Skills

Web Technologies

HTML/XHTML, CSS, Javascript, XML, XSLT, Ajax, Standards & Accessibility

Server-side Technologies

JAVA/J2EE, Servlets, JSP, Taglibs, Struts, Tapestry, Ant, Hibernate, PHP, ColdFusion

Databases

MySql, Sybase, Postgres, Filemaker, Access, Excel

Content Management (CMS)

Apache Lenya, Scout Portal Toolkit

Media: Video, Audio, Images

Video production, audio engineering, photography; Video and audio editing, compression and web-delivery; Archiving and cataloging of media collections

Experience

Java Developer / Web Internationalization Specialist

2003 - 2006 Lavalife Corp.
Toronto, Ontario

Member of small team that internationalized Lavalife's entire internet-dating web application and deployed five localized versions of the site in one year including versions for France, Australia, UK and French Canada. Individually coded internationalized version of Lavalife's Instant Messaging Applet.

Designed and wrote Lavalife's multiple step Javascript widget for users to select country, state/province and city information from a worldwide database of cities during registration. This greatly improved search results by eliminating the data inconsistency allowed through free text input of users' city names.

Researched and wrote a key strategy document detailing how to employ Search Engine Optimization techniques (SEO). Quickly implemented improvements to title tags, page copy and navigation that raised the site's rankings in the search engines. My proactive identification and solution of a crucial business problem impacted the entire process of new page creation from creative design to copy writing to html coding.

Instructional Technology Developer

2000 - 2003 Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (www.thdl.org)
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

THDL Digital Tibetan Collaborative Dictionary

Developed an open-source Java server (Servlet/JSP) application to view and contribute to a Tibetan historical/etymological dictionary inspired by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Tibetan and Himalayan Studies Community Roster

Developed a Java server (Tapestry) application to gather and publish information about people, organizations and projects in the field of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies.

Content Management System Customization

Performed installation and customization of the open source PHP Content Management System, Scout Portal Toolkit, to allow scholars to collaborate on a shared bibliography online.

Video Catalog and Workflow Manager

Developed a ColdFusion application for workflow management and cataloging of a large collection of digital video and associated multilingual XML transcripts.

Server Administration

Set up and administered an OS X Server running development and production instances of Tomcat, Xalan, and MySQL.

Designed an accessible version of thdl.org website

Redesigned a chaotic website to employ a consistent valid XHTML markup scheme with clean separation of structure and presentation.

Technical Director for Fieldwork in Tibet

Recorded digital video, audio and still images on four fieldwork trips in Tibet. Managed technical staff. Recommended and purchased all required hardware.

Video Production/Post-production Manager

Responsible for the creation, editing, and delivery of a large collection of Tibetan video resources.

Digital Video Lab Manager

1998 - 2000 Digital Media Lab, Clemons Library
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

• Ran a video lab supporting faculty and students in the use of Final Cut Pro video editing software
• Taught courses on digital video editing, video compression, video production and web publishing.
• Supervised staff of student lab consultants.

Instructor, Tibetan Language and Buddhist Logic

1995-1998 Department of Religious Studies
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

1993-1994 Namgyal Institute of Buddhist Studies
Ithaca, NY

• Taught spoken and classical Tibetan Language and Buddhist logic.
• Translated (Tibetan to English) public lectures and private interviews for native Tibetan faculty members.

Portfolio

• lavalife.com - I wrote the server-side code behind this multiple step Lavalife registration process. I also designed and coded the AJAX Javascript widget to select city/county/state-province/country information from a world gazeteer datasource.
• peggygilmer.com - This is an Executive Coaching site layout I developed.
• jeffreymenzies.com - I designed this page of MP3s to match an existing site design for this instrument maker.

Education

• B.A. with honors, Religious Studies, University of Virginia 1995-1999
• Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Dharamsala, India 1991-1993