Scott Styslinger
Technology Associate
CNCT
Want to meet CNCT’s Technology Associate?
Oh, you should talk to Scott Styslinger!
In early January, CNCT welcomed its newest staff member and first Technology Associate, Scott Styslinger.
Scott is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied Information Science. Prior to joining full-time, Scott was working for CNCT part-time and at Tatte (which he’s still doing on weekends!).
In his new role, Scott focuses on implementing popular technologies into CNCT to improve event, web, and app experiences. There’s a lot of new features on the way, including the recently updated web app!
When asked what he likes about CNCT so far, Scott said, “Every technical job I have worked before has been in the basement of an educational building or an industrial space so it’s refreshing to work in an office.”
We’re glad our Navy Yard office is a step up for Scott!
His Backstory
🏠 Hometown: Rockville, MD
🎓 College & Major: University of Pittsburgh
🔗 CNCT with Scott about…
“LLMs should not have personalities”
Computers and motor racing 🏎️
His experience working on robots 🤖
Working wacky summer jobs
Scott’s White House Tours
Being from Rockville, Scott has always been close to the district – specifically the White House.
One of his first jobs was as a tour guide for the White House. Whenever his tours were stopped by motorcades or foreign visits (which they often were) he would have to make up his own routes.
As you can imagine, this lent itself to a lot of fun memories like stopping to watch a pickup hockey game, or asking a Capitol police officer to fetch a kid’s toy that was thrown onto Treasury grounds.
When you see Scott, ask him if he’s got any other fun stories!
❤️ Scott’s Favorites
Coffee Spot: Java Nation
Happy Hour: “Anywhere but the The Greene Turtle”
Lunch Spot: “Chipotle has an unnatural grip on my wallet”
TV Show: Silicon Valley
Movie: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Scott’s District Discoveries
💎 D.C. Hidden Gem: Bedrock Billiards in Adams Morgan
🍽️ Favorite Dish: Chicken Sandwich from Chick-Fil-A or Popeyes (depending on how holy I’m feeling)
☕Favorite Drink: Nitro Cold Brew from Compass or Starbucks
📝 Best Out-of-Office Workplace: Panera Bread – it has food, coffee, and water
Work Advice for Everyone, from Scott
Even though Scott’s experience is in a very different field than Hill work, there’s still a lot of valuable lessons he’s picked up along the way that everyone could benefit from…
1️⃣ “I used to work in robotics with a lot of talented people and it was very easy to feel behind. It took a lot of time to recognize that they’ll probably stay better than me but that doesn’t mean I can’t sharpen my own skills.”
2️⃣ “The most energized people at work protect their sleep.”
3️⃣ “When climbing the career ladder, what’s best for your boss is best for you because if they get promoted they’ll take you with them.”
📚 Scott’s Reading List
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
His Advice
“Separate your spaces in life (work, home, activity) and have an open air way to travel and explore. I biked everywhere in college and it was the greatest way to decompress or collect myself before doing work.”
-Scott Styslinger