Location: Dallas TX 75252
INTRODUCTION
I have over twenty years experience in computer services. Currently my work is primarily freelance web development. My career experience ranges from web design, to P.C. tech-support in the field and in the boardroom, to operations and I.T. management, to computer programming and database design, to producing digital media including art, music, comics, animation, print & publishing, digital audio and movies.
I have a knack for problem solving and adapt quickly to new technologies and solutions. My diverse background has given me a wide variety of skills, and my service is always excellent. I am constantly searching out new projects and contracts where I can be creative and utilize a fair amount of my web, tech and media skills.
WORK HISTORY
Company: American Airlines Vacations
Dates: (10 / 2006 - 3 / 2007)
Position: Contract Web Developer
Website: Design Proof
American Airlines Vacations is the travel portal of American Airlines. They are in the process of converting to a new third-party booking engine and redesigning their website. I was of great assistance in ascertaining the capabilities of the third-party engine and in designing a front end that complimented the features and achieved AAV's objectives. Over the course of the contract the oversight committees and corporate board approved my designs for the new look and feel of the website.
Client: Sunny Schlenger
Website: http://www.sunnyschlenger.com/
Sunny Schlenger is a best-selling author and motivational speaker. Sunny was pleased with her original website but was ready for a new look and feel. I redesigned Sunny's new site from the ground up according to her input and direction. I created new proofs for her business printed materials from her existing designs.
Client: Dr. Allison Sinclair
Website: http://www.equineexperiences.com/
Dr. Allison Sinclair is a therapist in Dallas TX recently certified in Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning. Allison has no previous website or hosting experience, so I took care of everything for her from designing and building the website to registering the domain and hosting.
Client: Wordspace Texas
Website: http://www.wordspacetexas.com/
Wordspace Texas is a non profit literary organization in Dallas Texas promoting cultural literacy and the arts in many form. I was very pleased to design and build this site for them, as well as straighten out their hosting mess and set them up with new hosting.
Client: HomeCare Contracting
Website: http://www.homecarecontracting.com/
Focusing on Home Contracting for the Elderly and the Handicapped, HomeCare Contracting had design and build a simple splash page for contact and marketing, which I also host for them.
Client: XO Corporation
Website: http://www.xocorp.com
XO wanted their website redesign to reflect the light, clean, clearing properties of their odor neutralizing product. They wanted a look that was simple and streamlined enough to appeal to their industry, while glossy and pretty enough to appeal to their end consumer. They also needed a way to have a simple vendor directory that customers could use and that XO employees could maintain themselves. I designed it and build it, including a back end system where they can administer and maintain the directory database, all on their pre-existing hosting.
Company: Dickies Medical Uniforms
Dates: (4 / 2006 - 10 / 2006)
Position: Contract Web Developer
I worked with Dickies Medical's web developer to design a new look and feel for their Dickies Chef and Dickies Medical division.
Company: Michael's Arts and Crafts
Dates: (10 / 2005 - 3 / 2006)
Position: Contract Web Developer
Michael's Arts and Crafts extensive website is run by a proprietary content management system designed quite some time ago. Having had many designers come and go, and with little to no documentation, it was up to myself and another developer to discover the functionality and procedures for maintaining the system, and to train oncoming permanent web designers.
Company: Vestal Media
Dates: (2004 - Present)
Position: Freelance Web Developer
Vestal Media is an independent media house founded by a former Dallas radio personality. Vestal Media provides audio media, voicing, web content and copywriting for large-scale media services and corporations.
Ellen Daniels was especially pleased with my promptness, attention to detail and level of service, and has been using me as her primary freelance web developer over the last year. She understands that I solicit other freelance work and that I am ultimately looking for a full-time position. She is more than happy to discuss my work.
Most notable work that I have done for Vestal Media includes:
-I programmed a faux computer interface system in Macromedia Flash for a scene in the upcoming major motion picture Babel (2006). They had this to say about my work:
"Great work- thanks so much for turning it around so quickly. Art department is very happy- you don't know how many jokers there are out there that don't deliver like you did."
Due to the sensitive nature of this work I can not post it online. Samples and production photos of this work can be provided during a private interview.
