Etele Phone Home: After 10 Years, Kinja's Resident Alien is Getting Out
Hungary's own Etele Illes, a person who is as much of a Kinja icon as Nick Denton himself, has finally had enough and is calling it quits. As is tradition, current and former Gawker, Gizmodo and G/O Media staffers from across the globe have come together to roast a departing OG Gawker Media employee. While assembling the burnsauce required of a spicy roast, there was a common question from contributors: how do you roast someone as pure and good as Etele? It turns out you don't, so what follows is the kindest Gawker roast of all time.
Csaba "Ed" Schreiner
I honestly attempted to find something roast-worthy about Etele, but it's impossible. He is a weird angelic alien being from Sirius, created from combining pure light, a knitted Baphomet sweater, and woodland camo pants. I believe he might have been sent here to make our lives better by radiating pure happiness and joy. I consider him a friend, an inspiration and a role model, and working with him at Kinja was one of the most exciting times of my life so far.
Daniel Péger
Etele,
I've said this to you probably multiple times before, you were an idol to me since before I knew anything about design. I knew you were the guy behind the looks of 444 and index and I WANTED TO BE YOU. I'm so fucking proud to have worked with you. You care deeply about the people around you and that'll set you up for success wherever you go. When I miss you I'm gonna pretend the Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Guy® on my desk is you, if that's okay.
Keep on rockin' in the free world.
Michelle Chiang
We are gathered here today to witness the end of an era and to celebrate new beginnings 🎉
Etele, you bright and brilliant creature. It’s such an honor to still be in contact even though our official Gawker days are now a closing chapter. The lifelong friendship is everlasting. I miss getting instructions blasted by your tiny megaphone even though we shared a desk and sat next to each other. A true and devoted captain, you stayed with the design team ensuring that we’ve all moved on before embarking on your own adventures. See you soon and congratulations!
Much love.
Laurie Duggins
If you were at G/O Media circa 2017-19 (known then as Fusion Media Group, of course) as I was, you were lucky enough to be in the presence of the great Etele Illes. A looming Hungarian dressed in all camouflage and Nike, Etele ruled the freezing concrete halls of West 17th Street.
While particularly savvy with computer programs, he preferred an analog project management whiteboard with beautifully written Post-It notes. A chef connoisseur, he would bring in (and share) delicious homemade gazpacho. A sophisticated diner, he preferred a leisurely lunch out for either sushi or Belgian food over the free meals in the office on Wednesdays (for the masses).
He also managed the art gallery at our West 17th Street office; a highly curated selection of trash art and employee contributions. Etele is an incredible designer and manager and G/O Media will likely fall further into the abyss with his departure.
Yay Etele!!!!!
Ben Regenspan
It's really hard for me to look back on Etele's 10(!) years at Kinja and not imagine what might have been: what if the ad-based media revenue model wasn't in a death spiral; what if private equity attracted competent, well-meaning people; what if certain billionaires were never born, etc.
But then I think about Etele's vibrant designs for top Hungarian news sites (which still hold up after many years), and imagine G/O Media sites with maybe 75-90% fewer ad units, and I get inspired and remember how it felt when the internet was still an exciting and open place, and how it's a place where Etele's many contributions endure.
It was a true honor to have had the chance to work with Etele on some very good websites. Besides being great at what he does, Etele is a ray of light, bringing joy wherever he goes. He is the kind of person who you can't walk a block with without running into friends, whether you're in Brooklyn or Budapest. Digital media's loss is everyone who has the pleasure of working with Etele next's gain.
Kelly Bishop
I love this human. And his partner, cat, and plants. He is someone I hope to have in my life forever because of how he cares for everyone and everything. I’m so glad that our path crossed and intertwined our lives ❤️
Péter "eszpee" Szász
Etele bazmeg!
I still can’t wrap my head around you leaving Gawker Blogwire UniModa Univision FMG GMG Great Hill Partners G/O Media Kinja. Almost exactly 10 years ago, when I was on my way to move back from France to Hungary, you reached out to me. We used to work together at Index / Blog.hu, and you recently left them for Gawker. Gawker, for most of us, was this exotic, seemingly shady, but extremely cool thing in Budapest, a handful of people who nobody knew what they were doing, but their eccentric American owner threw incredible parties where half of Budapest’s media workers would mingle.
You reached out to me, because your new team was looking for a Technical Project Manager in Budapest (I still have the job description from Tom!), someone who, in the words of said job description, would “make things happen”. I was shit-scared at my interview, bending over that Skype microphone in the old Andrássy office, realizing the gravity of the opportunity. (Fun fact: I never worked in that office, by the time I got an offer Gawker moved to the Hercegprímás street office.) You were so nice and reassuring, as always, that it’s going to be fine, everything is going to be fine. And everything was fine, indeed, for a pretty long time.
Anyway, this is not a eulogy, and I’m not good in the usual roasting genre neither, so I’ll just leave you with one advice for your undoubtedly stellar professional career: whenever someone tells you to stop sticking your nose into everything and just do your job, you should take it as a sign to start looking for the exit. Because the biggest value that you can provide to any company worth working for is that you care, with passion and love, for the product, for the people, for the business. (OK, you’re a pretty damn good designer too.)
Take care, hugyos sarok visszavár, hope to see you soon.
