The Beginning :
I have had a passion for web since the age of 13, when our school library received its first internet-enabled computer. The thought of instant connectivity with the entire world was such a big idea that it took quite some time for me to grasp it, but very little time for me to appreciate it. I quickly began spending whatever time possible behind that computer, and talking to friends trying to find websites that I could visit - for no reason other than the fact that I could. Having no experience with computers outside of word processing classes and The Oregon Trail created a sense of fascination with this "super highway". When this fascination was paired with the childish imagination that I had somehow been able to retain at such a late age, the Internet became much more than a tool and a resource for me - it became an escape.
It wasn't long after searching for domains through Yahoo! (because I had yet to realize that the location bar of Internet Exlporer had more purpose than just to display URLS) that I had a yearning to stake my own claim on the internet, and, in that very moment, with the help of a 2MB free-webspace deal (which was a huge deal at the time), I unknowingly took the first steps of a career that has now spanned over 9 years of experience and 5 years of professional work.
Skills / Experience:
Online Marketing / PPC / campaign tools:
Google Adwords, Yahoo SM Services (fka. Overture), Microsoft AdCenter, Google Analytics, Custom Statistical Report tools, Offline-Web-Marketing analysis, banner/traditional online advertising, affiliate programs, partnership-formation, vendor relations, magazine-advertising, self-developed formulas for estimating and measuring online campaign success in terms of traffic and ROI.
project management:
Have led teams consisting of members from step of the project lifestyle, and coordinated efforts from conception, planning, production, and marketing. Developed in-house PHP/AJAX-based project management system for increasing the efficiency, dependency, and accountability of multi-faceted, enterprise-wide project initiatives.
Web Dev / Programming:
PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, XHTML1.1, CSS, DHTML, Javascript, AJAX, AJAH, XML, JSON, CURL, Perl, Crontab, XSLT, REST, RSS, SOAP. jQuery, Prototype, Script.acoul.us, SubVersion, DNS, BIND,Mod_Rewrite for Apache, .htaccess traffic modeling.
Usability / Accessibility:
Valid XHTML and CSS Markups. Constant Research on Usability studies, User-Interface development, and viewer experiences via heat-maps, site-overlays, and other analysis tools. W3C and Government Section 508 Compliancy. Using standards and semantic coding, a majority of work I do is accessible via mobile devices and even text-based browsers (for that 1-in-500,000 visitor who uses lynx).
rich-media:
Flash 8, ActionScript 2.0, mProjector with Windows API (ports flash applications into desktop applications). Streaming video with/without streaming server (PHP-based streaming simulation server). Flash-based audio and video delivery. Have developed desktop widgets in flash that communicate 'live' to off-site web applications.
Platforms/Environments:
Apache, Red Hat Enterprise, Suse, Debian, Ubuntu, Slackware, cPanel, Ensim, Plesk 8, Virtuozzo Server Virtualization, Windows 9x, XP.
Applications:
Macromedia Studio 8 (Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, Flashpaper), Adobe Creative Suite CS2 (Photoshop, Illustrator), Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Mind Manageer, Inkscape, Irfanview, Lotus Notes, Twang (MySQL import tool), Navicore MySQL, phpMyAdmin, Movable Type, WordPress 2+, VertrigoServ, SmartDraw 2007, Putty, TortoiseSVN. Most coding developed using text editors such as TextPad.
APIs I have developed with:
eNom, eBay, GoogleMaps, GoogleAnalytics, Authorize.Net, Del.Icio.Us, Flickr, Yahoo Web Services, cPanel, Ensim, Weather.com, Amazon, UPS.
Interests:
My primary interest is business. I love the processes, the competition, the marketing, the advertising, and all the other passions that come along with free enterprise. I fuse this interest with my everyday workings in web to formulate and test business ideas on the flexible and unlimited platform that is the internet.
My primary passion is music. I enjoy listening, composing, performing, and watching music. Live music is my favorite way to spend an evening. Though I have a varied taste in music, a genre I am more particular to than others is the singer/songwriter genre (Pete Yorn, Amos Lee, Joseph Arthur, etc).
Other interests include writing, politics, movies, water sports, and beaches.
Education / Research:
My post-secondary education includes time spent at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina at Lancaster, during which time I majored in Computer Science and Business Administration, and received my Associates Degree from USCL, and earned nearly 30 additional hours towards my Bachelor's Degree, which I hope obtain in the next year.
Industry-specific research and education includes the constant reading of updated methodologies for internet business, development, and publishing, which take a minimum of an hour each day to stay on top of. I subscribe to several print newsletters (such as Internet Marketing Report), industry-specific blogs (like Vitamin), and email groups (like SitePoint).
My areas of focus, which I hope to write and have published soon, include:
- Theories on Bridging the Gap between Social & Business Networking.
- Mirrored Online & Offline campaigns that work.
- Breaking the Viral Advertising Code.
Personal Goals for 2007:
- Become Zend Certified.
- Become a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant.
- Have 2 papers published.