Background

1997-2003 Communications Director
for Yale University Human Resource Services Division

My responsibility was to coordinate among various HR Services staff to publish newsletters, brochures and websites in support of various administrative units. The websites in this demo represent the range of web development I performed in this capacity for various website clients.

I am a content specialist and a client facilitator. I meet with clients, listen to their grand plans, help them understand the possibilities, the challenges and the limitations of the web. I collect their manuscripts, brochures and images and compose a first draft of how their ideas might be realized in a website that is harmonious with the larger institutional web presence. Elements and features are triaged for development: Now; Sooner; and Later. We convene regularly throughout the process to evaluate how my execution conforms with their expectations.

I work with word processing, PhotoShop and Dreamweaver to build a site. I have used these tools and their ancestors for 15 years. I am customer service oriented and user focused - concerned to get web visitors to the information they need quickly and in a form that they can use. Convention and continuity is important for ease of site use. Visitors should be impressed with how easy it is to find things, not how "fancy" the website is.

I am not a programmer, data base administrator, network manager or server technician. If I need a dynamic element in a web page or the solution to a firewall problem I call on the appropriate IT professional for help or answers.

Even among the skills I do possess, I prefer not to wear too many hats on a project. Publishing is a team sport and outcomes are best when a project is seen by many eyes. The details of content, facts, figures and nuances of meaning are best left under the purview of the client/content-owner.