Sigh, the title of this article saddens and annoys like being forced to watch “Jersey Shore”, “For the Love of Ray-J”, and any show involving Tiffany “New York” Patterson in one sitting. Ugh! The answer is we’re right here. We’re busy at work making the next whoozit or whatzat that’s destined to turn the world on its collective ear. We’re out and about adopting the latest new tech trends and sending our thoughts via the latest social networking tool. Or if they’re like me, they’re working for a publication they believe in and are putting the spotlight on their fellow black techies.

So why does the question continue to be asked? Why do African-American tech-heads continue to be placed in the same category unicorns, leprechauns, and perpetual motion machines — the stuff of legends? Or better yet, why is the new school of black techies, slept on harder than a posturepedic mattress? What we’re good enough to buy all the smartphones, video games, servers, and routers but we’re not good enough to create them? With that said, let’s march in the usual sorry set of excuses.

There aren’t any influential people of color in tech. Really? What about John Pasmore, the CEO of Vonage.tv? How about Promise Phelon, CEO of UpMo? And check out Deanna Sutton, Founder and CEO of the Sutton Media Group. Speaking of founders, check out Oo Nwoye, Founder of interactive business card service One Page who just wrote an interesting blog post on OoTheNigerian asking “Are there renowned internet startups with black founders?” To which I answer with an emphatic yes.

Blacks aren’t that interested in tech. I know there aren’t that there aren’t that many of us in Silicon Valley, but does that mean we’re a bunch of Luddites? African Americans are some of the biggest consumers in the country spending billions and it stands to reason that some of that money is going towards gadgets and other forms of tech. As the government continues to work towards closing the digital divide, maybe more of us will catch the tech bug like Ashton and Ryan Clark, the entrepreneurial twins who started their first business at 13. With groups like 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley mentoring the next generation, mainstream stream media will have no choice but to recognize us instead of giving us the V.I.P. guestlist snub a la the Vanity Fair “Young Hollywood” issue.

Thankfully we don’t need the Mashables of the world to get black tech news. Thanks to Angela Benton and Markus Robinson we have Black Web 2.0, where we’re dedicated to giving black techies the props they deserve. Stay tuned as we continue to bring you the latest and greatest in African Americans in tech.

This week we spoke to Andre Blackman about what he is doing in the Healthcare industry. He gave us some insight into public health campaigns he has/is working on as well as what to expect as the Healthcare industry and emerging technologies converge.

Black Web 2.0: So tell us about what you do?
Andre Blackman: Right now I am working as a Health Communications Analyst at RTI International in Durham, NC. This includes doing research and evaluation of public health campaigns and developing programs for federal organizations such as NIH and the CDC. RTI was the organization that did the evaluation for the popular TRUTH campaign – the anti-tobacco ad campaign aimed at youth. We also conduct research and evaluation on campaigns that deal with HIV/AIDS, nutrition, consumer safety and other health communication initiatives for public health.

Black Web 2.0: Nice what are you all doing in the Interactive space?
Andre Blackman: Since recently coming aboard to the company last month, we are going to begin to tackle the digital/interactive/social media space – once of the reasons I was brought on board – right now, these campaigns I am working on are more traditional with paper based surveys, television and print. However, the HIV work I am on right now has to do with online ads in targeted online communities.

Black Web 2.0: That is very interesting can you speak more on that campaign?
Andre Blackman: At this point I think it is just getting underway so not sure I could talk that in depth about it (sorry!) but I can say that it has to do with the hivtest.org website and getting high risk individuals to enter their zip code at the site to find out where the closest HIV testing centers are – last year I did a webinar with AIDS.gov that highlighted the campaign: http://blog.aids.gov/2008/06/reaching-blogge.html

Black Web 2.0: What did you do prior to being at RTI?
Andre Blackman: I was involved in public relations work (focused on social marketing) and most recently at a new media company, working with corporate brands to promote their campaigns online. I was responsible for reaching out to bloggers and giving them social media tools and information to spread the word about various products/campaigns – think of it as digital PR.

Black Web 2.0: What kind of brands have you worked with in the past?
Andre Blackman: Major auto brands such as Volkswagen and Hyundai, the United States Navy, Paramount Pictures….

Black Web 2.0: Looks like you are involved in some other things on your own can you talk about those?
Andre Blackman: Well I am really about helping health professionals, especially in the communications role, to learn and figure out the usefulness of these emerging technologies. This includes social media (blogging, social networks, Twitter, etc.) and helping them to see its relevance in this field. I have a passion for blogging and generally getting the word out on health initiatives through new media – really enjoying conducting interviews with others in the field doing similar work (you’ll see alot of that coming up on my blog Pulse + Signal).

Andre Blackman: I have also recently gotten more involved and interested in the application of mobile technologies in public health – so you have alot of growth in that area occurring all around the world in places such as Africa and Asia (Japan specifically has a ton of mobile usage).

Black Web 2.0: Do you consult on this at all on your own?
Andre Blackman: No I don’t do any consulting on my own, although I have started writing for a blog called HealthGamer.com – I will begin blogging on there about how the gaming world is impacting the health field. I might give a few small talks here and there but nothing major…yet.

Black Web 2.0: What trends are you seeing in the healthcare industry in relation to technology and/or social media?
Andre Blackman: Right now I am seeing that the pharmaceutical industry is taking a hard look into the uses of social media – they want to get a better idea of how to use the tools for engaging consumers. Also the area of EMR (electronic medical records) are a hot topic, especially with the money that Health IT will be getting due to the stimulus package. From my perspective, EMR is an interesting subject, but I am always about educating the consumer as best as possible so that medical complications from issues such as diabetes, obesity, etc are reduced.

Andre Blackman: Regarding social media as a community tool, there are great online communities such as DiabetesMine, PatientsLikeMe, TuDiabetes – who are using the power of new media to bring people together to tell their stories and connect with other individuals going through the same things with their disease
Black Web 2.0: Very cool!

Black Web 2.0: What exciting things do you have coming up that we can keep an eye out for?
Andre Blackman: Well, that blog for games in health (http://www.healthgamers.com/) I will begin showing up on – also, stay tuned for a redesign of Pulse + Signal with more regular content including interviews of interesting people and what they are doing to use new media for health. There is the Games for Health and Health 2.0 conference coming up in the next few months where I plan to cover.
Black Web 2.0: Awesome!

Black Web 2.0: Ok lets get to some “fun” questions!
Andre Blackman: Haha excellent

Black Web 2.0: Favorite music artist?
Andre Blackman: Lupe Fiasco

Black Web 2.0: Most helpful web application you use right now?
Andre Blackman: Does Twitter count?
Black Web 2.0: lol, yes it can be both helpful and distracting

Black Web 2.0: Favorite feed reader?
Andre Blackman: Google Reader

Black Web 2.0: iPhone, Blackberry, or Android?
Andre Blackman: Blackberry Curve (Although Android has got my interest because of its potential application to mobile tech for health)

Black Web 2.0: Best city you’ve visited (or lived)?
Andre Blackman: Hmm…
Washington DC because of its mix of everything (lived there most of my life)

Black Web 2.0: Thanks for participating!
Andre Blackman: Thanks so much Angela for the interview
Black Web 2.0: Np, keep in touch!

We know Peeps of the Web has been gone for a min, but we’re back and with a very interesting Peeps of the Web this week. You may think teachers are simply consumers of social media but our chat this week with Jose Vilson proves otherwise. He took some time out to talk to us about how he uses blogging as a teacher and where he thinks social media and digital technologies in the classroom will go in the future. Enjoy!

BlackWeb2.0: So tell us about what you do?
Jose: I’m a math teacher by day, writer by night, as some might say. I’ve been blogging since ’03, but I’ve been writing for quite some time. Lately, I’ve been working on a couple of books, one of which will be published by 2010 (We hope).

BlackWeb2.0: Very cool! Where do you teach?
Jose: In Washington Heights (Manhattan), NYC; in middle school. I teach 7th grade now.

BlackWeb2.0: You mentioned before you are a part of a movement in education that uses blogs as professional development, I had no idea this existed, can you tell us more about that?
Jose: Yeah. Many teachers who we see blogging these days, including me, have used their blogs as a sort of professional development where they’re reflecting on their profession, providing resources for other teachers, and even offering up extended lesson plans to their fellow teachers. For instance, when I have a question about pedagogy, I have a clique of math teachers who I can turn to, or English teachers, or social studies teachers. Some of them have inspired me to start using a class blog and maybe even replace the journals we use in class and get them to blog their thoughts about math material.
BlackWeb2.0: Wow school isn’t what it use to be but that is definitely an innovative way to use blogging!

BlackWeb2.0: You actually have a degree in computer science correct?
Jose: Yes I do.

BlackWeb2.0: How has this played into what you do now as a teacher and what you do as a blogger?

Jose: Well, as a computer science major, I’m able to integrate higher-order level math into the lessons I teach. For instance, there are times when I’ll talk about scientific notation and connect that to bytes, and how we try to simply really long numbers.
Jose: As a blogger, I guess I’ve been a little ahead of the curve when it comes to blogging. Rather than relying on other platforms and hosts, I decided that, once I got the money, I’d invest in my own web development, my own .com, and being an entrepreneur in that sense.

BlackWeb2.0: You are referring to owning your own domain and not hosted like ‘josevilson.blogspot.com’?
Jose: YES! Exactly the ‘.com’ should have caught on earlier on, but now it’s the movement ppl need to get on, it’s like having an independent business.

BlackWeb2.0: In terms of trends you have been able to see over the years are other teachers that serious about it or do they seem to be pretty happy with hosted solutions?
Jose: I think most teachers I know see the value of having one’s own ‘.com.’ Most of the “big” bloggers have their own ‘.com’ or at least their own ‘.net.’ If it’s not for their own blogging, they at least use it as a calling card. Teachers are becoming multifaceted in that respect.
BlackWeb2.0: That is great to hear!

BlackWeb2.0: In the future do you see yourself staying in the classroom as a teacher or moving into some sort of hybrid role that includes Education and social media?
Jose: That’s a great question. I think the idea of an educator has to expand with the talent that’s applying. I see myself being in the classroom, and I love being an educator, and relish it as a career. However, I also can’t see how I can be stagnant with the other things I can bring to the table.
BlackWeb2.0: Very interesting.