-I designed and built a website for author / journalist Tom Zoellner. Coming in June 2006 from St. Martin's Press, The Heartless Stone: The Dark Side of Diamonds is an amazing book that is already generating some great industry buzz. You can see the finished website here: http://www.theheartlessstone.com
He recommended my work to another potential client:
"Vestal Media asked me if I'd drop you a quick note giving a reference, which I'm only too happy to do. They constructed a website for me -- www.theheartlessstone.com -- on time and at a reasonable price. I've had several people experienced in web design take a look and they've proclaimed it to be excellent work. These people are inevitably surprised when I tell them how much I paid for it; that is to say, a comparative bargain considering the quality of the work. Hope your experience is as good as mine was."
Company: Easyterminal Corporation
Dates: (2001 - Present)
Position: Freelance Web / E-commerce Developer
Easyterminal Corporation was founded to provide web, p.c. tech and e-commerce solutions to high-end Los Angeles based clientele. For my part, I designed and built fan sites, actor's web sites, and e-commerce store fronts. I built intranets, networks, pc clones, and inventory and sales databases. I did search engine optimizations, pay-per-click and banner advertising.
Most notable client:
-James O'Barr, celebrity artist and creator of The Crow (1984 cult-classic movie starring Brandon Lee). I provided a wide range of Web and Digital Media and E-Commerce solutions, including:
Web Design and Hosting -- I designed and built James' site, http://www.jamesobarr.com to be dynamically driven from content added through an administration module. No ftp'ing or creating of new pages or galleries is necessary. The entire site is administered and maintained with back-end forms. I wrote this in ASP and used a Microsoft Access Database, but I have built similar sites utilizing PHP and MySQL.
E-commerce set-up and optimization -- I built an inventory database and Yahoo store for James to sell his comic and movie collectibles, but ultimately he ended up favoring the eBay operations I put in place for him. At the point that he took over daily operations from me, the system had been in place and running for over a year, with over 200 feedbacks at 100% positive.
Print and publication design, layout and production -- I did all the pre-press and layout work for his art, prints, sketchbooks, advertisements and trading cards. I designed and implemented a CD-based inventory of print quality scans of his art for digital archiving.
Movie Audio Commentary production -- I supervised the recording, and then personally edited, mixed, synchronized and mastered his personal audio commentary for The Crow (1984) starring Brandon Lee. All production was in Cubase VST and Wavelab. Completed audio was 120 mins.
"Some of the information he details has been covered before by other commentaries, but for the most part, we are given new information from his unique perspective as creator of the characters on which the film is based. More so than any other time I have heard him speak, O'Barr sounds confident and comfortable during the commentary. A worry on my part was that his natural shyness and monotone style of delivery would make for a less than stellar commentary track. No worries here, O'Barr is in great form and his comfort has to be attributed to the setting that Matt Gillmore, webmaster of Crowfanclub, set him up with." - L.L.Cruize, A Boy And His Bird
Company: Dish Direct, Inc.
Dates: (1998 - 2001)
Position: I.T. Director
Dish Direct is an independent online retailer of DISH Network and Direct TV Satellite Receiver systems. Dish Direct hired me with specific objectives - to increase their search engine and Internet advertising presence, to bring cohesion to their data management, to oversee their servers, computers, phones and security, and to help with management infrastructure.
During the course of my work with Dish Direct, my results were so impressive and contributed so directly to the company's growth that I was awarded a 7-day Caribbean cruise and my salary doubled over the course of three years.
While my official title was I.T. Director, the position was more of a conglomeration of I.T. Positions as opposed to a board or director position. Responsibilities included Systems Administration, Database Administration and Website Administration.
Most notable accomplishments:
-When I started with Dish Direct, their Internet connectivity was frequently down, their servers often needed rebooting, and their salesmen's workstations were rotated in and out as they randomly quit working. My immediate task was to quickly rebuild all their servers and workstations and establish a stable network. This included Microsoft NT 4.0 File Server, Domain Controller, MS Proxy Server, Backup Server and 20+ workstations.
