Experience.
Reliability. Integrity.

My professional life has been divided into three main areas: Information Technology, Communications, and Business Management. I studied at Eastern Connecticut State University with a dual major in Business and English with a minor in their Honor Studies program. Since, I have had a variety of experiences in all of these areas.

In the Information Technology field I have successfully worked as a Computer Technician, Help Desk Support Analyst, Systems Integrator, and Webmaster. As a consultant I have developed several database applications in Dbase and Microsoft Access, have set up offices with a network and a customized suite of MS Office tools, and trained the staff on how to use it while offering ongoing User Support. My help desk experience, as a contractor, includes successful assignments at Cox Target Media, Florida Light & Power, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and GATX, (a Jacksonville based logistics company). Most recently I have developed a Taxi Dispatch database used to dispatch cabs and to schedule up to 120 account calls per day, including a module that streamlined the billing, dramatically improving accuracy and reducing man hours spent by about 80%. Further, for the same client, I created a customized website (www.duval-taxi.com) which gets a disproportionate market share of the more lucrative runs from out of town travelers.

My experiences relating to written communications include being Editor of New Dimensions Magazine, and later The Hope Chest (a magazine for adult survivors of childhood trauma), author of a book and several published poems and short stories, and C.E.O. of Shaw’s Cove Printers where we designed and printed a wide variety of material, from books to flyers to business cards, taking the process from the initial design to the final product. (I was re-certified as an Editor in 2003).

In regards to business, my understanding of systems and processes has allowed me to use my strengths in communications and technology to focus business systems so that they are able to meet business goals. For example, for the same client, I have designed and implemented a Customer Service Improvement program that has dramatically changed how the company operates in such a manner that client loyalty and retention are at an all-time high, even in the face of other factors that work to destroy that relationship. The majority of my work experience has been as a contractor or as self employment. Management, in addition to my own business, includes restaurant management (many years ago), seven years in the Navy, (much of it as a Leading Petty Officer), and the three year stint of Shaw’s Cove Printers that was a start up turned into a million dollar per year operation with thirteen employees.

Bill Gates has said that “information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven.” I believe that very few businesses can operate profitably these days without dependence on Information Technology to enhance their business systems, plus the ability to communicate clearly and concisely their business message. Putting these three things together is what I excel at.

Currently, in addition to doing freelance websites and graphic design, I am working to understand how to use Social Networking as a business tool. Experimenting with Twitter, I have found that I can use it to send traffic to a particular website or blog at will. In one test case (yes, I like to test everything), I quadrupled a website’s traffic, with very little effort or time, in one week. (That’s still an ongoing test and I will be blogging about the results later at www.ondemandtechsupport.com).

I am also interested in the recent evidence the cyberspace has become the newest battleground on the world stage. What exactly does that mean for the average user or for business? Will terrorists or a rogue government use viruses to cripple out infrastructure or sabotage our economy? How can we protect ourselves when government seems incapable of producing a realistic, comprehensive defense?

Mostly, I care about the people. If the person behind the keyboard is unable to find, use, or get what they are seeking, the technology is broken. Whether it be a limitation of the system, a quirk in the software, or a lack of understanding by the user, they cannot realize their expectation, regardless of how fast their system is or how much bandwidth they have.

That is why my motto is “Making technology work for you!”