Michael Butkovic
Normally these would have some light roasting, but I don’t really have the capacity or desire to do that to Etele. The company has lost another supremely talented person, square in the middle of their peak earning potential, and are all the worse because of it. I don’t know what they should give you for making it to 10 years, but it should likely be some kind of gilded statue, memorial plaque, or at the very least a large bonus to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Congrats Etele!
Nick Eckhart
Editor’s note: Nick requested I add the following image.
Ali Philippides
I don’t know how many people know this, but Etele is the curator and director of the famed Gawker Media / GMG / Univision / G/O Media Art collection. He has always been dedicated to not only displaying art in the office, but also sourcing new pieces to buy. I was lucky enough to be invited by Etele to a Motel 8 art auction. Yes — it was an auction featuring artwork taken from the walls of Motel 8’s across the country.
My first day at Gawker back in 2014 I was given the task of decorating Etele’s desk for his first day at the NYC office, little did I know how lucky I would be to get to call Etele a close colleague and then a friend. He’s one of the most creative, funny, and welcoming people I know. He’s had such a positive impact on Kinja and the GMG properties, and I know that his next job is so lucky to have a guy like him on the team.
Josh Laurito
Many of you already know this, but in the 1940s there was a running joke about some Hungarian immigrants to the US actually being Martians.
I think about this often when I’m around Etele. Certainly I’m pretty sure he’s getting his sweatshirts from Mars, bc I do not see them at any terrestrial retailer. I’m also not sure about that carton of dinosaur eggs he once showed me.
Regardless, I’m very happy that you found a new gig with some friends, Etele. Good luck, safe travels, and if you ever spill out of your bodysuit we’ll get the men in black to help you out!
Long Cao
Ernie Deeb
A few months into my tenure at Gawker Media in 2013, the company threw one of its infamous parties on the 210 Elizabeth rooftop. The party was sponsored by a waterproof Sony mobile phone, so obviously invitees were encouraged to bring water guns. At the last minute, I decided to theme myself as a firefighter by wearing a brick red H&M deep V-neck tee, a too-small-for-my-big-ass-head plastic firefighter’s helmet, and a toddler-sized water tank backpack that had a hose running to a tiny pump-action squirter. I probably thought I looked cool.
I spent the entire day running around in this ridiculous get-up, squirting pathetic amounts of water at everyone and everything. At some point, a bald man with a heavy Central European accent flagged me down. “Hey,” he said, “Wow. Can I take your photo?” Sure, I thought, why not. What good is this fantastic outfit if I don’t allow strange men to photograph me in it?
The next workday, the entire tech team received an email from Etele, with the subject line “YEAH!!!!”, or something of similar excitement. To my horror, the content of the email was a full resolution attachment of me looking like an absolute chud in an image so large that you had to scroll vertically and horizontally to see it all.
Little did I know that, despite embarrassing me in front of my new colleagues (it was my own fault, really), Etele would end up becoming one of my favorite people in the universe. From the hazy afternoons on the Gawker rooftop to the late nights drinking fröccs at Kozpont, Etele’s happy-go-lucky antics, love for bad sci-fi, and second-to-none dinner parties has made him a permanent fixture in my life, one who immediately uplifts my mood whenever I have the pleasure of seeing him. Long live Etele!
Robin Ting
One thing that I remember from the time I worked with Etele was a day that AWS was down or something and it caused most of our services to be offline. Since he couldn't make a ticket in Asana, he gave me this Post-It. I still have it somewhere.
Claire Neveu
Etele is the first designer I've worked with who wasn't me. He has completely ruined me for other designers. His expertise and communication skills, his ability to understand tech and relate it to design, his keen eye, all of these I have come to realize, are truly god-tier. None of the designers I've worked with—at any seniority level—since leaving Gawker have held even the faintest candle to Etele. And show-off that he is, Etele tops this all off by being one of the kindest people you'll ever meet. Good luck Etele and please invite me to your next dinner party.
Janos Hardi
Jenni Bruno
I was only able to work with Etele for 2 of his 10 years at {insert company name}. And those 2 years were not enough. He is a wonderful human, an amazing designer, and a joy to have in any office or any video chat (he brings props).
There are a lot of emotions that I have about my time with Etele, but perhaps the strangest was the moment when I realized I missed his knees. Due to a change in dress code requirements, Etele's standard camo cargo shorts were no longer allowed, and on a warm day in June, I realized that it was WEIRD not seeing his knees. Etele, I miss you AND your knees AND so much more. ❤️
Michael Scott Hertzberg
Etele,
The run you had was pretty damn incredible. I've shared so many fun and funny moments in the office and over video. You've encouraged a vision for one of the nicest looking media sites out there. Your passion and dedication has been non-stop for 10 years. You never burnt out. Your passion never burnt out. To brighten the fire, I get to work with you again. I have the luxury and privilege to say that. It's a testament of how much you mean to everyone and myself. Cheers to this next step in the journey.
Luca Németh
Tyler Alicea
Etele is a design wizard whose contributions to Kinja are endless. His design powers are only bested by his hospitality, warmth, and dinner parties (remember those?). Years later, I still feel bad that I stole his prized white elephant gift and for knocking over that vase in his living room.
Olivér Kovács
Etele's an ass, but I'll be the bigger man and send him a kiss.
WE LOVE YOU ETELE!
