Whether you're taking part in the SlingPlayer Mobile for Smartphones Beta, or just asked a related mobile question in the forums, you may have gotten a response from the brilliant Vicky Shum. Her job... everything and anything that deals with SlingPlayer Mobile. If you're into TV on the go, then Vicky is definitely the person you want to get to know. Read on to learn a little more about her in this month's Sling Employee Spotlight!

What's your title, and a description of what you do at Sling Media?
Sr. Product Marketing Manager. I helped launch our first mobile product SlingPlayer Mobile for Pocket PC (much thanks to JT). On-going, I'm working on product planning, development, and product launch of our SlingPlayer Mobile line of products (plus juggling "a few other balls", just like everyone else in the company... :-) ).

How long have you worked for Sling Media, and how did you get started?
About 2.5 months, though it feels longer than that. I first met Blake and Jason a while back, and was very impressed by them, the product/ idea, and mostly their passion. Didn't think too much about working for Sling then as I still enjoyed my old job (at Sony PlayStation), until a business school classmate of mine who's in venture capital strongly encouraged me to rethink. I got the chance to meet more of the great people here, and one thing leading to another, I'm here!

What would you say it's like to work for Sling?
"Work hard, play hard." Ok I'm not sure about the "play hard" part..., but it's definitely a lot of fun. It's a "high-performing team", people are passionate about the company and what they're doing, lots of healthy debates, people going out of their way to help each other, ...I'm loving it. Oh and every other Friday we have something called "SlingFling", a happy hour of sorts. So far we've done St. Patty's day green-food-and-drinks happy hour, breakfast cookout, karaoke (Jason singing while the rest of us ate and continued our geek talks), etc. So while we take work very seriously, we don't take ourselves too seriously which is great.

So far, what has been your most memorable moment at Sling?
On my first day, came in to office, Rich (boss then) was out on a trip, rest of team not there yet, I thought: hey, a leisurely start. Cleaned my workspace, went around to introduce myself, and voom within an hour, Blake and our COO told me I was launching SlingPlayer Mobile in fewer than 4 weeks, and since then I was literally lit on fire.

But actually the most feel-good moment was the night that we launched the Public Beta of SlingPlayer Mobile. Everyone involved stayed late to get the last minute stuff done in our conference room, be it catching typos on web pages, finishing Support articles, uploading images, etc. As JT said, that was the first major launch since our original launch. We finally got things done, and even had a mini champagne celebration. That was a good feeling with everyone so supportive.

Do you have family at home? Kids?
Not yet. Eating frozen food and canned soup now to save up for a "home" in the Bay Area....

Do you have any hobbies that occupy your spare time?
Spare time (ahaha....). Let's say if I had any, I'd be playing my really bad golf, some tennis, and watching TV (on my TV rather than on PC or mobile device for a change :-) ).

How many Slingboxes do you currently have and what are they hooked up to?
Just one, hooked up to my TiVo. But hey I do use SlingLink!

What kinds of shows do you typically watch? Do you have a favorite show out of the bunch?
Scrubs, The Office (US), The Apprentice, if my DVR Seasons Passes cooperate... The Office is hilarious; DVR missed a couple episodes; might have to go to iTunes!

If you could pick one feature of the Slingbox or SlingPlayer as your favorite, what would it be?
Maybe it's because I'm so close to it, SlingPlayer Mobile as a concept itself has a lot of wow factor to me. I now try to watch TV on my XV6700 EVERYwhere; while working out, in the car, while eating, in the bathroom (while blow drying my hair, ok?), just for the heck of it, "cuz it's cool!" or, just highly geeky.

Besides the Slingbox, do you have any other favorite gadgets?
My white PSP, Tapwave Zodiac (a good product nevertheless), iPod Nano, Treo 650, XV 6700 (only because I can use SlingPlayer Mobile on it :-) ).

You haven't been using the SlingCommunity for very long. What are your impressions thus far?
It's great. It's great to know that users enjoy some of the features we put out, and it's even more important to hear what users don't like and wish for in terms of features. I truly value the honest feedback, good and "bad", from the community.

The SlingCommunity Team would like to thank Vicky for taking the time out of her crammed schedule to share a little about herself with the community, and we wish her the best of luck in finding her dream Bay area home. The next time you're slinging a TV show to your PDA or Smartphone during a long cab ride or car trip, remember that Vicky was lit on fire so you'd never have to face boredom again. If that's not love for the Slingers of the world, then we don't know what is.