BlackWeb2.0: Ok now for some fun questions
Jose: Shoot!

BlackWeb2.0: Most efficient blogging platform in your opinion?
Jose: WordPress, by and large. I’ve never had a complaint with WordPress and they’re only getting better.

BlackWeb2.0: Top 3 websites you and your students have in common?
Jose: Haha, that’s funny. I think the only one we visit in common is myspace.com, and that’s because I have a teacher Myspace. Otherwise, espn.com and wikipedia.org will do.

BlackWeb2.0: The future of the classroom: Digital Whiteboards, Blogging for Student Enrichment, or Online Communities for Classrooms? Or all of the above
Jose: I think much of that is in the present for some schools. In my school, I have a smart-board, which is a digital whiteboard. I know some teachers who have used my blog on their online syllabus. and I’ve visited a school with an online community using only Google Docs. In 5-6 years, it’s possible that we can integrate that into all school

BlackWeb2.0: On your iPod, what is most used shuffle or playlist?
Jose: shuffle. Always. I have a selected amount of songs I put on the iPod and they’re carefully chosen for the mood I’d like to be in when I go to school, go to the gym, or get out of school.

BlackWeb2.0: Thank you so much for participating!!!
Jose: Anytime, that was good

You can catch Jose on Twitter or find out more about him on his website.

This week’s Peeps of the Web profiles Gina McCauley, Lawyer, Blogger, and Coordinator of the Blogging While Brown Conference. Gina shares with us her thoughts on social media, blogging, and the future of the Blogging While Brown Conference.

Black Web 2.0: Let’s start by telling the people who you are…in a nutshell.
Gina McCauley: Well my name is Gina McCauley, I am the founder of two blogs, What About Our Daughters and Michelle Obama watch and I am also the organizer of the Blogging While Brown conference, the first conference for bloggers of color.
Black Web 2.0: How did you get into blogging and social media?
Gina McCauley: Well, I have always read blogs and commented on them . I read a lot of political and personal finance blogs, but my transition from blog reader to consistent blogger was a “fluke.”. I got really ticked off after watching an Oprah Winfrey show “After Imus: Now What?” I saw a group of young women from Spelman basically being ignored and marginalized and patronized and at the end of the show, it was a two part series, Diane Weather said Black women would have to take the lead to combat what I call, “The War on Black Women” which is the systematic dehumanization of Black women in popular culture. In my mind the lesson from Imus was that if you cut off the money, the foolishness goes away.
Gina McCauley: So I was actually looking for someone to tell me that there was a Black women’s organization out there that was combating the War on Black Women in an aggressive and unapologetic way so that I could write them a check so I put up a post asking, if I was the only one that thought this was ridiculous and the answer was “NO, you’re not the only one”
Gina McCauley: I thought I would last maybe a month. That was almost two years and two blogs ago
Gina McCauley: and a conference
Gina McCauley: and a few quotes in the paper
Black Web 2.0: and it seems like you have quite the following
Gina McCauley: Yeah, but they aren’t following me, they are following my gift. They are following the message. As we are speaking I just got an email from a woman who was the victim of sexual assault as a child. Thanking me for my writing
Black Web 2.0: wow
Gina McCauley: Yeah wow, very common. I had to get used to it. It took a while
Black Web 2.0: how about the conference… how did that come about?
Black Web 2.0: the Blogging while Brown Conference
Gina McCauley: You have to take yourself back to the time when BWB was conceived. People were complaining about a lack of Diversity at Netroots Nation, in particular, but other conferences like SXSW. I was either right in the middle of a battle with BET or coming right out of it and thought I was invincible ( stupid) but There wasn’t anything I didn’t think Black bloggers couldn’t do. So I am a problem solver by profession and my family throws family reunions every year and I’ve overseen large events in undergrad. I fooled myself into thinking that it was no big deal to hold a conference/ family reunion for Black bloggers. I thought instead of whining and complaining about a lack of Diversity, throw your own conference. Why are you begging people to take your money and acknowledge you? Build your own house and then you can approach them as equals.
Gina McCauley: SO that’s where it came from
Gina McCauley: Terrance from Republic of T had written a post about 6 months earlier called “”Blogging While Brown” after Black and Latino bloggers were excluded from a meeting with Bill Clinton in Harlem. It was a big deal in the political blogosphere
Black Web 2.0: So the first one took place in ATL, and in my point of view was successful, what did you think of the conference overall, and what can we expect from next year’s conference in CHI?
Gina McCauley: Bloggin While Brown 2008 in Atlanta was almost a spiritual experience. You had all of these ridiculously gifted Black people in one place just vibing with each other. Sharing. It really was a family reunion. I didn’t get to enjoy it as it was happening, but I was sitting at Atlantic Station on a park bench eating gelatin with Attorneymom from Character Corner (Charactercorner.blogspot.com_ and I was just exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion because the energy at the conference was insanely positive. It really did feel like a “family reunion” without the dysfunction.
Black Web 2.0: lol
Gina McCauley: What can you expect in Chicago. Well first, hope fully we won’t have as many moving parts. I hope to maintain the same “vibe” as far as the “”we’re all in this together” We have waited until January to start rolling with the programming committees and the call for proposals to give everyone time to decompress from the election ( I attended the Democratic National Convention), This year there will be more of a team effort and I am delegating. Our registration chair from last year is handling the logistics this year and I hope to have a committee of people working on the workshop aspect.
Gina McCauley: We went out of our way to find a facility that was high tech, had wifi and also offered an affordable housing option because I always want to make sure that the conference is accessible for everyone. So this summer if folks choose to stay at the conference center, they can get a room for far less than any hotel. Again, that’s an option for folks on a budget.
Black Web 2.0: Well I can’t wait!
Gina McCauley: They can expect great workshops, but more importantly, I guarantee they are going to meet one person that is going to take them to the next level towards whatever goals they have
Gina McCauley: I think BWB last year made me step my game up. Remember how folks badgered me about ads last year, I wish y’all had wrestled me to the floor and made me put up some adsense code
Black Web 2.0: lol
Gina McCauley: I can’t believe how much money I was leaving on the ground. I was crazy
Black Web 2.0: exactly
Black Web 2.0: I’m sure you can reinvest that money into reaching more people
Gina McCauley: Being around all these bloggers who were on point made me want to take it to the next level made me believe what was possible. Challenged my firmly held beliefs
Gina McCauley: EXACTLY my platform is expanding and that money is helping to build that platform.
Gina McCauley: I think about people like Dede from Clutch who is doing her thing and so free with sharing information about how people can do good and do well one of the biggest issues last year if you remember is that need for capital
Black Web 2.0: yep
Gina McCauley: Even if you have a “”social justice”" blog, you need money. There are plenty of folks who are making money and they will share everything with you sitting around at the social on Friday night
Gina McCauley: What I like about BWB is that everyone there is rooting for each other. We’re all in this together we realize that if one of us makes it, we all succeed
Gina McCauley: So, y’all changed my mind
Gina McCauley: hahaha
Black Web 2.0: lol
Black Web 2.0: good
Black Web 2.0: now back to your blogs
Black Web 2.0: Your writing tends to be very stern and controversial at times; do you think that helps your blogs’ success?
Gina McCauley: I don’t think of my blogs in terms of “success” First of all, Michelle Obama Watch has a completely different “vibe” than WAOD, that’s intentional. We don’t want to really cause a ruckus that distracts or detracts from the work she is doing.
Gina McCauley: WAOD is a whole other ball game. You have to understand that I’m on a mission. No one is saying what I am saying the way that I am saying it. You also have to understand that my background is one where sharp elbows get thrown. My greatest teachers were a bunch of male criminal defense attorneys that banged my head against a wall ( figuratively) so I don’t’ have a problem being assertive. I’m not the Department of State, don’t call me for negotiations. … But I do think that people put a lot of heft behind some of the things I say that just aren’t there. I also think there is a problem with a Black woman being unapologetic, uncompromising and unbowed.
Gina McCauley: Part of the success of WAOD is the sarcasm, is the colloquialism, is the speaking “my truth” to power. But not every post is about winning the crusade. Sometimes it’s just me sharing my opinion about something that does not make sense to me. Bloggers do it all the time. I don’t view myself any different, but that isn’t the full body of my work. At the end of the day, I have to ask myself, are you doing what God called you to do? If I am then it doesn’t matter if nobody reads my blog. I did what I was supposed to do. But am I becoming more “cognizant” of the number of eyes that are on me? Yeah. I am always shocked at who reads my blog and who acts on it and I may be one of the few Black bloggers that has actually met people I have castigated because I speak at conferences so occasionally I run into some of the targets of my posts.
Black Web 2.0: What tips can you give to our readers about starting blogs and gaining an audience?
Gina McCauley: Let me also add that there is no book that teaches you how to handle what I’ve gone through in the past year in a half. Going from obscurity to being on lists in magazines. I’m doing the best I can, the best I know how. Will I make mistakes? Yes, but I am learning and growing and part of having the power that people THINK I have is being a good steward of that power. Part of having the gift to move people with my words is recognizing that anything in excess can be too much. Part of having all these people gather around me, is recognizing that they aren’t gathering around Gina, they are gathering about the gift. Part of having my own share of criticism and vitriol lobbed my way had taught me to have compassion for other people. Now on to your next question
Black Web 2.0: I really do appreciate your candor.
Gina McCauley: Actually I am writing a book about building online communities. The first thing I would tell people is don’t be an island/ Don’t start a blog over in your little corner of the world and think people are going o show up because of your amazing ideas or concepts. There is a reason why people call it “social” media and if you’re “social” people won’t know you exist. Forget about numbers, I actually enjoyed blogging when my blog was getting a tenth of the traffic it is getting. You have to comment on other people’s blogs. You need to link liberally because all bloggers, even the largest are going to peek in to see why someone is linking to them. You have to not be afraid to let people know you have a blog, but don’t be an obnoxious spammer. If you wrote a post about something I blogged about , I don’t mind you leaving a link, but just don’t leave random links. Probably the fastest way to get noticed is leaving really good comments. Yes, I do click on people’s screen names and read their blogs if they have good comments,
Gina McCauley: But if you just want traffic, bookmark Google trends and post on the hour. I could get ten times the traffic I get now, I understand SEO and web user behavior, but that’s not my current goal. I don’t get a million hits, but the people who read my blog do which is why I end up cited so often. I would rather have he influence than the traffic, trust me. Sometimes more page clicks equals more problems
Black Web 2.0: Great advice
Black Web 2.0: I’m sure we will pick up some other tips from the Blogging While Brown Conference
Black Web 2.0: I want to use these last few questions to get to know the personal side of Gina.
Gina McCauley: hahaha
Black Web 2.0: lol
Black Web 2.0: What is a typical day for you like?
Gina McCauley: Typical day ( if I am doing right) is to wake up and go to the gym. come home check my email, if I haven’t scheduled a post to go up that morning throw something up and then head off to work. I post once a day in the mornings or if something goes down during the day, I might do an evening post. Then I do various things, I am currently taking classes in television and film production so I am doing that and If figured that the easiest way to defeat the regime of Bullets Booty and Bling is to compete on the battle field of ideas for the hearts minds and imaginations of young Black children. So I have been teaching myself 3D animation with the help of online tutorials via Youtube. I almost have a space ship built in Blender 3D. I will also tool around on some 2D animation programs Synfig and Pencil. People who follow me over at WADO know I’ve done a couple of short PSAs that I have put up on Youtube, but I want to take it to the next level Next year I start taking my first Final Cut Pro class so I am excited about that. Other than teaching myself animation and tinkering with wordpress templates, I read the news and visit my favorite blogs and occasionally peek in on Twitter . I try to put up a new post before I go to sleep so it will show up in time for my east coast readers to enjoy the blog with their coffee and that’s usually the last thing I do.
Black Web 2.0: lol
Black Web 2.0: and I thought I was busy
Black Web 2.0: I can’t complain
Gina McCauley: Yeah but you are a different kind of busy
Gina McCauley: I don’t consider it work. I like to demystify things
Black Web 2.0: I feel ya

