Catch a wave, catch a Drupal developer

“A left-hand sandy bottom point break with a six-foot swell and light offshore winds,” Matt Thomson said when asked of his idea of a perfect wave. “The wave lasts for 200 - 300 yards and it breaks over sandy bottom so when you fall off, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Thomson, 32, has surfed since Bodhi and Johnny Utah inspired him and his friend to dust off an abandoned surfboard lying in the garage.

“I was 12-years-old. I was vacationing with my family in Galveston and my buddy and I were watching Point Break. We were so pumped after [the movie] that we taught ourselves to surf the next day.”

Thomson was a surf instructor during summer breaks in California and then later moved to Hawaii after college graduation where he got to feed his craving for swells on a daily basis. He was out on his board as soon as the sun broke the horizon; absolute surfer heaven.

Almost eight years ago, Thomson and his wife moved to Austin where the closest thing to hanging ten was paddle surfing Town Lake. The land-locked surfer now had to travel to find decent surf conditions.

“Two years into marriage, my wife pointed out that every vacation we take turns into a surf trip.  I realized that I go on vacation to be active while my wife goes on vacation to relax,” Thomson said. “In spite of our different agendas, we were both happy if we rented a house or condo that was on a surf break, my wife could lay by the pool and I could simply walk out and surf for a couple of hours.  It was a win-win situation.  We both experienced our version of what a vacation is and still spent most of our time together.”

Thomson started a list of all the great surf spots that both he and his wife could enjoy. The list grew into a spreadsheet that included websites, addresses, phone numbers, and contact information for over 400 surf spots.

“All it took was a vacation for her and waves for me. So the term ‘Wavecation’ was born.”

All Matt had to do was find a Drupal developer.

“After our initial build, I started looking for new developers but nobody was around because they were all at Drupalcon. I called Volacci because I thought they developed websites. Kylon [Gustin] answered the phone, listened to what I had to say and what my problem was.  I was really impressed by how attentive he was to me--a complete stranger. After understanding my needs, my budget and timeline, he recommended Verritech. ”

Verritech added features and upgrades to the developing site and now maintains Wavecation.com.

"Working with Verritech has  been a very good experience.  When a website is the heart and soul of your business everything must be done correctly and in a timely manner.  My favorite thing about the site are the pictures because they show how close the wave is to the house. Verritech optimized image files to ensure the highest quality and resolution. That was important to me--that the pictures are captivating. We want people to look at the properties and say, ‘Wow! I want to go there.’”

Sometimes finding the perfect wave or developer is a complete accident and sometimes all you need to do is go to the right website.

“I found Volacci by searching for “Austin Drupal Developers.” I took a look at the homepage and was immediately impressed by how clean and professional the website looked. When I called, Kylon even knew how I found their site by tracking the phone number I had dialed. From the start, I knew Volacci was extremely competent. That is the number one thing I look for.”