Oh, where to begin? My long, strange, trip with Web Communications began way back when I was a college student in 2003. I was attending MU in the Fine Arts department and my emphasis area was in Graphic Design. After a few semesters we took a class that dealt with Web Design. About that same time, Lori and her staff in Web Communications happened to be looking for a student intern to do some of the odds-and-ends work on the Web sites that were being maintained at the time as well as gain experience in Web Design. I had experience with the Web back during its young and impressionable years when I was in High School, so the combination of taking a class and the opportunity to have an internship in a field of interest to me was hard to pass up. I applied, and was subsequently hired.
I was lovingly termed the "half-person" here in Web Communications, referring to my status as an intern. I would, over the course of the next year and a half, learn more information and real-world application of knowledge than any one person could ever learn just by taking a class or dabbling in Web design. There is no price a person can put on the experience I gained here. These people know their field and it rubbed off on me.
After I graduated in the Winter Semester of 2004 Lori offered me a job here in Web Communications permanently and I gleefully accepted. Finally, I had become a real, full-time, benefit-laden person. I began, originally, as an I-Net Administrator, but as my colleagues have mentioned below this inadequately describes what I really do here at Web Com.
As of today, I have become the Content Management System Team Leader here at Web Communications. Through some form of serendipity I caught on to the logic and ideas surrounding the recently acquired CMS quicker than others. I've needed to learn everything I could about XML/XSL and, just like Josh, I've had little to know real programming training. Needless to say, I learned in a hurry. Maybe it just had to do with how fascinating I found the project and the vast amounts of skills one needs to put a Web site, efficiently and effectively, into a CMS, but I loved it ... and contrary to the grunts and expletives that might float down the hall when I'm working on a site, I still do. No really, I do.
My responsibilities in regards to CascadeServer are numerous. I work with the staff "visiting" us down here (Grad School, IATS, etc. staff) and help develop their knowledge of the CMS resource. We have meetings that I've lovingly termed "CMS Be-Ins" where we discuss issues in the CMS and how best to deal with them as well as throw around best practice ideas when it comes to CMS. Also, a recent addition to the IATS department, Nat Graham, has been working with me on inputting the For All We Call Mizzou Campaign site into the CMS. He and I work together on problem-solving issues within the CMS and try to focus on those solutions that best serve the user who will be ultimately editing the information.
The CMS has really taken up much of my time in the past six months, but other responsibilities of mine include site updates that aren't in the CMS yet (MU Homepage, etc.) as well as producing the @mizzou online newsletter in tandem with Laura Roloff and her staff, and I still do some Web Design from time-to-time ... but since we've added Josh to our team I like to leave the making of things pretty up to him.
I'm also known as the resident Music Snob in the office. Chances are, if you walk down our hallway, you'll hear some music wafting out of Josh and I's office. I'm usually responsible for that ... and proud of it!
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