Black Web 2.0: So, if I stole your MP3 Player what songs will I find you play the most?
Gina McCauley: Oh goodness. The Dream Girls soundtrack into the ground. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, some Fred Hammond and John P Kee thrown in there. Mainly up tempo stuff to workout to. I haven’t updated my Ipod since the Dream Girls CD
Gina McCauley: You can’t tell me I’m not Jennifer Hudson singing “You bedda MOOOVE”
Gina McCauley: “Steppin to Bad Siide”
Black Web 2.0: lol
Black Web 2.0: So I guess I’m sure I can guess your favorite movie
Gina McCauley: Nah Dream Girls isn’t my favorite movie
Gina McCauley: Its one of my favorite soundtracks along with Rent and Wicked
Black Web 2.0: favorite movie?
Gina McCauley: Whew that is hard. Its Christmas time so “Love Actually”
Gina McCauley: Although that Batman this summer was good
Gina McCauley: OH I go to the movies. I wasted my hard earned money on that Keanu Reeves madness last weekend “The day the earth stood still” it was dreadful so dreadful I got on Twitter as I was exiting the theatre
Black Web 2.0: lol
Black Web 2.0: Ok final question
Black Web 2.0: I got to make it a good one
Black Web 2.0: Name some things that your audience would be surprised to learn about you.
Gina McCauley: My Daddy Loves my blog and I write some of my “funnier” prose to see how hard I can make him laugh
Black Web 2.0: lol
Black Web 2.0: that’s cool
Gina McCauley: Yeah I get accused of being a Black-man hating feminist and I laugh because the men in my family love what I do. They pester me if I don’t put up a post everyday
Black Web 2.0: Some can disagree with your tactics, but no one can say your heart’s not in the right place.
Gina McCauley: Someone once read me a quote in undergrad that said something to the effect “In the end when God Looks us over, he’s not going to count our medals, but our scars” So in a way I’m grateful that I am living a life where I am passionate about something to be willing to take the hits for what I believe is right. Everyone isn’t gifted with that kind of boldness
Gina McCauley: Markus that’s what trips me out. Everybody has a different tactic. We can’t all be the state department. Somebody has to be the Pentagon.
Black Web 2.0: Thank you so much for talking with me!
Gina McCauley: No problem

This week’s Peeps of the Web profiles Shane Norman, Manager of Interactive Sales & Marketing for New York Fox television stations. Shane shares with us his thoughts about the current state of interactive sales and tips on how he overcomes them. Enjoy!

BlackWeb2.0: Tell us a little about your background?
Shane Norman: Well I started in print in college… I restarted a college newspaper in St. Louis at Maryville University. It was a respectable venture and I have always been endeared to media. In high school I launched an in-house television program with fellow students. I moved back to Memphis after 2 years in St. Louis to finish up my degree in Philosophy at Rhodes College. I worked a few odds and ends jobs until I started working for a local Spanish newspaper called “La Prensa Latina.” After a fairly successful run, I was presented with the opportunity to work for the historic Tri-State Defender. At both of these newspapers, I sold advertising.
Shane Norman: I stayed in sales and after college joined the NBC affiliate in Memphis, TN as an account executive this is what really began my career. I had the opportunity to go out generate new business, and for a time I was pretty successful…
Shane Norman: When my “success” ran out, I left the company to go on the mission field for what I thought would be a year, but only turned out to be 5 months in the Dominican Republic. I came back to no job, and no money to start my own business. Fast forward… my agency was catapulted by one of my former TV clients, one who had garnered a lot of success with the work I had previously done for him. This was an Inc500 Fastest Growing Companies in America class of 2005. My agency placed their advertising, created commercials and maintained websites and I served in a semi-full time roll as the Director of Marketing.
BlackWeb2.0: Wow that is a lot! I bet you were busy!
Shane Norman: Very. We launched a national trade publication; The Review of Allergy as well as national ophthalmic organization called SOSA, all under my watch and direction. Fast forward again, I had established strong relationships with all of the TV stations, particularly FOX and heard of the progress that NewsCorp was making towards internet development; particularly investment in local websites. I found myself ‘landlocked’ in my business ventures. I was stretched as could be, and couldn’t ‘grow’ anymore than I already had.  But I was getting married, and needed to consider my future financial outlook. So I interviewed and signed on with FOX to what has been an incredible career.
BlackWeb2.0: So how long have you been at Fox?
Shane Norman: 3 years in June.
BlackWeb2.0: What is your role there and what is a typical day like for you?
Shane Norman: June of 2006, I started out as the Internet Sales Manager in Memphis, and made several innovations that helped shaped how we do business…
There I sold the local websites in conjunction with TV schedules…
but did so by creating new platforms such as the 60 Second Test Drive, and other interactive programs… I not only sold new platforms, but created them…
Shane Norman: Fortunately/unfortunately there is not typical day. I spend a lot of my time in creative development, coming up with new ideas, and pitching them to clients.
BlackWeb2.0: LOL
Shane Norman: After a successful run in Memphis, I was called to New York by people who had become familiar with my work. So NOW I manage the interactive sales efforts for the Fox Stations here in New York (WNYW/WWOR). I’ll give you the best example of what I do. I realized the sales potential of cross platform traffic sponsorship, so I created and launched NYTrafficAuthority.com. It’s an online site, a mobile site and part of what we use on air… We were able to secure a sizable investment for something that started as just an idea of mine…
BlackWeb2.0: Very cool
BlackWeb2.0: Sizable investment in terms of revenue generated from the site?
Shane Norman: Yes. It’s all about building and creating value… the extent of your ability.
BlackWeb2.0: With the decline of the economy what unexpected hurdles have you come across when selling? Any tips for over coming those?
Shane Norman: Great question. I’m just now starting to see the hurdles that I think some others have… but it goes back to my days to selling at the newspapers I told you about…
Shane Norman: I came up with a saying then that “It’s difficult to sell dirt”
Meaning that I can’t sit in front of you and pitch something that you and I both believe doesn’t have any value. Sellers in this economy must prove and validate the value of what they are presenting…More than ever, specifically in the online world, we will have to ‘prove’ our value. That’s challenging, because it naturally puts you on the defensive. Realizing the fact, you start off with that mindset rather than reacting to it.
BlackWeb2.0: Right but isn’t it hard to sell regardless if people just don’t have money to spend on advertising?
Shane Norman: Absolutely. It makes the opportunities that you have that much more critical. Instead of just moving on to the next prospect, you have to make sure the one you thought was dead cannot be resuscitated. I came up with a saying last week that you can be the first to break:
“My job is to make money, not excuses”
BlackWeb2.0: We have spoken a lot about the industry and what you do, lets get to some fun questions!
BlackWeb2.0: Top 3 sites you visit daily?
Shane Norman: foxnews.com, nytimes.com, myfoxny.com
BlackWeb2.0: In your opinion most valuable metric (pv’s, uniques, etc.)?
Shane Norman: At this time I’d have to say time spent. Pageviews & Uniques can give you a false sense of success…I really think the best evaluation that can be made would be a combination of how many people visit the site, how long did they stay, and how often do the comeback.
BlackWeb2.0: Best time for work, early riser or night owl?
Shane Norman: I used to be a night owl. But with two kids, all of that changed.
BlackWeb2.0: LOL, I hear ya!
BlackWeb2.0: Ok, last one…
BlackWeb2.0: Most listened to playlist in your iPod?
Shane Norman: I have a collection of what I call Hype Gospel (Canton Jones, Kirk Franklin etc.)
BlackWeb2.0: Cool!
BlackWeb2.0: Thanks for taking the time to chat w/ us!
Shane Norman: Anytime, thanks for having me!

This week’s Peeps of the Web profiles Sherri McDonald, Internet Entrepreneur and Interactive Project Manager at Ketchum.  Sherri is a self taught social networking and web design expert, with a very unorthodox educational background. Sherri also runs her own hair care site and will be launching a brand new venture in next year. Enjoy!

