Owner / President
July 1999 – June 2006

Summary:
Don’t ever believe that having your own business is less secure than a regular job, or that it will be too hard and you’ll fail. Obviously, my business didn’t continue beyond the seven years it was in operation, but it was a great seven years! I was fortunate to work with a lot of great clients on a lot of great projects during this time. A lot of this time was spent in childrens’ edutainment. Rich interactions, high levels of visual media and audio, and a keen desire to deliver on client expectations made for award-winning products.

Responsibilities:
Owned and managed company dedicated to designing and developing compelling, easy-to-use, multimedia experiences for clients in all lines of business ranging from commercial entertainment to education to research. Clients included Paws, Inc. (Garfield), Muppets, PBS (Caillou, Jay Jay the Jet Plane), Cartoon Network (Totally Spies), Troublemaker Stuios (Spy Kids), TIAA-CREF Life Insurance, Thomas Nelson Bible, Thompson Learning Publishing,  LensCrafters, MTV.com, AIU/AIG, Canon USA and many others.

• Hire and manage staff of developers and artists
• Augment staff as necessary with contract talent both locally and off-shore
• Manage relationships with clients and staff to understand and communicate project goals, requirements, and possible solutions
• Primary point of contact with clients for projects
• Prepare timelines, estimates, and contracts for all projects
• Manage project schedules to insure timely delivery of projects
• Integrate usability best practices into software designs

Act as lead developer / architect for all projects using a variety of tool sets