Access Presto! Online Productions   2002 - Present

Web Producer, Architect, User Interface Designer, Web application developer, Business Analyst for small businesses, special interest groups, organizations and entertainers. Projects uniquely tailored to fit the client and their needs.

Access Presto! specializes in custom projects for clients with unique requirements. Projects range from the marketing of creative individuals and their products to technical writing.

• Cosmic Ray, Composer - Musical Artist, now promoting his latest album
• George Thornally - Personal Coach, Creative Workshops, Author
• Real Estate Development
• Software Products
• Online Manual Technical Writing
• Services

Sandia National Laboratories/CA 1998 - 2002

Initially hired as web graphics and multimedia specialist working with staff webmaster.

• At that time SNL/CA had no cohesive concept of how they could exploit the web either to streamline their daily processes or market themselves via the web.
  
  
• My responsibilities quickly evolved to web site designer/ web producer. In this capacity web designer meant information architecture design, navigation structure design and user interface design as well as the design of the look and feel.
  
  
• I acted a primary liaison to the client and managed the production.

Most of the clients had no previous web production experience. Part of my mission was to educate them and empower them to be able to recognize and define when and where their work could be enhanced by exploiting web technologies and using web based applications.

• This required that I act as an educator regarding the entire process.
  
  
• It was imperative that I be articulate in leading them through the entire process from initial concept to completion.
  • Together we defined functional specifications.
  • I was responsible for all project documentation.
  • Additionally, I lead them through determining maintenance processes and schedule.
    
    
• I also worked with Student Interns who had no web experience, other than as users, and had no background in the business area or research area they were assigned to.

Projects included:

• public and intranet websites
• web based applications supporting both business and research processes
• online training
• transition of printed processes and standards documentation to web
• customized project management
• customized committee sites
• multimedia presentations
• sites supporting special events with public registration, collection of juried papers, and management processing
• videos.

In Aug. 2000, became the only web production manager when staff webmaster left department. Added duties:

• Search for and hiring of entry level independent contractors who later became full-time staff contractors.
• Development of web team and processes.
• Training and mentoring entry level web designers.
• Production management of projects executed by additional web designers.
• Enlightening new department manager about the use of the web and production processes.

Portfolio Projects are listed on chronological order ending with the most recent.

Note: Many of the projects at SNL/CA were developed for use on a restricted access intranet. Some were done for classified applications. I cannot use these in a portfolio.

1998 - 99

Electrical Safety Course:

• Replaced an 8 hour stand up training class that is required of personnel before they are allowed to work in the laser laboratories.
• In the first six months of implementation it saved the Labs $24,000 in expenses (not counting man hours saved).
• This course later was adopted corporate wide.

The Project Manager functioned as the liaison between the content producers and myself as the web producer.
I designed:

• the architecture for the site
  • determined through consultation with the corporate computer tech support staffs and collaboration with the programmer assigned to me
• the navigation structure
• the look and feel, and
• processed all the graphics and photos.
• The course is devised to allow the scientist/engineer to take the training at their convenience, one module at a time.
• The web based databases and the CGI engine and interface to Oracle HR data base created by programmer Bill Dissly run the quizzes and track a the users progress through the course.
• Upon successful completion of all the quizzes for all the modules, the user is issued an online dated certificate of completion.
• The completion information is then entered into the HR required training tracking data base.

Unfortunately, due to copyrights, I am not able to use the videos that are included in the course in the portfolio version. Their impact as an integrated part of the course is profound.

1999

Sandia 50th Anniversary Open House:

Public Site (targeted to SNL/CA Family audience) and intranet site for project management. Included visitor badge registration forms for US citizens and foreign nationals and production tracking for exhibits. Each exhibit required sign-off by buildings and grounds, safety, fire marshall, medical, environmental safety and project manager. All this was handled through online forms and dynamically generated reports. To realize this project I worked with programmer Bill Dissly. The sample here does not included the final version of the 2nd page in which all the balloons functioned as pop-up images. This site was developed with the Sandia Day Program Manager in consultation with the committees from each administrative department and research laboratories

International Hydride Research Database: International Resource Data base, hosted by SNL/CA. This is a rework and update of an earlier version. The focus of the research is on all aspects of how hydrogen acts upon all other materials. Database and Search Forms updated to use FileMaker Pro4 Web Companion Server. This project was entirely designed and executed by me in consultation with the appointed representatives of the International Energy Agency. I maintained the site until I left. The client's technical criteria for look and feel: it must run quickly on a Quadra 650 Macintosh on a 28.8 dial-up connection and a 648x480 screen.