(8:11:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: so let’s start by telling our audience who you are and what you do.
(8:13:35 PM) Sherri McDonald: Ok great.  My name is Sherri McDonald and I sell Indian Human Hair.  I also have a blog that compliments my business and provides all types of tips and insight on caring for and styling your weave. I will be launching an online boutique in January 09
(8:13:52 PM) Sherri McDonald: There you will be able to buy the hair
(8:14:08 PM) Sherri McDonald: I am also a Project Manager of an Interactive Team at Ketchum
(8:14:41 PM) Sherri McDonald: I manage and Produce Social Media Outreach programs as well as Web Development Projects
(8:15:28 PM) Black Web 2.0: can you briefly explain to our audience what Ketchum is?
(8:15:55 PM) Sherri McDonald: Sure.  Ketchum is a large public relations firm.  I work in the Atlanta office.
(8:16:45 PM) Black Web 2.0: So what’s a typical day like for a Project Manager at Ketchum?
(8:16:58 PM) Sherri McDonald: CRAZY! LOL.
(8:17:03 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:17:45 PM) Sherri McDonald: Currently I manage about 4-5  projects and the workflow process for a few designers, qa analyst and some developers
(8:17:55 PM) Sherri McDonald: and on top of that I manage billing for all of my projects
(8:18:16 PM) Sherri McDonald: So I get started around 9:30 and havent been leaving lately until at least 8pm
(8:21:17 PM) Black Web 2.0: So what type of clients do you mostly deal with?
(8:23:23 PM) Sherri McDonald: I deal with pretty well known clients in the Food and recruitment industries mainly with Fortune 500 companies.
(8:24:33 PM) Black Web 2.0: So you work with these companies to build social strategies?
(8:25:06 PM) Sherri McDonald: Yes it’s amazing.  More and more large companies realize they need a presence in the online social space such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.
(8:25:32 PM) Sherri McDonald: So we help these companies craft an “off-campus” strategy to integrate them into the virtual social space and reach their clients even further
(8:26:22 PM) Black Web 2.0: so tell us a little about your background.
(8:26:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: where did you work before Ketchum?
(8:26:50 PM) Black Web 2.0: what’s your educational background?
(8:27:13 PM) Sherri McDonald: Before Ketchum I was an online producer at the Cartoon Network and I produced online promotions for the company
(8:27:28 PM) Sherri McDonald: I attended Spellman College and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Psychology.
(8:27:38 PM) Sherri McDonald: Honestly when I graduated I didn’t know what I wanted to do lol.
(8:27:49 PM) Sherri McDonald: So I chose a major I could apply to many different industries.
(8:28:08 PM) Sherri McDonald: I was always interested in computers, the web and art but never thought I could make a living from it.
(8:28:29 PM) Sherri McDonald: So after college I taught myself graphic and web design…and changed jobs and that was all she wrote
(8:28:35 PM) Sherri McDonald: I love the industry I am in!
(8:29:33 PM) Black Web 2.0: So let’s get into your personal business.
(8:29:56 PM) Black Web 2.0: Tell us the name and what you plan on doing with your site and business.
(8:30:34 PM) Sherri McDonald: Ok.  So in addition to being a super nerd I am very passionate about hair and hair extensions
(8:31:55 PM) Sherri McDonald: My company is called Hair Sugar.  I always loved the way fashion and hair can just transform a person.  Hair weave in particular does this in ways like none other so I decided to sell Indian Hair myself
(8:33:07 PM) Sherri McDonald: Right now I have a blog (www.hair-sugar.com)where I provide useful tips and insight on maintaining and styling hair extensions.  I am also on Twitter @hairsugar where I connect with hair stylists, and individuals who are also passionate about hair and hair extensions.
(8:34:14 PM) Sherri McDonald: In January 2009 I will launch my online boutique where you can buy hair from me directly.  I mainly work with hair stylists however I also work with individuals and provide counsel on hair extensions.
(8:34:23 PM) Sherri McDonald: Yes counsel…lol ….it’s very serious!
(8:36:52 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok so now it’s time for the personal questions
(8:36:53 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:36:56 PM) Sherri McDonald: LOl
(8:37:32 PM) Black Web 2.0: so besides hair, fashion and computers, what else do you spend your time doing?
(8:38:12 PM) Sherri McDonald: I love to spend time with my family and friends.  I also really enjoy going out and networking with other successful people in this industry.
(8:38:20 PM) Sherri McDonald: I cook a lot as well…it’s a stress reliever for me
(8:38:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:39:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok so if I stole your iPod, what music would I see?
(8:39:29 PM) Sherri McDonald: POP!
(8:40:23 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:40:43 PM) Sherri McDonald: Danity Kane, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Leona Lewis, Pink and some Katy Perry
(8:41:02 PM) Black Web 2.0: Wow
(8:41:04 PM) Black Web 2.0: pretty eclectic
(8:41:10 PM) Sherri McDonald: and then some Alicia Keys, Jay-Z maybe even some Cold Play
(8:41:18 PM) Sherri McDonald: yes I love all types of music
(8:41:31 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok last question
(8:42:08 PM) Black Web 2.0: name one thing that our audience would be surprised to know about you
(8:42:31 PM) Sherri McDonald: I used to model
(8:42:35 PM) Black Web 2.0: interesting
(8:42:50 PM) Sherri McDonald: Not all Tyra Banks-like but I modeled in DC and did a few things in NY once upon a time.
(8:43:32 PM) Sherri McDonald: So I am a huge fan of Tyra’s shows top model, Kimora Life in the Fab Lane etc.
(8:43:20 PM) Black Web 2.0: print and runway?
(8:43:41 PM) Sherri McDonald: Both but more so runway.
(8:43:44 PM) Sherri McDonald: I am 5’10 lol.
(8:43:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow that’s tall
(8:43:58 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:44:01 PM) Sherri McDonald: yes!
(8:44:28 PM) Black Web 2.0: well thank you so much for taking out time to talk to us.
(8:44:50 PM) Sherri McDonald: Sure thanks for having me.  I appreciate it.

In this week’s Peeps of the Web we talk with Rashid Muhammad, Systems Analyst for the Research Systems support group at Georgia State University. Rashid is an ASP/ASP.net enthusiast with a great insight on programming. We talk to Rashid about his start in web programming, choice of ASP instead of PHP. Enjoy!

