Contrary to popular belief, products don't test themselves. Releasing something like the Slingbox, SlingPlayer, or SlingLink requires hours of testing time with generous individuals that want to help make these products the best they can be. In steps Sharon Rylander, the new Beta Program Manager for Sling Media, to coordinate these efforts. Read on to learn more about Sharon's exciting, and undoubtedly stressful, position in this Sling Employee Spotlight!

Sharon, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. Can you tell us your title and a description of what you do?

Beta Program Manager. In the past I’ve done the exact same work under various titles, including “Sr. Program Manager”, “Consultant”, and “Hey you.”

Basically, I’m responsible for making sure the whole beta process runs smoothly. If I’m successful at my job, then products get released in decent shape, and testers don’t learn to hate us in the process. One of the biggest failure points of beta tests in general is that feedback (that’s the technical term for, um, email) goes into a black hole at the sponsoring company. The beta tester has no idea if their time and energy has had any impact, which can frustrate even the most saintly among us. Companies, for their part, are typically just overwhelmed. Historically, the beta program gets tacked on to somebody’s job as an afterthought, with a complete underestimation of how much time and energy it actually takes to manage it. A typical day for me involves responding to 100+ emails, tracking down people to handle specific support requests, creating reports, running a status meeting, writing surveys, planning future programs, and making dozens of judgment calls, big and little. There’s a tremendous amount of negotiation involved. Historically, I’ve tended to manage 3 to 5 programs simultaneously, depending on complexity, and sometimes just keeping them separated is the biggest challenge of all.

We know you haven’t been at Sling Media very long. Can you give us a rundown of how you ended up there?

Honestly, I’d been looking around for about 9 months for just the right place (have to admit I’m pretty picky at this point), and Sling did it for me. How it came to pass was pretty random. I’d taken a break from searching when an acquaintance was in the market for a job. I started touting LinkedIn and went online to demonstrate its coolness. Lo and behold I saw the Sling posting, submitted, and less than a week later had my Sling badge. Every job I’ve had over the past 15 years—whether consulting or hired as an employee—has been through word-of-mouth, so this was a novel experience and one I wouldn’t have predicted. [This answered sponsored by LinkedIn ]

Running beta programs is something you’ve done for a long time now. Can you tell us some of the other programs you’ve run in the past?

My first program was with Cisco, working on access servers. Sounds really dry (and it is) but I got to work closely some amazing people, such as this entrepreneurial maverick who laid some of the first Internet infrastructure in rural Australia. I then moved over to the consumer space: Roxio Toast, Palm OS (several versions), some e-commerce startups, etc. I remember flying out to HP one year to help mentor a Beta Program Manager overseeing their 920 printer series. At the time, consumer printers were still pretty expensive, and the quality was poor enough that ordinary people with a little extra cash were tempted to buy a laser printer. I saw this $99 machine outperform an existing $350 model; an excruciating secret to keep. In more recent years I’ve managed enterprise products, such as data integration tools—zzz… sorry, I’ll allow you to wake up—as well as some cool cell phone technology for T-Mobile that I still can’t talk about.

Before you started at Sling, had you ever heard of the Slingbox? What was your impression of the technology when you first saw it?

While Sling is pretty well known in Silicon Valley, I recently took a hiatus from high-tech and had NO IDEA how popular Sling had become. Within 30 minutes of updating my Plaxo info on Day 1, I had friends from out-of-state, who you know won’t return my Christmas cards, suddenly schmoozing me to try to get “hooked up.” All I could think was, “Where the [insert expletive] have I been?” And yes, I was very impressed with the technology. I formerly worked at SGI so I’m used to seeing ground-breaking products, and the Slingbox is in that category. Sure I’d done the backwards math (“Let’s see…good funding and press, should be decent quality”), but I still was expecting much more pixilation, artifacts, and certainly not watchable full-screen mode. It tangoed my geeky heart.

How is the beta process for Sling Media going to change now that you’re the one in charge?

