Web Development and Programming Experience

Web development experience (view web portfolio for examples):

• Web developer, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011-2015
  server- and client- side programming, information architecture, content management design and customization, search engine development, systems integration, API development
• Web technology and new media specialist, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, 2006-2011
  web design and programming, web marketing, social media content development and marketing, photography, video production
• Senior web developer, University of Akron, 2001-2006
  web design and programming, information architecture, portal technology, content management
• Web developer, Keithley Instruments, 1999-2001
  web design, web programming, application development, information architecture, content management development

Web development skills:

• Server-side: PHP, JSP, ASP (VBScript and C#), Java, SQL
• Client-side: HTML, CSS, SASS & Compass, JavaScript and JQuery, responsive design
• Photography, image manipulation, graphic design
• Information architecture and database design
• Linux and server software: Apache, Solr, Tomcat, MySQL, IIs
• Social media: Twitter, Instagram, Blogger APIs
• CMS and blogging platforms: Drupal, Wordpress, Blogger, Joomla
• Software packages: Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite

A little bit about my development experience:

I've been refining and redefining my web development skills since the late 1990s. It started with HTML, self-taught by reading source code. With my engineering background, I used my programming skills (yes, Fortran) to teach myself JavaScript with nothing but the O'Reilly book and a text editor (and a browser). That's when I tasked myself to build the peg game. After working as a graphic artist for a few years, I landed my first real web development job in 1999 at Keithley Instruments in Solon, Ohio. While at Keithley, I learned Java and finally began to think like an object-oriented programmer. My first real application development was working with editors and designers to build web applications in JSP for a new Keithley website.

In 2001, I took a senior web developer position at the University of Akron in the Information Technology department. At UA, my team built a custom content management system in PHP, a server-side scripting language, that gave university department or college editors the ability to add and maintain website content and links using a templated design. I also developed server-side applications using the PeopleSoft Portal (and their proprietary programming language, PeopleCode) and taught a class in web programming to Information Systems Management students.

In 2006, I moved on to a web marketing job at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Except for building a custom Drupal website for a new Zoo exhibit, most of my web development work at The Zoo was limited to tweaking and streamlining an existing Microsoft-based system programmed in ASP and VBScript with MS SQL Server. The most important thing about my Zoo employment was a education in marketing, becoming well-versed in social media (I was responsible for all Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube content), and enhancing my skills as a photographer and videographer.

My last traditional employment position came in 2011 when I took on the in-house web developer position at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Since then, I've further developed my PHP and JavaScript programming skills and become somewhat an expert at customizing the Drupal content management system. I've also educated myself on social media APIs (Twitter and Instagram) and learned more than I ever expected about Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), server software, and the Apache Solr search engine.