(8:39:18 PM) Black Web 2.0: Ok well let’s start with an introduction
(8:39:26 PM) Black Web 2.0: Tell our readers a little about who you are.
(8:39:55 PM) Rashid: My name is Rashid Muhammad and I am a 31 year-old techno-politico geek from Atlanta Georgia.
(8:41:26 PM) Rashid: I currently work as a Systems Analyst for the Research Systems support group at Georgia State University.
(8:42:37 PM) Rashid: There was a point in time where the job required me to analyze disparate systems and write code to integrate their functionality, but nowadays I just sit in meetings 30 hours a week and stare into my monitor drooling for the other 10.
(8:44:05 PM) Rashid: I’m into web development professionally and as a hobby, and when I’m not doing that I am a big film buff, a baseball fan, and I enjoy cutting a little rug every now and then.
(8:44:25 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:44:29 PM) Rashid: I’m also obsessed with matters of international politics and development.
(8:44:43 PM) Rashid: oh and I’m a PC Gamer
(8:44:51 PM) Rashid: and I like to write
(8:45:08 PM) Rashid: and ride my motorcycle (when it works)
(8:45:01 PM) Black Web 2.0: So how did you get your start in Web Development?
(8:45:12 PM) Rashid: well
(8:45:35 PM) Rashid: I got into the web back in 1995 during my freshman year as a Computer Engineering major at Morehouse College
(8:46:01 PM) Rashid: I was taking these programming classes and they honestly bored me stuff.
(8:46:26 PM) Rashid: One day I was in the UNIX lab to do an assignment and I stumbled across this program called Netscape Navigator.
(8:46:52 PM) Rashid: I was hooked, shortly thereafter one of the upperclassmen gave me an HTML tutorial.
(8:47:15 PM) Rashid: It took about 5 minutes, back then you could just view source on any given page and learn all you needed to know
(8:47:47 PM) Rashid: I remember thinking to myself: “wow, it would be really cool if I could apply all of this boring programming stuff that I’m learning in class with this web thing”
(8:48:12 PM) Rashid: that was the beginning
(8:49:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: So after learning HTML what was your first web programming language?
(8:49:38 PM) Rashid: The first real platform that I used was ASP 2.0
(8:49:46 PM) Rashid: before that I messed with a few Perl scripts
(8:49:50 PM) Rashid: but nothing serious
(8:50:04 PM) Rashid: ASP 2.0 back in 1999 was the real beginning
(8:50:17 PM) Rashid: I had to write an inventory management app for my job.
(8:51:27 PM) Black Web 2.0: So is ASP still your weapon of choice?
(8:51:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: and if so why?
(8:51:42 PM) Rashid: ASP.NET yes.
(8:52:52 PM) Rashid: Well ASP.NET is a far cry from ASP. When .NET dropped back in 2002 or so I was actually on the brink of dropping ASP for PHP. I gave .NET a try though and the Object-Oriented model – along a stack much simpler than the dreadfully complex Java one – had me hooked.
(8:53:19 PM) Rashid: that should be: along with a stack much simpler than the dreadfully complex Java one
(8:54:24 PM) Black Web 2.0: So why not PHP?
(8:54:40 PM) Rashid: A few reasons
(8:57:09 PM) Rashid: First off, I had desktop and web apps that I had to work with and the .NET platform covered everything from web applications too console apps so it was a comprehensive solution.
(8:58:08 PM) Rashid: Secondly the ability to write modular OO code was plainly superior. OO in PHP sucked back in ’02.
(8:58:29 PM) Black Web 2.0: yeah it’s come a long way sense then
(8:58:52 PM) Rashid: Lastly – a pet peeve, I just couldn’t stand the way that the functions in PHP were arranged. the lack of namespaces really stuck out in comparison to Java and .NET.
(8:59:00 PM) Rashid: It has indeed.
(8:59:16 PM) Rashid: I think that if I had to make the choice all over again it would be much more difficult.
(8:59:47 PM) Rashid: MySQL really left a lot to be desired back then too.
(8:59:59 PM) Rashid: No Stored Procedures or Triggers killed it for me.
(9:00:38 PM) Rashid: And that’s not a dig on these platforms, they were both designed to be fast and simple and that’s what they were. I just felt like I needed more than they offered at the time.
(9:01:06 PM) Rashid: And it might be hard to believe but I was a real open source enthusiast at the time.
(9:01:16 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:01:33 PM) Rashid: Still I needed to get the job done and my enthusiasm was tempered by practical concerns.
(9:01:47 PM) Rashid: heck I’m an open source enthusiast now.
(9:02:12 PM) Rashid: I spent a lot of years a soldier in the browser wars fighting on behalf of Netscape/Mozilla.
(9:02:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: Now that you’re a higher up how much coding do you get to do?
(9:04:28 PM) Rashid: Less than before as I have assistants that do the mundane heavy lifting these days, but I’m still responsible for the overall designs and architecture of the system so I end up writing a lot of reference implementations and optimizations.
(9:04:51 PM) Black Web 2.0: How about personal projects?
(9:06:04 PM) Rashid: Well, the big personal project that I’ve been working on is my own website. For years I’ve had this vision about expanding it beyond a simple weblog and using it as a hub for my entire life.
(9:07:36 PM) Rashid: With the last iteration of the site I built the foundations of an object model that could serve that end and I ended up using an enhanced version of that code to power the primary application that I maintain at work. With this iteration I’m bringing an even more refined version of that same platform from my work project.
(9:08:16 PM) Rashid: This way I can leverage the fact that I’m a geek at home to enhance my work, and use my work to enhance my at home geekery.
(9:08:32 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:08:55 PM) Rashid: At the end of the day they are all web applications and there are certain things that all web apps are going to need to do.
(9:09:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: any thought about making the project open source, and inviting other contributors to improve upon it?
(9:09:44 PM) Rashid: Absolutely
(9:10:09 PM) Rashid: but I don’t know if what I’ve done is really that novel on the market.
(9:11:14 PM) Rashid: Ultimately what I’ve built is an application framework but there are tons of those around written by much better programmers than myself.
(9:12:22 PM) Rashid: Also, I’d have to really clean things up and document them before I put the project out there. I
(9:12:58 PM) Rashid: I’m all for playing around and figuring things out, but I think my project brings enough to the table for people to want to go through all of that.
(9:13:06 PM) Rashid: I DON’T think
(9:13:20 PM) Black Web 2.0: So do you do any consulting work?
(9:15:24 PM) Rashid: I have, but I’ve cut back lately. I was at a point where I was just working too much and using that as an excuse to neglect the other parts of my life. Being a stereotypical nerd, it’s easy to feel detached from the world around you and bury your heard in your work – that one thing that truly understands you – to the exclusion of everything else.
(9:16:00 PM) Rashid: But I’ve really been trying to fill in those gaps that growing up as a social misfit left in my persona. So I had to chill with all of the side work.
(9:16:36 PM) Rashid: I can see it in the future though.
(9:17:27 PM) Black Web 2.0: Alright enough of the tech questions. Now it’s time for our readers to know you personally!
(9:17:34 PM) Rashid: let’s do it
(9:17:42 PM) Black Web 2.0: So let’s start with something easy.
(9:17:51 PM) Black Web 2.0: Talk about some of your daily reads
(9:17:58 PM) Rashid: hmmm.
(9:18:04 PM) Black Web 2.0: books, mags, blogs etc
(9:18:13 PM) Rashid: Well I read a lot of stuff
(9:18:40 PM) Rashid: As Magazines go, I’m a big fan of Wired, The Economist, and The American Conservative
(9:19:04 PM) Rashid: as far as books go, I’m big on Economics and Public Policy books
(9:19:15 PM) Rashid: I’m a huge fan of Thomas Sowell
(9:20:23 PM) Rashid: Right now I’m reading Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington, Women Race and Class by Angela Davis, and The History of the World by J.M. Roberts
(9:20:45 PM) Rashid: also A Matter for Men by David Gerrold
(9:20:52 PM) Rashid: that’s a softer Sci Fi book
(9:21:01 PM) Rashid: blogs
(9:21:09 PM) Rashid: lately I’ve kind of been slacking
(9:21:37 PM) Rashid: Malik Nash’s The Unbound Movement was one of my faves but it seems to be on Hiatus
(9:21:57 PM) Rashid: so I have a list of maybe 30 or so that I ping every now and then to see what’s up
(9:22:18 PM) Rashid: but lately I haven’t been reading much outside of politico and the like.
(9:22:39 PM) Black Web 2.0: So how about music. Who are your top 5 artist?
(9:23:10 PM) Rashid: jeez man… you could ask me this question five days in a row and get five different answer
(9:23:22 PM) Rashid: answers too
(9:23:32 PM) Rashid: ok let’s see here
(9:23:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:23:35 PM) Rashid: Black Sabbath
(9:23:42 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow Black Sabbath
(9:23:47 PM) Black Web 2.0: I didn’t see that coming
(9:23:52 PM) Rashid: oh man
(9:24:03 PM) Rashid: Paranoid might just be my favorite album ever
(9:23:49 PM) Rashid: De La Soul
(9:25:09 PM) Rashid: I’m really into Massive Attack – at least the version of the group starting with the Mezzanine album
(9:25:26 PM) Rashid: I’m a huge fan of Del the Funkee Homosapien
(9:25:44 PM) Rashid: and Prince
(9:25:53 PM) Rashid: gotta throw some Prince up in there
(9:25:59 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:26:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: who doesn’t like Prince
(9:26:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:26:14 PM) Rashid: is that too easy?
(9:26:17 PM) Rashid: ok
(9:26:28 PM) Rashid: how about John Williams
(9:26:35 PM) Black Web 2.0: Who?
(9:26:37 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:26:37 PM) Rashid: that’s easy too, but he’s the man
(9:26:40 PM) Rashid: John Williams
(9:26:44 PM) Rashid: the movie score guy
(9:27:10 PM) Black Web 2.0: not really a movie score kinda guy
(9:27:16 PM) Rashid: mannnn
(9:27:21 PM) Rashid: Star Wars???
(9:27:28 PM) Black Web 2.0: oh ok Star Wars
(9:27:30 PM) Black Web 2.0: say no more
(9:27:31 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:27:32 PM) Rashid: Jaws???
(9:27:46 PM) Rashid: Superman???
(9:27:49 PM) Rashid: ok
(9:27:56 PM) Black Web 2.0: I don’t think I ever knew his  name
(9:27:56 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:27:58 PM) Rashid: yeah
(9:28:06 PM) Rashid: he puts it down brother.
(9:28:38 PM) Black Web 2.0: Ok Final Question..
(9:29:43 PM) Black Web 2.0: This year’s World Series Champion?
(9:29:52 PM) Rashid: man
(9:29:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: had to make it tough
(9:29:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:30:04 PM) Rashid: It won’t be the Braves so I’m a little indifferent
(9:30:07 PM) Rashid: but I gotta tell you
(9:30:19 PM) Rashid: I was at Wrigleyville in Chicago earlier this year
(9:30:31 PM) Rashid: Where I saw the Cubs whip up on the Braves
(9:30:48 PM) Rashid: I’ve never had so much fun at a baseball park and afterwards in my life
(9:30:58 PM) Rashid: it’s been 100 years since the Cubs took it home
(9:31:02 PM) Rashid: Go Cubbies!
(9:32:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: that’s a big prediction and once its posted its written in stone. We will check back later to see if you’re right.
(9:32:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: Thanks for talking to us.
(9:32:25 PM) Rashid: my pleasure

In this week’s Peeps of the Web, we interview Tiffani Bell, recent college graduate and a very spirited Ruby on Rails developer and consultant. Tiffani is a staunch supporter of Ruby on Rails as a web development language, and we used this interview to discuss how she got started with the Ruby language, the tools she uses to code in Ruby, and the pros and cons surrounding the language. Enjoy!