1999 - 2002

Development of Laboratory "Center" Sites. No determination had been made, prior to my being asked to tackle the problem, on a site wide basis, what the format of the laboratories' presence on the public web would be and how that might be integrated into normal business administrative practices and the intranet.

Additionally, there was a need to meet the corporate mandate to focus on 2 primary missions with the public presence:

1. to market products developed at SNL/CA
2. to recruit new world class talent to replace an aging staff.

The initial Center project was for the Materials and Engineering Sciences Center .

I designed the architecture, the look and feel and executed all the graphics and built all the pages. I worked with a Techwriter to develop content based on PowerPoint presentations created by laboratory staff for stand up presentations at meetings. The architecture map for this site is cylindrical and can only be viewed in real time and space. Stage 2 was executed by contract web designers I recruited.

• Stage 1 (The center presentation) - complete
• Stage 2 (Department presentations) - complete
• Stage 3 (Implementation of Web Maintenance Engine) - to be completed year 2002 (after I left).

The client requested that this site was carefully designed to download over 28.8 modems and to be viewed on monitors at 640 x 480 and larger. The site includes an integration of the intra and extra net site, with no duplication of pages.

Underneath it runs a Web Maintenance Engine , designed by me and executed by programmer Bill Dissly, which makes it possible to easily update and maintain information that it repeated in different formats in many different locations with in the site. The Web Maintenance Engine combines daily business record keeping functions with the generation of web site content. Additionally, it includes the bibliographical data base for the department and a digital image database.

2000 - 2002

Combustion Research Facility Center Site: The look and feel was designed by the resident technical artist. The initial architecture was established by the Technical Communications staff webmaster. Just as active production was to begin on this project the staff webmaster left the department. I then fine tuned the details of the site structure were then worked out with the project manager, who is a tech writer. "Going public deadline" was 2 1/2 months away. This coincided with a cluster of production on the Materials and Engineering Sciences site and a 1 month build time for the LEAP Campaign. I recruited entry level web designers as contractors to help with the rapidly increasing work load.

The technical criteria from the client was that the site should "dazzle people from big corporations, with T1 connections on 17" monitors running at 1024 x 768 and at least 16 bit color out of the water".

The total production team grew to include:

• 2 techwriters
• 1 technical illustrator
• 3 entry level web designers
• 1 photographer
• 1 cinematographer
• 1 video editor
• 1 programmer
• myself.

I built the level one and level two pages for the site and most of the level three pages. Browser proofing the front page was an accomplishment on a major scale.

Under my guidance, one of the entry level web designers took over webmastering the site in collaboration with the tech writer assigned to the center. An additional technical illustrator was added to the group to make it a 3 person full time team, plus 3 to 4 student interns who also work on the site.

LEAP Campaign: SNL/CA's annual charity fundraising campaign. The presentation was placed on the public server to facilitate the participation of retired staff. It is integrated with a Lotus Domino database which registers and tracks all the contribution pledges that lives on the intra net. The look and feel was designed by the staff technical illustrator. I built the web site. Programmer Bill Dissly created the donation calculator.

Distributed Information Systems Center Site: The look and feel was designed by the resident technical artist. I designed the architecture in collaboration with the center staff project liaison. I established the page structure and built the top level and second level pages. Two entry level web designers also worked on building 3rd level pages. The targeted user is on at least a 19" monitor with resolution setting of at least 1280 x 960 with colors set to at least 16 bit and will have at least T1 access, per the Client's definition of their target audience.

2001 - 2002

Sandia National Laboratories, California Corporate Site: The look and feel was developed by a independent contractor web designer in collaboration with me and with the new department manager. After a failed attempt by one of the entry level web designers to build the pages, I took over building all the first level, second level and third level pages of the site. This was a redesign and update of an existing site that I had structured previously. All the look and feel graphics were fine tuned by me.

1995 - 1997

PRESTO! Pioneer web production company created by George Thornally (AFL George), one of the originating talents for AOL who, along with forum producer Kent Fillmore, defined and developed "the community". Presto!'s projects included a wide range of projects from the marketing of individual creative talents to an Online Entertainment Production Company with Executive Producer Kent Fillmore.