@Rich reached out a few weeks ago to let me know he was retiring from Epicor, but I didn’t want to share it until he was away and enjoying a Tequila Sunrise somewhere. But, I wanted to take a moment to appreciate Rich properly.
I first met Rich back in 2008 at my very first Insights Conference. I was fresh out of school, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and had just been hired to help implement Epicor (Vantage 8 at the time) at a local company in Florida.
While wandering the halls of Caesar’s Palace for the first time, I stumbled into Rich and Brian Hattrup’s Customization to the Max session. That session changed a lot for me—both in my career and my life. It gave me a glimpse into what was possible with this software and ultimately led me down a path that resulted in the creation of this forum and the amazing relationships we’ve built over the years.
Rich was always there at Insights, willing to share what he could (even when I probably annoyed him outside of Insights, too). But he was always gracious, and I learned a ton from him over the years. I like to think that, over time, he even grew to enjoy my relentless deep dives into the belly of the ERP—or at least tolerated them with good humor.
Last year was the first time I can remember Rich not making it to Insights, and he was sorely missed. I know I’ll miss our random conversations, interactions throughout the year, and, of course, the late-night chats at the Fuse.
A huge congratulations to Rich on his retirement—I’m sure he’s looking forward to some well-earned peace and quiet away from us nerds.
Maybe when you start to miss us, you’ll agree to join us in the podcast to talk a bit about history and share stories.
He is also the recipient of our first ever Epicor Legend badge!
@Rich your presence was missed last year, and I too have learned so much from your sessions and from listening in on conversations sparked from a question @josecgomez or @hkeric.wci asked… things I didn’t understand but made more sense as I learned more.
Thanks for always being active and sharing your knowledge with us. Congratulations on the retirement, I wish you many days filled with activities that you enjoy!
Rich was one of those people that made Epicor ERP a great product. I still have on my desktop a link to his post on making BAQs parameter driven. I sure hope his example is taken to heart by others at Epicor. Customers doing amazing things that they never thought of should be encouraged and not discouraged!
Quick Story - I was just getting familiar with Epicor -green as grass, in a new role and got to go to Insights. Went to a Rich Riley presentation and totally followed what he was presenting - he made it so clear. I was struggling to solve a problem, to do something I did not know how to do, and mentioned it after the talk. He gave me his card and asked me to follow up after the Insights cool down. I worked on it and waited a week or two and emailed him the details and waited to hear back - was hoping for guidance on how to solve. He replied and had basically solved the issue and provided the solution! I was blown away!
He really showed such Generosity and Care, (and wisdom, probably realizing I was way out of my element), and that made a fantastic impression to me. He was also a great teacher! He continued to teach us all sort in every post he added here. You will be missed greatly Rich!
Blessings to you! Wishing you a wonderful and prosperous life and lots of new adventures!
