Around 2016, the newly-formed Ensoul was little more than an evolution of my previous independent developer experience. At that time, we worked on a promotional campaign for (Italian rap star) Salmo, alongside an old acquaintance of mine, Andrea Paoli, former editor-in-chief of Groove music magazine. I confess: entering the Milan headquarters of Google felt like stepping into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. To my great surprise, I discovered that not only were the people at Google Italy extremely courteous, but they were also genuinely interested in listening to you and finding ways to collaborate effectively.
It was during that period that I met Alfredo Morresi, who even then was the community manager for developers. Ensoul was developing a prototype of a webVR viewer, and Alfredo immediately stood out for his kindness and attentiveness. Among other things, we were fortunate to receive an early physical prototype of the Google Pixel and an invitation to the Google VR Workshop in London. I found myself sitting among members of the BBC, The Guardian, and CNN, and there I was… feeling flattered and a little surprised to be among them. It was a fantastic experience, and work on our prototype, called Soulvu, continued until 2019, eventually halting due to the pandemic.
Over the years, I’ve stayed in touch with Alfredo, and I’ve always admired his kindness and adventurous spirit. Google’s main Italian office is just a stone’s throw from one of our most prestigious clients, the Biblioteca degli Alberi in Milan, near the Bosco Verticale. Every now and then, I send him a message: “Hi, are you at the office?” “No, I’m in Australia.” “Hi, are you at the office?” “No, I’m in Arizona.” Fun fact: I don’t think I’ve seen him in person since before the pandemic, but we’ve always kept in touch from time to time with great pleasure.
Since Diary focuses on tech culture, it felt natural to involve him. Being the community manager and head of developer relations for such a giant provides perspectives and experiences that are anything but marginal, and Alfredo was kind enough to share them with us in the video and podcast, which you can find here.