XHTML/CSS Front End Developer, but quickly started flexing his Javascript muscles, and now works under the supervision of Chris creating slick, silky smooth interface enhancements. He also holds the world record for the most variety of energy drinks consumed (currently at 1,087+ brands).

Justin Samuel

Server Security, Development Advisor
Our resident Server Wizard (seriously - he wrote a PHP script that turns Windows servers into Linux boxes), Justin keeps our servers humming all day, every day. He's also the advisor we call upon to make sure we're planning properly for future growth, the one we turn to when a server has a hiccup, and the brain that ensures our products pass his insanely long security check (because be loves trying to break code). Currently in residence at UC Berkeley pursuing his PhD in Computer Security, you can check out what he's up to here, or read this paper he helped write on the vulnerability of package managers for Linux and BSD systems.

Nigel Downer

Interface Design
Nigel is dedicated to providing every visitor to every client's website with the best user experience possible. His uncompromising ability to critique and re-evaluate his work ensures our clients give their customers an amazing experience from landing page to checkout. Nigel's résumé includes a long stint at advertising agency MacLaren McCann, but he enjoys the flexibility and the degree of control and execution that working with a small family brings. You can also catch Nigel performing offline and on-stage at Second City Toronto.

Andy Winkler

Chief Know-It-All
Around the Offshoot office, Andy is known as "the Magician" because he constantly makes the impossible a reality. From staging The Artist Sanctuary to managing Sony recording artists illScarlett, Andy has an amazing knack for delivering beyond all expectations. He also owns Know Affiliation, an inventive marketing and artist development company based in New York. They specialize in all aspects of branding, whether it’s building recognition, creating concepts and name generation or developing strategic partnerships and sponsorship opportunities. He isn't unique because he’s trying to be different; it's because he's different that makes him so unique. In the past he's collaborated with leading brands such Blackberry, Vitamin Water, Red Bull and Skull Candy.