(6:50:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: Tell our readers who you are.
(6:51:23 PM) Tiffani: soo I’m Tiffani Ashley Bell, a recent college grad and someone really looking to do interesting stuff in the future. I’m a programmer and a 20-something and all the good stuff that goes with that.
(6:51:57 PM) Black Web 2.0: What’s your favorite language?
(6:52:14 PM) Tiffani: My favorite right now is Ruby but if you had asked me a few years back I would have said Java haha.
(6:52:23 PM) Tiffani: I learned a few lessons with that though.
(6:52:35 PM) Black Web 2.0: So what made you get into Ruby?
(6:52:55 PM) Tiffani: hmm way back in 2005, I was messing around with PHP and not really having a good time with it.
(6:53:25 PM) Tiffani: I thought it was ugly and I was not a fan of having so much mixed into the code for it…HTML and PHP and sometimes SQL all in one place
(6:53:39 PM) Tiffani: I mean, even after you clean it up, it’s still bad to look at (for me, at least).
(6:53:56 PM) Tiffani: I was messing around one day during an internship at IBM and discovered Rails and that was it.
(6:54:16 PM) Tiffani: I’ve always liked the web and so that was a perfect tool.
(6:54:34 PM) Tiffani: and of course, with Rails, you have to have knowledge of Ruby, so that’s where Ruby comes in
(6:55:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: How difficult was Ruby to learn?
(6:56:48 PM) Tiffani: hmmm it’s not too difficult. If you have some programming experience, you can really get into it quite quickly. It’s really big on expressive and with that, comes great readability, so even if you don’t have programming experience, if you start small it’s not too bad either
(6:56:59 PM) Tiffani: and there’s tons of material online for it
(6:57:17 PM) Tiffani: and that’s grown since Rails has really brought it to the forefront, since Ruby has been around long before Rails
(6:57:38 PM) Tiffani: tryruby.hobix.com is a site I directed a friend to the other night
(6:57:44 PM) Tiffani: 15 minute interactive tutorial
(6:57:49 PM) Black Web 2.0: cool
(6:58:05 PM) Black Web 2.0: so where do you work, what do you do?
(6:58:23 PM) Tiffani: haha so I just graduate from Howard U (Go Bison!) in May 2008 with a degree in Computer Science
(6:58:43 PM) Tiffani: ever since then I’ve been working on bringing to fruition a few of the ideas I had during school but never had time to devote to fully
(6:58:57 PM) Black Web 2.0: HBCU in the building
(6:59:00 PM) Tiffani: indeed!
(6:59:15 PM) Tiffani: so you could really I’m a one-person startup right now
(6:59:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: any projects you wish to share?
(7:00:04 PM) Tiffani: umm…not any that are finished. I would give a plug to an app called Pencil You In that I’m writing which will be big on appointments
(7:00:20 PM) Tiffani: folks handle so much online nowadays such as banking and shopping, so I would argue why not appointments too
(7:01:01 PM) Tiffani: it’s more on appointments with salons/beauticians since during school I had the problem where I often couldn’t reach my beautician but I didn’t want to dump him because of that
(7:01:24 PM) Tiffani: but I figured there had to be some way to make an appointment with him in the event that I couldn’t reach him for some reason
(7:01:45 PM) Tiffani: and now I figure it would be useful since I’m back at home in NC and without somebody I trust for a beautician
(7:02:14 PM) Black Web 2.0: are you open to consulting?
(7:02:29 PM) Tiffani: yeah right now I’d be open to a few projects
(7:03:02 PM) Tiffani: actually in a few months I’ll be starting on a project for JC Lamkin at Technically Speaking radio (http://technically-speaking-radio.blogspot.com)
(7:03:07 PM) Tiffani: and I’ll be her official Ruby tutor
(7:04:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: so if you had to convince programmers to switch to Rails what would the key selling points be?
(7:05:54 PM) Tiffani: I would have them consider how productive you can be, the community behind the Rails framework, and the fact that you’ll be working with Ruby which is a great tool even without Rails
(7:06:32 PM) Tiffani: I’d say in just the 3 months since graduation, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot that if I had used Java or something else I wouldn’t have
(7:06:36 PM) Tiffani: Rails just works
(7:06:47 PM) Black Web 2.0: great!
(7:06:51 PM) Tiffani: you’ll hear people talk about convention over configuration and all that sort of stuff, and it’s no exaggeration
(7:07:22 PM) Tiffani: with Java and servlets and all that sort of stuff, you’d have to worry about lengthy comfit files and builds and compiling and such but not with Ruby
(7:07:41 PM) Tiffani: it’s an interpreted language, so there’s no compilation and thus you don’t have to wait with that
(7:08:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: great pitch
(7:08:27 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:08:27 PM) Tiffani: haha thanks
(7:08:38 PM) Tiffani: I hope you’re sold since you said you’re into PHP
(7:08:45 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:08:50 PM) Tiffani: ohh but another thing too I remember
(7:08:53 PM) Tiffani: sorry
(7:08:56 PM) Tiffani: I get excited about this lol
(7:08:58 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:09:16 PM) Tiffani: Rails follows the MVC convention which makes it lean further toward being easier to work with
(7:09:37 PM) Tiffani: MVC = Model-View-Controller, so you have a great separation of concerns going on
(7:09:49 PM) Tiffani: where all the code for my Model is business logic
(7:09:56 PM) Tiffani: the View ends up being what the user sees
(7:10:16 PM) Tiffani: and the controller stands in the middle and takes cues from the view to interact with the model
(7:10:40 PM) Tiffani: and from that you’re able to go consistently from one Rails project to another because you have this project structure that follows that very closely
(7:10:50 PM) Tiffani: you have a folder for your models, your views, your controllers, etc
(7:10:55 PM) Tiffani: so everything is in its place
(7:11:15 PM) Tiffani: and that makes it ultra-easy to work with once you really get the MVC concept down
(7:11:24 PM) Tiffani: that’s something I struggled at first, but once you get it, it’s great
(7:13:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok so now on to the good questions
(7:13:12 PM) Tiffani: lol ok
(7:14:08 PM) Black Web 2.0: what do you do for fun?
(7:14:13 PM) Tiffani: hahahah
(7:14:17 PM) Black Web 2.0: when you’re off the computer
(7:14:32 PM) Tiffani: when I was in DC, you could find me in the mall lol
(7:14:52 PM) Tiffani: mostly at a bookstore though since it financially made no sense for me to be anywhere else lol
(7:15:01 PM) Black Web 2.0: no malls in NC?
(7:15:21 PM) Tiffani: hmm…I’d say the one in Fayetteville, NC constitutes one that I stay frustrated with
(7:15:34 PM) Tiffani: nothing interesting and they CLOSED the Waldenbooks to put a Build-a-Bear store.
(7:15:37 PM) Tiffani: what a bad idea.
(7:15:43 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:15:54 PM) Tiffani: but otherwise, me and my mom head up to Raleigh/Durham to get our shop on
(7:16:08 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:16:38 PM) Black Web 2.0: so what’s your weapon of choice Mac or PC?
(7:16:42 PM) Tiffani: a Mac.
(7:16:47 PM) Tiffani: anything else is questionable
(7:16:51 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:17:03 PM) Tiffani: right now I’m on a MacBook Pro and before that it was an iBook
(7:17:11 PM) Tiffani: before that in high school it was a Compaq
(7:17:22 PM) Tiffani: but the first computer I ever got was a Mac and I was always excited by it lol
(7:17:39 PM) Tiffani: I always said when I had the money to pick out my own computer, I’d get a Mac and I stuck to it
(7:17:55 PM) Tiffani: I’m a sucker for good design even if it’s a bit pricey.
(7:18:13 PM) Black Web 2.0: what editor do you use?
(7:18:41 PM) Tiffani: for coding you can find me happily coding away with Textmate
(7:19:04 PM) Tiffani: macromates.com
(7:19:24 PM) Tiffani: it’s probably the most popular one amongst Rails developers on OS X
(7:19:38 PM) Tiffani: with the dollar being weak, it’s pricey, but it’s worth it for all its features
(7:20:03 PM) Black Web 2.0: funny I don’t know any Rails developers who use PCs
(7:20:10 PM) Black Web 2.0: coincidence? I think not
(7:20:14 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:20:15 PM) Tiffani: of course not lol
(7:20:31 PM) Tiffani: yeah OS X does a lot to make the Rails experience smooth
(7:20:39 PM) Tiffani: with OS X Leopard, you got support right out of the box
(7:20:48 PM) Tiffani: Rails came installed
(7:21:11 PM) Black Web 2.0: last question
(7:21:21 PM) Tiffani: alrighty
(7:21:32 PM) Black Web 2.0: your top 5 musicians
(7:21:37 PM) Tiffani: hahahha
(7:23:07 PM) Tiffani: it changes from day to day depending on what I’m doing, but I know that Amel Larrieux (that seriously won’t change—been a favorite since 9th grade), The Chemical Brothers, Bonobo, and….hmm
(7:23:13 PM) Tiffani: let me think on the last 2
(7:24:13 PM) Tiffani: hm Georgia Anne Muldrow and Muhsinah
(7:24:19 PM) Tiffani: Muhsinah’s an HU alum by the way
(7:24:31 PM) Tiffani: my tastes flip between stuff people have never heard of and stuff folks have
(7:24:46 PM) Black Web 2.0: I’m so wack i have only heard of 2 of the artist you’ve named
(7:24:47 PM) Tiffani: if I’m coding, I’ll dig out all the instrumentals from everybody
(7:24:48 PM) Tiffani: lol
(7:24:58 PM) Tiffani: nahh that’s probably me!
(7:25:02 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:25:10 PM) Tiffani: I get excited when people have heard of that many honestly lol
(7:25:21 PM) Tiffani: here’s everything else you’ll find on loop: http://www.last.fm/user/infamoux
(7:25:28 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:25:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: alrighty
(7:25:43 PM) Black Web 2.0: I had a blast talking to you
(7:25:47 PM) Tiffani: same here!
(7:25:59 PM) Tiffani: I got to talk somebody’s head off about Ruby today lol
(7:26:05 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(7:26:11 PM) Black Web 2.0: I enjoyed it.

In this weeks of Peeps of the Web, we talk with the dynamic, blogger, new media entrepreneur and consultant Liz Burr. Liz is the former Interactive Project Manager for New Media at KCET, the Los Angeles PBS affiliate. Liz recently left her position at KCET, to focus on her blossoming consulting business and other personal endeavors.

Liz earned her Bachelor of Science in Comparative Media Studies from MIT, and her Graduate Degree in Communication Management with an emphasis in Online Communities from USC’s Annenberg Program for Online Communities.