-Dish Direct had quickly outgrown themselves in the data management area. They had unrelated data spread across the network in spreadsheets and word documents. Their database was a behemoth of flat files, non-relational records and orphaned data. Part of my main function was to oversee and take part in the design and programming of a new Point-Of-Sale system from all this data, and create a relational database with data integrity and real-time order processing and shipping. During this process I supervised two 36-hour data conversions with no downtime and no loss of data. We established relational data integrity to hundreds of thousands of subscribers from third party vendor information to in-house data. I personally redesigned and reprogrammed all front-end forms and data-entry windows for sales and administrators in the second revision using Microsoft Access Visual Basic. I developed check-sum logic that policed the shipping of satellite receivers based on their model numbers in an automated shipping module that the CEO at the time called, "The greatest single contribution to the company".
-I was supervisor over the webmaster and oversaw all technical aspects of hosting our many URL storefronts. I oversaw the transition from shared-provider hosting to dedicated hosting to in-house hosting to server farm hosting. I worked extensively with the IBM Netfinity Server Series, and maintained 99% uptime with full redundancy. I monitored retail site search engine rankings and developed a proven system for consistently ranking in the first ten search results using targeted keywords in 80% of 1200 searches.
-I coordinated and participated in floor-plan design and construction during the move to a new building. For my part I specified power, network, communications and security, as well as cubicle layout, installation and wiring. Wiring specifications by my design allowed for growth and expansion at no further cost in later years, even after my departure.
Company: Bowne
Dates: (1995 - 1998)
Position: Network Technician
Bowne is the largest financial printer in the world and largest processor of corporate filings, financial printings, and earnings reports. As the lead Network Technician, I reported directly to the Systems Administrator in the Dallas regional corporate office and trained all other incoming technicians.
-I supervised the team responsible for the care and maintenance of 100+ workstations, 35+ printers, 12+ servers, a 35+ extension phone system, and in-house Honeywell badge and security system.
-I personally designed and converted 45+ workstations in Edgar Composing from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95 Workstations, capable of running virtually all forms of word processors and small press software, to output with virtually any driver to over 35+ printers, and configured for file sharing securely across multiple LANs, WANs, and Protocols.
-I was responsible for the accounting and inventory of all software licensing and Y2K issues.
-I oversaw the implementation and personally set up and programmed the entire Honeywell badge and camera security system with over 175+ employees, 6 cameras and a dozen controlled zones.
Company: Guitar Center
Dates: (1991 - 1994)
Position: Operations Assistant
Guitar Center is the largest nationwide chain of retail music stores catering to the rock and upscale musician.
As Operations Assistant in the Arlington, TX store # 440 and Dallas, TX store # 441, I managed all personnel records and oversaw daily accounting of monies and banking. I was responsible for weekly cycle counting of inventory, updating computerized inventory and corrections. I oversaw warehouse personnel and all shipping and receiving. During my position I was credited with maintaining chain-wide low inventory loss, and wrote the operations column in the monthly corporate newsletter.
AREAS OF EXPERIENCE
- Web Design, Hosting, and E-Commerce
- Programming: HTML, ASP, ActionScript, MS Access Visual Basic, Basic, PHP, XML, RPGII.
- Design: Photoshop 7, Flash MX, Corel Draw, Corel Paint,
- Digital Audio: Cubase VST, WaveLab, Cakewalk, Pro Tools.
- Computer Hardware Installation and Support
- Computer Software Installation and Support
- PC Computer Troubleshooting and Repair
- Computer Networking: Microsoft NT, Novell, Winframe, Client / Server Mainframe
- Server Hardware: Compaq, Hewlett Packard, IBM Netfinity, Cobalt RaQ 4
- Network Hardware: Cisco, Bay Networks, Fiber Optic, Wireless, Satellite
- Data Management, Operations and Design
- MS Access Database, MySQL, SQL 7.0 Server
- Operations Management: Retail and E-commerce
- Personnel Management: I.T. Department, Retail, Warehouse.
- Systems Administration, Telephone Administration, Security Administration
- Inventory Control, Cycle Counts, Receiving, Shipping.
- Supporting and troubleshooting the Windows 95/NT Registry
- MS Access Development and Programming, Access 2000, Level 1-4
- Microsoft and Novell Network Engineering and Administration
- Photoshop 7 Developer, Level 2 through Advanced
EDUCATION
Palomar Jr. College
Astro Physics / Computer Sciences
Wichita St. University
Computer Sciences / Creative Writing
