My career in interactive media splits into three parts:

Most recently, I was the Product Manager for Foxsoccer.com working within a large corporation, managing the daily operation of a heavily trafficked website.

Prior to that I worked as private consultant building websites for small businesses, non-profits and personal use. I also worked on customizing presentation designs. This work gave me a solid grounding in all aspects of the website creation process. I was a one-stop shop managing hosting arrangements, visual design, coding, maintenance, and content of these websites.

My entry into the field was as a client, developing online and traditional offline marketing materials for an adventure tourism company in New Zealand.

interactive product management

My work with Fox Sports Interactive as the Product Manager for Foxsoccer.com developed my online product management skills. Broadly speaking, I was answering the "What should this website be?" and "How can we get it to that place?" questions. I was heavily involved in the conception of new applications and pages for the website, and communicating those ideas to the engineering team in the form of detailed production specification documents. My goal in these documents was always to clearly lay out every element on the page and describe its functionality to the point the developer would have to ask as few questions as possible during the construction of the site.

I was also responsible for managing the production team and the competing projects they were working on.

Of course, when engineering resources were not available or minor fixes were required, I was able enhance the content of the site within the limits of our content management system using my html coding and graphic design skills.

web design & production services

Before working for Foxsoccer.com I was building websites for non-profits, small businesses and friends:

Websites just like this one.

I always aimed to produce, websites that were smart, user friendly and creative, and did not bare the indelible mark of "Websites for Dummies".

This was the period after the dotcom crash. The internet was still new for many people, but it already had a mixed reputation.

Much of my work was rescuing and revitalizing websites that were ailing, either because the designer has lost enthusiasm, or the owner never had a clear vision of the site and its purpose.

I focused heavily on planning, and started each project by asking my clients to scour the web creating a list of their own likes and dislikes, both in terms of content and design. It was a great way to get them focused.

I asked that the site be consistent with the design of any existing printed promotional material the company or organization was using, and aimed the development process at a clear the target audience.

As a trained journalist I usually took the lead in crafting the site's written content, but I w as also advising on clients on hosting, domain registration and search engine placement.

In keeping with the fast-evolving nature of the internet, many of the sites I developed several years ago have been reworked by the organizations since I moved on. A few remain in their original form.

presentation customization & design

Customizing presentations was an outgrowth of my web design work. The goal was the same; to capture the audience's attention long enough to get the organization's message across. The Microsoft Office suite of software is so pervasive, that it can be difficult to distinguish one Powerpoint presentation from the next.

I specialized in customizing Powerpoint presentations with graphics, animation and sound effects that moved beyond the limited array of options that come with the program. I worked on presentations for Nike's LA Office and Infogrames, an entertainment software maker.