I design things
I’ve worked with all kinds of clients to design systems not just at a code-and-infastructure level, but also to make sure that the user interactions and experiences are good enough that people will actually *use* what gets built.
I build things
I make things with web environments and frameworks like Ruby on Rails and PHP, and application frameworks and devices like Objective-C and iPhone and iPad. I get code, and I can make the server and infrastructure plumbing work online.
I’m also interested in how the online and physical worlds collide. That’s as good a reason as any to hack electronics into the guts of unsuspecting toys.
I run things
I’m an experienced project and team manager – I prefer Agile to waterfall, but I’ve worked with both and know how to get the best out of people under whichever scenario. I’m good with clients, as well – I don’t do “sales”, but I look good in a suit and I’m happy consulting in the boardroom, as well as thrashing out the gnarly details with the techies.
I organise things
I’m organising the second Interesting North conference in Sheffield on Saturday 17th September. It’s a follow-on from last year’s conference, which brought 350 people together to hear about interesting topics as diverse as cake, side-saddle riding, why games work the way they do, and feral children. With a whole lot more besides.
I teach things
I’m an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching undergraduates about Ruby on Rails, internet technologies and Linux systems.
My acronym soup
Ruby, Rails, Objective-C, iOS, HTML5, jQuery, CSS3, PHP, Linux, Apache, MySQL, shell scripting, Git, SVN
TDD, BDD, RSpec, Cucumber, Agile, Scrum
My hard skills
MBA & PrinceII-qualified. Experience of project P&L. Range of in-depth technical and design skills.
My soft skills
Experienced at recruiting, running and developing teams. Track record of creating, building and managing client relationships.
How I got here
Over the years I’ve worked in all kinds of places – support and operations for a retail group; network design and consultancy for a telco; consultancy with a startup; project management for a multinational law firm, social tools consultancy for Headshift, and building clever interwebby things with Rattle.
If there’s a common thread to all of that, it’s trying to make the workplace a bit less toxic by doing (what I think are) clever things with interesting tools. By night, I take pictures and play around with interesting technology. When it’s up to me, I use Macs.
For what they’re worth, I’ve got a few letters after my name – I’ve got an MBA from Leeds University Business School and I’m a certified Prince-2 practitioner. The letters are less impressive than they sound, to be honest, because it’s experience that counts.
One day I’ll be an ARPS, but that’s another story. My “official” profile is on LinkedIn over here, and you can find me on Twitter in this direction.
This blog has been around in one shape or another since 2003 – it started as a personal blog while I did my MBA, then morphed into a showcase for some projects while I was involved in a startup. After that it became a collecting ground for bits and pieces while I tried (somewhat unsuccessfully, it has to be said) to persuade lawyers that there was more to life than email; and now it’s back to something which is a personal combination of the things that interest and/or annoy me. It is, and always has been, a work in progress, so apologies in advance for the broken bits. Unless you’re using Internet Explorer 6 – in which case it’s your own fault.
You won’t find too much in the way of what-I-had-for-breakfast-and-who-I-had-breakfast-with detail here, because that’s not entirely fair on my fellow breakfastees – if my family want to tell the world about their cereal preferences, that’s up to them rather than me. But then if I was really worried about you stalking me, I wouldn’t have a blog, would I?