(9:54:28 PM) Black Web 2.0: Hey Liz
(9:54:37 PM) Liz Burr: hola!
(9:55:43 PM) Black Web 2.0: Lets start by telling our audience a little about who you are.
(9:55:53 PM) Liz Burr: ok
(9:56:14 PM) Liz Burr: lol I am bad at this!
(9:56:17 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:00:34 PM) Liz Burr: I am Liz Burr and I am a new media entrepreneur. I recently finished working with KCET, the Los Angeles PBS Affiliate, as an Interactive Project Manager. There I was in charge of all social media initiatives performed by the department. I am also a blogger, though I don’t do as much blogging as I did years ago. Finally, I am the Chief Technology Officer of an emerging hip hop startup.
(10:00:51 PM) Liz Burr: That’s a big nutshell :-\
(10:01:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: What exactly did you do at KCET, what was typical day like?
(10:02:10 PM) Black Web 2.0: What does an Interactive Project Manager do?
(10:04:25 PM) Liz Burr: Truthfully that title was something we (my boss and I) made up because the position was created specifically for me. But, being in charge of social media, I essentially would be either maintaining any current projects, or initiating or consulting others in the department on their projects.
(10:05:56 PM) Liz Burr: This could be anything from writing Product Requirement Documents for a Facebook app, hiring developers and designers for the product, testing the app, or helping my boss write in social media line items for a grant proposal.
(10:07:01 PM) Black Web 2.0: Out of all the projects you did for KCET what was your favorite?
(10:09:49 PM) Liz Burr: I would have to say the Facebook Application I created for our national series, WIRED SCIENCE. It’s my fave because I essentially had my own budget to work with, I was able to hire one of my favorite and most respected designers to design the interface, and alll my years of Facebooking paid off because I was able to use my understanding of the social graph to make a decent product.
(10:10:33 PM) Black Web 2.0: Lets take a step back.  When were you first get bitten by the tech bug?
(10:13:11 PM) Liz Burr: I’d say back in 2002. I had recently been initiated into my sorority at MIT (shout out to my sorors of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.), and my chapter needed a new website. Our current one was roughly 4 or 5 years old. I’m not sure exactly why I volunteered to make the site, but I was down to do the research on it. I had never created a website before, and HTML scared me.
(10:13:20 PM) Liz Burr: Actually I know what it was. Blackplanet.
(10:13:47 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:13:59 PM) Liz Burr: I became obsessed with customizing Blackplanet profiles back then. I think that’s what eased my transition into not being so afraid of HTML LOL.
(10:14:01 PM) Liz Burr: Sad but true.
(10:14:56 PM) Liz Burr: Anyway from there I began blogging in early 2003, which also gave me a lot of practice with design and HTML. I was a personal blogger back then, mostly ranting about my life as a college student.
(10:15:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: So what was your orignal career goal when you first entered MIT?
(10:16:06 PM) Liz Burr: Ooh. I originally entered as a Biology major. Tragic. I was in denial about that for a good three years. I know my academic advisor must have hated me.
(10:16:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:17:10 PM) Liz Burr: Anyway, I had intended on making Comparative Media Studies my concentration, but I ended up liking the department more than Biology so I eventually switched programs. It was a rough transition, as the department wasn’t a full academic major at the time, but I made it work.
(10:17:33 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:17:49 PM) Black Web 2.0: I know what you mean, I started out as a Physical Thearpy Major
(10:17:54 PM) Liz Burr: LOL
(10:19:11 PM) Black Web 2.0: So after you graduated from MIT, what was your next move?
(10:19:30 PM) Liz Burr: Well, I wanted to get back to California ASAP. I couldn’t deal with the weather.
(10:19:39 PM) Liz Burr: It was depressing lol
(10:19:42 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:20:38 PM) Liz Burr: I actually came to LA in hopes of working in television, but at the time I wasn’t ready to pursue it fully. So I got an office job at USC to pay the bills until I figured out what to do next.
(10:21:16 PM) Liz Burr: The IT Director at my job noted my tech skills and one day, I was reassigned to his department.  There I did some web and print design work, front end development, and a little bit of product development.  I also decided to start a grad program at USC, since tuition was free lol.
(10:24:10 PM) Black Web 2.0: So how close are you to completing your graduate work?
(10:24:31 PM) Liz Burr: I’m done! I finished this past May.
(10:24:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: Nice!
(10:24:49 PM) Black Web 2.0: PHD?
(10:24:53 PM) Liz Burr LOL
(10:25:39 PM) Liz Burr You know, I thought about it for a minute. I was really looking into a program at NYU. But I had to do some soul searching to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons. I don’t want another MIT Biology department issue on my hands again, u know? lol
(10:25:50 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:25:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: I feel ya!!
(10:26:25 PM) Black Web 2.0: So now you’re doing consulting work right?
(10:28:11 PM) Liz Burr: I am. I have started my own company where I consult on new media, web development, social media, etc. etc.
(10:28:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: can you talk about some of your past and present clients?
(10:32:56 PM) Liz Burr: Sorry, I was reading my NDA agreements LOL. I think for now I will keep mum as the word on who I am working with.  Just to be safe lol
(10:33:10 PM) Black Web 2.0: Gotcha
(10:34:04 PM) Black Web 2.0: You also mentioned your positon as CTO of a hip hop startup. Can you talk a little about that?
(10:35:01 PM) Liz Burr: Sure. MyCypher.com is the name of the startup. Essentially it’s a social media platform for the global hip hop community.
(10:35:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: Cool
(10:35:47 PM) Liz Burr: They were actually one of my earlier clients, and they offered me the CTO position.
(10:36:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: Cool
(10:36:25 PM) Black Web 2.0: Any idea of a launch date?
(10:37:26 PM) Liz Burr: The entire site should be available this Fall. Some features and content will be available earlier than others.
(10:38:04 PM) Black Web 2.0: Can you talk about the types of businesses you consult for?
(10:39:57 PM) Liz Burr: Oh ok, usually I consult for companies or individuals that own web properties and are looking to expand their presence online. Generally I like to work on application consulting and not necessarily work on blog consulting, but I do both.
(10:40:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: Now it’s time to wrap up with the fun questions!
(10:40:23 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:40:25 PM) Liz Burr: lol
(10:40:29 PM) Liz Burr: whew
(10:41:03 PM) Black Web 2.0: Who’s your favorite music artist or band?
(10:41:09 PM) Liz Burr: MARIAH CAREY
(10:41:12 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow
(10:41:14 PM) Liz Burr: LOL
(10:41:16 PM) Black Web 2.0: I didn’t see that coming.
(10:41:29 PM) Liz Burr: Hahaha. Most people don’t unless they know me reeeally well.
(10:41:51 PM) Liz Burr: You can check my Last.FM profile for proof tho lol. I am die hard MC all day, everyday.
(10:41:59 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow
(10:42:00 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:42:03 PM) Liz Burr: lolol
(10:42:06 PM) Black Web 2.0: Mac or PC?
(10:42:11 PM) Liz Burr: MAC!
(10:42:20 PM) Liz Burr: Though I am quite salty about this iPhone 3G business.
(10:42:30 PM) Black Web 2.0: Why?
(10:43:18 PM) Liz Burr: I had to wait forever in a line because their point of sale process takes forever, only to discover the phone works properly only half the time. It’s just been a lot of headache and drama dealing with this thing.
(10:43:33 PM) Liz Burr: I had more faith in Apple, but they let me down.
(10:44:35 PM) Black Web 2.0: Maybe Steve Jobs will read this, because I know you’re not the only one.
(10:44:45 PM) Liz Burr: hahaha I hope so!
(10:45:05 PM) Black Web 2.0: If Liz is not on her computer we can find her ________
(10:46:03 PM) Liz Burr: Ooh. I am hardly ever not on my computer. I am probably watching a LOT of TV, or reading one of the many books I buy at the bookstore but never read.
(10:46:23 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(10:46:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: last question…
(10:47:33 PM) Black Web 2.0: what’s your favorite Mac application?
(10:49:23 PM) Liz Burr: Umm my fave mac app is probably Twhirl. It’s no secret I am a Twitter addict. That’s the app I am constantly using to stay on top of the Twitter happenings.
(10:49:55 PM) Black Web 2.0: is there any other web applications, project, or people you would like to shout out?
(10:53:11 PM) Liz Burr: Applications: Spanning Sync and the Grand Dialer iPhone App (Grand Central users only). Project: VerySmartBrothas.com. People: my mama.
(10:57:20 PM) Black Web 2.0: Well thanks for the interview. We really appreciate you taking out time!
(10:57:28 PM) Liz Burr: no prob

