Geek Heaven. It's a place where you don't have to leave your personality at the door in order to do the work you want to do. The people are smart, engaged and funny. The tools are the latest and greatest. If you need to clear your head by sending a slinky down the stairs, no problem. Oh, and you get paid reasonably well. Yeah, we've all heard about Google's free food and Apple's massages. But a lot of companies want you to love your job. So we're going to start looking at those who know what their employees are about, and show it by creating a place that offers great technology, bleeding edge challenges, and opportunities for serious fun. To kick it all off, let's take a look at BigWorld Technology, a game middleware developer for virtual worlds and large-scale MMOs like World of Tanks, Kai Xun and Copernicus. OK, it's not particularly local--the company's based in Sydney, Australia--but coolness knows no borders. Here's their insider's look at what it's like to work there. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM0KHs0-Lhw&w=560&h=315] One thing for sure, the video shows BigWorld has a sense of humor. That's a requirement, really, for having real estate in Geek Heaven. It also keeps things in perspective. One staffer wrote me:

I've been impressed with the culture that BigWorld has managed to build for itself. I think the quality of our products is the result of this awesome pool of well-matched talent. We work hard and play hard... as evidenced by the screaming that can be heard from the conference room during lunchtime Street Fighter matches.

Screaming matches in the conferences room, and they're not even about the business. More like DNA. I think I'll go pick a Guitar Hero fight with Alice.

If you know a company we should feature in Geek Heaven, send me an email and let me know.