About This Site
I wanted to take a minimal design and layout that can look good on both a full site and a mobile view and still make a statement. With no images and github hosted code it means less bulk but easier management of my portfolio.
I feel enabled by great languages like jQuery and PHP. I have enthusiasm for programming and I'm always looking for a great challenge. Thinking outside the box and creating efficient simple code is what I do best. I love coming up with new innovative ideas and I enjoy doing what hasn't been done before.
About Me
I have been into technology since I was a child. I enjoy figuring out how things work and taking on new skills or challenges. I built my first PC at the age of 16 and was proud that it outperformed most PCs on the market. I first took interest in the physical IT area and learned quite a bit about the functionalities of Windows, DOS, and system hardware. In high school I took special and private courses from instructors to learn about technology.
I started learning HTML in high school for a study project. Never was a fan of editors or content management systems so I learned the language from scratch. My first website was a weekly web comic. I started playing with flash and javascript to find I had an interest for programming. I've adapted to new languages, changes, and styles. I often find myself leading the charge on teams with my progressive ideas and willingness to try new things or take on a difficult project. For example, when I found there were so many limitations to content management systems I built my own.
I'm not a developer who codes for fun, I code because I'm good at it. I'm not a fan of taking my work home and it's nice to find other outlets for the brain. My hobbies include writing music, gaming, beer and wine festivals, concerts, sci-fi conventions, cooking, and world travel. I have two dogs and love to spend time with animals.
I am also an active leader in community awareness groups and neighborhood watch to improve Lakeview. I spend what other time I have helping with LGBT support groups.
My Career
Thanks to my experience with Fast Company Motorsports, I found many secrets to SEO success by testing various aspects of Google's robots. I eventually found ways to "play" many robots and pushed several websites to number one position on every major search engine. The listings even surpassed the corporate competition and even the manufacturers. This was my first major achievement and just the start of my career.
I have been in the IT field professionally for about 15 years, since graduating high school. Most of my work has been contract/freelance. I'm a "hit the ground running" kind of developer. Many of the languages and frameworks that I know today were learned on the job in the first few days. In fact CodeIgniter, jQuery, Roku, Magento, and Drupal were requirements for positions that I learned in my quick ramp up time.
Working in so many industries and facets of IT taught me so many useful things that give me great leadership skills. I've been with agencies, SaaS, startups, and small companies in many capacities. Several positions were short term contracts that required one week ramp up and quick adaptation to techniques and languages I didn't know. I work diligently and have always been dedicated to any position I have been in. I found that I have a knack for cleaning up, fixing, and debugging code in almost every language I've worked in. One of my biggest strengths is learning new concepts and coding techniques and assimilate other standards and ways of programming.
I know how to listen to my team and push a project in the right direction for everyone to be successful. I recognize individual strengths and encourage developers to expand their knowledge and abilities but recognize when a developer is exhausted or running low.
SPECIALIZED SKILLS
Internet Programming: PHP (OOP), HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, JQuery, JQuery Mobile, Backbone, XUI, YUI, PERL, AJAX, MySQL, SQLite, MSSQL, Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, Twig, Foundation, Twitter Bootstrap, XML, SEO, Mobi, Git, Subversion, Trac, Roku box, Cross-browser compatibility, responsive design, responsive image delivery systems, agile development, CMS building, SSL installation, IIS7 and Apache management, data mining, report building, video transcoding services, SASS, bandwidth optimization, WebDAV, cloud server management, RESTful service
Development: MS Office, Photoshop, Flash, Pinnacle Studio, xcode, coda, PHP Storm
CMS: Drupal, Expression Engine, Magento, Wordpress, and custom created CMS
Operating Systems: Windows (8/7/Vista/XP/2000/98/NT), Mac OS.X, Linux, UNIX
Experience with command prompt environment (UNIX, MS-DOS, Windows)
Remote system management experience through Terminal, SCP, and remote desktop
Google Analytics, Weather, & Map, YouTube API
Facebook OAuth and Facebook app creation
Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media integration through APIs
Subversion(SVN) & Git revision control systems & Trac bug and milestone tracking
SCRUM & Kanban project management plus team management Search Engine Optimization expert with several websites on first page placement
System Upgrades, OS upgrades, OS installation, maintenance, driver install
Spyware & virus removal expert
EXPERIENCE
PHP Developer:10 years
Front End Developer: 15 years
Web Application Developer: 5 years
Lead Developer/Project Manager: 4 years
Computer Technician: 4 years
You can see specific experience on my resume page
EDUCATION
North Iowa Area Community College Mason City, IA
Associates in Science and Business/Web Application Development
- Dean's List
North Central High School Manly, IA
Graduated
- Honor Roll
AWARDS
2012 Telly Award - Immunize for Good campaign
2012 Webby honoree in health - LiveWell Colorado