Ice cream on Fridays. World peace. Money for a donkey. I have no idea where that came from, but it is late and it’s making me snicker. Seriously? I have a lot of changes planned, all revolving around keeping pace with the growth of the company. I can see this avalanche coming (of very cool new technologies), and it’s my job to have the backend pieces in place to handle it all smoothly. What it will look like from a tester’s point of view is a move towards a single login for Everything Beta. Once logged in, the tester will have a dashboard of exactly what’s going on and what’s expected next. Better communication is high on my list. After these fundamental pieces are in place, I want to bump up the fun level a notch or two. Maybe even party with some of you guys in person.

SlingCommunity users are always looking at how to get into the beta programs. JT used to tease that he selected by height, but how are candidates selected?

Fingernail length. Nah, all I can say is to be as honest and forthright as possible, and a good attitude is a MUST. You never know exactly what we’re looking for, in terms of existing equipment, technical expertise, etc. But if you get in a program, and find that you no longer have time for it (things do happen), the best thing you can possibly do is contact me immediately so I have a chance to still get the feedback I need from someone else. That honesty and promptness will go very far with me. And of course there are those stars who refuse to do anything lightly, and I don’t know where the world would be without them.

What do you like to do when you're not working? Do you have any hobbies or other interests?

Besides drone on about myself in public interviews? Well, during my little hiatus from high-tech, I dove pretty deeply into acting of all things. I’ve got a modest resume going there, and still have my hand in it. I try to do good-hearted stuff, too: some non-profit grant-writing and tech-support, for example. Next month I’m teaching an improv workshop for at-risk teens.

Do you have a family at home? Can you tell us a little about them?

I have a long-time boyfriend who’s a Renaissance sort. He’s currently CEO for a startup in the semiconductor test space (with major accounts right off the bat); a guest Professor at U. of Rochester (in entrepreneurship and social networks); sculptor; writer; scientist; haiku whiz; do-gooder; and accomplished musician (including a recording with Wynton Marsalis). He hasn’t golfed much though, and on a recent business trip to Thailand, he would yell “Dead monkey!” every time he inadvertently smacked a tree, and then all the caddies would chime in after him. There were a lot of “Dead monkey”s that day.

How many Slingboxes do you personally use? What types of television programs do you like to watch?

I have a 1.0 and a Tuner, though working here allows me access to the whole range of test systems. I had to get a job here because normally I wouldn’t have time for TV, but now it’s called “work.” I’m partial to “The Office” (both versions), wish “West Wing” hadn’t ended, and am mostly caught up on my sci-fi on account of my boyfriend. Oh, and of course “The Actors Studio”.

If you could pick one feature of the Slingboxes or SlingPlayer as your favorite, what would it be?

Now that is a good question. And given that I need to shorten up these answers, I’ll pick here to start. Besides the Slingbox, do you have any other favorite gadgets? As unflashy as it sounds, my iTalk adapter was probably the best $30 spent ever. I use it all the time. Who couldn’t use 20GB worth of voice recordings? (Oh, just moi?) Other than that, I’d toss in the standard fare of "How Did We Live Without These": mini USB keys, all things ZipLinq, etc. Kind of a practical gal in that way.

Do you have a memorable experience in your short time at Sling Media that you could share?

Celebrating the first major launch since 1.0, and with creepy head, was a stroke of lucky timing. (For those who don’t know, Creepy Head is this hideous, life-size, Halloween-ish head encased in the equivalent of a large crystal ball. He sits outside of Rich’s office—VP Mktg—and is remotely controlled to shout at unsuspecting passers-by.)

You haven't been using the SlingCommunity for very long. What are your impressions thus far?

Wow, and wow. I honestly haven’t come across anything like it. I’m impressed with how active it is and how users so readily help one another. The expertise level is also impressively high, a HUGE help for me in particular. Lastly, it’s been a joyous luxury to slough off some of the business writing formalities ingrained in me. (Whut, smart people aren’t allowed some fun? ps Scheee, my Eglisch is grrrrreat!)

I'd like to give an extra special thanks to Sharon for all the time she spent answering these questions and sharing more about herself with the community. So far she's done an impeccable job of taking the various beta programs by the horns and making them an enjoyable experience. Don't forget, there's ice cream for the community every Friday... and Sharon is buying. (Just kidding)