This week we speak with the, oh so funny, All in the Family lovin, Blogger, Designer, and Freelancer Tiffany B. Brown. Tiffany is currently working as a UI Developer for Arm Chair Media, a small design firm based out of Atlanta, GA. Tiffany has served on multiple panels including Blogging While Black at SXSW, and Design & Customization at Blog Her. She received her degree in Journalism from American University, and has very deep roots in the technology industry though her start was a very interesting one. Enjoy!
(8:16:11 PM) Black Web 2.0: hey Tiffany
(8:17:11 PM) Tiffany Brown: hey
(8:18:02 PM) Black Web 2.0: lets first start by telling our audience who you are.
(8:18:33 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m Tiffany B. Brown
(8:19:28 PM) Tiffany Brown: Let’s see…. I currently work as a User Interface Developer at Armchair Media in Atlanta, GA.
(8:20:02 PM) Tiffany Brown: I also have a “5-9″ web development firm, webinista: www.webinista.com
(8:20:33 PM) Tiffany Brown: Turn ons: Dudes who read.
(8:20:38 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:20:38 PM) Tiffany Brown: And smell nice.
(8:21:03 PM) Black Web 2.0: no long walks on the beach?
(8:21:17 PM) Tiffany Brown: That’s so cliched!
(8:21:26 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:21:54 PM) Black Web 2.0: What’s a typical day like for a UI Developer with Arm Chair Media?
(8:23:02 PM) Tiffany Brown: We try to start each day with a developer meeting. I’ll sit down with my manager and we’ll go over what projects we’re working on that day.
(8:23:38 PM) Tiffany Brown: It helps us to stay in the loop and divide workload.
(8:23:53 PM) Tiffany Brown: Then there’s lots of coding.
(8:24:05 PM) Tiffany Brown: And espresso drinking
(8:24:14 PM) Black Web 2.0: i bet
(8:24:32 PM) Black Web 2.0: How many other UI developers work with you on an average project?
(8:24:56 PM) Tiffany Brown: It depends on the project. We’re a tiny firm — 12 full-time employees.
(8:25:52 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow very small
(8:26:02 PM) Black Web 2.0: but small is good right?
(8:26:22 PM) Tiffany Brown: Yes. I love it. I get to put my finger in a bunch of pies.
(8:26:46 PM) Tiffany Brown: If it’s a straight front-end development project, I’ll typically be the only one building it.
(8:27:02 PM) Tiffany Brown: Or my manager will build it.
(8:27:22 PM) Black Web 2.0: Well that’s cool a manager that codes too.
(8:27:43 PM) Tiffany Brown: Yeah. I’m not entirely sure I report to him. We have a no-hierarchy hierarchy
(8:27:57 PM) Tiffany Brown: very VERY laid back, exceedingly flexible work culture.
(8:28:10 PM) Black Web 2.0: very cool
(8:28:13 PM) Black Web 2.0: So what qualities make a good UI developer?
(8:28:27 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m smart. And cute.
(8:28:38 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:28:41 PM) Black Web 2.0: I’m sure that helps
(8:28:44 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:28:44 PM) Tiffany Brown: Actually, the last one has nothing to do with it.
(8:29:22 PM) Tiffany Brown: But I think what makes me a good UI developer is a combination of experience
(8:30:28 PM) Tiffany Brown: … and I stay on top of what’s coming down the pike. I have a curious mind
(8:31:00 PM) Tiffany Brown: and I’m always thinking about and learning about how to do things better or differently.
(8:31:27 PM) Tiffany Brown: Coding is something you really learn by doing and seeing what other people have done.
(8:32:10 PM) Tiffany Brown: And the more you know about how things work, the better you become at solving problems.
(8:32:29 PM) Tiffany Brown: So I read blogs and books and stuff like a mother-you-know-what
(8:32:55 PM) Tiffany Brown: The willingness to always learn is key.
(8:32:52 PM) Black Web 2.0: So what are you favorite blogs?
(8:33:46 PM) Tiffany Brown: A List Apart isn’t a blog, but I read it www.alistapart.com. Ditto Digital Web http://www.digital-web.com/ , I rotate my reading pretty regularly.
(8:34:18 PM) Black Web 2.0: so what did you do prior to working with Arm Chair?
(8:36:37 PM) Tiffany Brown: So before Armchair, I was Interactive Developer at Fletcher Martin, which is an ad agency here in Atlanta.
(8:36:50 PM) Tiffany Brown: Before Fletcher Martin, I worked in the communications office at Georgia Tech
(8:37:12 PM) Tiffany Brown: My title there was Web Developer
(8:38:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: Where did you get your start?
(8:38:22 PM) Black Web 2.0: How did you get into coding?
(8:38:45 PM) Tiffany Brown: I majored in journalism in college many moons ago.
(8:39:22 PM) Tiffany Brown: This was right at the peak of Bubble 1.0 — late 1990s and most newspapers were just starting to move online.
(8:39:56 PM) Tiffany Brown: I read an article in the American Journal Review about the starting salaries for journalists with web know-how versus those without.
(8:40:24 PM) Tiffany Brown: The difference was like $7K.
(8:40:55 PM) Tiffany Brown: So I said “Shooooot. I’m learning HTML.” And I did. Taught myself in the summer after I graduated.
(8:41:33 PM) Tiffany Brown: A year later, I took a job in Augusta, Georgia, working at the Augusta Chronicle publishing their web site.
(8:41:48 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow
(8:42:37 PM) Tiffany Brown: Worked very briefly with Rob Curley, who is a frigging GOD when it comes to online journalism. He and his disciples taught me most of what I know in like an 8 week bootcamp run by the Chronicle’s parent company.
(8:43:47 PM) Tiffany Brown: A year later, I moved to Atlanta to work for Cox Interactive Media and AccessAtlanta.com.
(8:44:57 PM) Tiffany Brown: I worked there for four years, all the while learning how to develop web sites — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP/MySQL …
(8:45:26 PM) Tiffany Brown: I learned a lot by freelancing.
(8:46:35 PM) Tiffany Brown: I guess I should mention here that I started my business in 2001.
(8:46:55 PM) Tiffany Brown: Did small projects, sometime pro-bono.
(8:47:39 PM) Black Web 2.0: so how is the freelance business?
(8:47:51 PM) Tiffany Brown: rough.
(8:47:52 PM) Tiffany Brown: lol
(8:47:54 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:48:09 PM) Tiffany Brown: It’s hard because I work full-time. And I’m short on patience.
(8:48:16 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:48:27 PM) Black Web 2.0: I know what that’s like
(8:48:42 PM) Tiffany Brown: You need to have patience in order to freelance. That’s why I could never do it full-time.
(8:49:09 PM) Tiffany Brown: Well, maybe I could.
(8:49:16 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:49:34 PM) Tiffany Brown: I say that because I learned what clients to take on and not take on.
(8:49:51 PM) Black Web 2.0: right
(8:50:14 PM) Tiffany Brown: And I learned that subcontracting works out better for me than working directly with clients.
(8:51:13 PM) Tiffany Brown: But I like the flexibility of having a 9-5 and a 5-9. That sounds weird, because it’s actually more work.
(8:52:00 PM) Tiffany Brown: But at my day job, I have a guaranteed check. Freelancing just helps me stay sharp and lets me earn some extra cash. I can walk away from it when I want to.
(8:52:27 PM) Black Web 2.0: I understand you’re also quite the Flash/Action Script guru. How did you get in to Flash?
(8:52:34 PM) Tiffany Brown: Guru? HA!
(8:52:45 PM) Black Web 2.0: I follow your tweets and blog, you sound pretty good to me!
(8:53:10 PM) Tiffany Brown: I can make some sh*t work.
(8:53:44 PM) Tiffany Brown: But I am not a guru by any stretch. There are folks out there who make my brain hurt with what they can do using ActionScript.
(8:54:04 PM) Tiffany Brown: But to answer your question…
(8:54:21 PM) Tiffany Brown: I started with Flash 3 or 4. This is when I worked in Augusta.
(8:54:38 PM) Tiffany Brown: Learned basic animation and such.
(8:55:29 PM) Tiffany Brown: Then… then, you know, I don’t know *how* I got back into Flash.
(8:55:52 PM) Tiffany Brown: Actually, yes I do… I had a project at Georgia Tech that made me cry.
(8:56:01 PM) Black Web 2.0: wow
(8:56:57 PM) Tiffany Brown: The details are fuzzy.
(8:57:10 PM) Tiffany Brown: But I learned basic ActionScript in a trial-by-fire.
(8:57:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: Seems like trial-by-fire is the best teacher
(8:57:45 PM) Tiffany Brown: Except when it leaves you in tears.
(8:58:05 PM) Tiffany Brown: I boo-friggin-hooed in my office. Man that project gave me the worst anxiety attacks.
(8:58:31 PM) Tiffany Brown: It did teach me a LOT though.
(8:58:45 PM) Tiffany Brown: I was so ready for the next Flash project I had to do.
(8:58:52 PM) Black Web 2.0: I bet
(8:59:07 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok now it’s time for the fun questions
(8:59:19 PM) Tiffany Brown: Um. Okay.
(8:59:24 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:59:31 PM) Tiffany Brown: I was having fun with that last one
(8:59:36 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(8:59:49 PM) Black Web 2.0: I didn’t think so. I thought I drummed up some bad memories
(8:59:58 PM) Tiffany Brown: I can laugh about it now though
(9:00:04 PM) Black Web 2.0: good

(9:00:31 PM) Tiffany Brown: But we can keep it moving…
(9:00:34 PM) Black Web 2.0: With these questions we try to get to know a little about Tiffany the person
(9:00:50 PM) Black Web 2.0: Give me your 5 favorite musicians
(9:00:56 PM) Tiffany Brown: ummmm…
(9:01:16 PM) Tiffany Brown: Let’s see…
(9:01:27 PM) Tiffany Brown: That’s a hard one…lol
(9:01:47 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:01:49 PM) Tiffany Brown: I don’t really have any favorite musicians.
(9:01:52 PM) Black Web 2.0: really?
(9:01:58 PM) Tiffany Brown: Yeah
(9:02:16 PM) Tiffany Brown: There are a lot of artists that I like and that I’d pay money to go see.
(9:02:31 PM) Tiffany Brown: But no one that’s a favorite if that makes sense.
(9:02:41 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok how about songs stay in rotation on the IPod?
(9:03:59 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’ve been all about N*E*R*D lately. “Seeing Sounds” is one of the better albums I’ve purchased.
(9:04:15 PM) Tiffany Brown: And yeah, I still buy CDs.
(9:04:24 PM) Black Web 2.0: no way!
(9:04:27 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m digging Santogold
(9:04:50 PM) Tiffany Brown: Yes. Don’t like Apple’s DRM and I have an old school car w/no auxiliary outlet.
(9:04:59 PM) Black Web 2.0: I gotcha
(9:05:38 PM) Tiffany Brown:: I’ve started buying MP3s from Amazon, but I still have to burn them if I want to ride and listen… or invest in one of those tape-deck thingys that let you listen to an ipod through your stereo.
(9:06:12 PM) Tiffany Brown: I like Nas’ “Untitled”
(9:07:00 PM) Tiffany Brown: And I’ve been jamming to Grupo Fantasma’s “Sonidos Gold” a lot lately
(9:07:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: I am not familiar with them
(9:07:27 PM) Black Web 2.0: I’m going to have to look them up
(9:07:51 PM) Tiffany Brown: They’re a Latin funk-rock band out of Austin
(9:08:09 PM) Tiffany Brown: I bought one of their CDs for a quarter in the clearance bin at Target.
(9:08:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:08:16 PM) Black Web 2.0: get out
(9:08:17 PM) Tiffany Brown: (or was it $1)
(9:08:33 PM) Tiffany Brown: it was cheap as hell whatever I paid for it.
(9:08:56 PM) Tiffany Brown: but I dug the album… saw them at the Frog Design party at this year’s SXSW and had a blast
(9:09:14 PM) Tiffany Brown: saw them here in ATL last month too
(9:09:27 PM) Tiffany Brown: they’re one of those $10 show bands
(9:09:58 PM) Black Web 2.0: What’s your favorite TV Show?
(9:10:05 PM) Tiffany Brown: “Ugly Betty”
(9:10:17 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:10:25 PM) Tiffany Brown: Although of all time, I’d say “All in the Family”
(9:10:49 PM) Tiffany Brown: Hell, almost any show that came on in the 70s and 80s is the hotness.
(9:11:14 PM) Tiffany Brown: I also like ” I Love Lucy” and “The Honeymooners” … used to watch the reruns all the time.
(9:11:31 PM) Tiffany Brown: See, TV is my thing.
(9:12:07 PM) Tiffany Brown: I like music. But I’m more of a TV person than a music person.
(9:12:11 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:12:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: how about movies?
(9:12:19 PM) Tiffany Brown: nah.
(9:12:46 PM) Tiffany Brown: The joke among me and my friends is that if you say “Have you seen …. ?” my answer is No.
(9:13:06 PM) Tiffany Brown: Half the time I don’t even let people finish asking the question.
(9:13:11 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:13:17 PM) Black Web 2.0: you are too funny
(9:13:49 PM) Tiffany Brown: It’s true though
(9:13:58 PM) Black Web 2.0: Name some of your favorite web tools.
(9:14:30 PM) Tiffany Brown: Aptana for Web development. Aptana stole me away from jEdit.
(9:14:46 PM) Black Web 2.0: You know I started using Aptana off your recommendation
(9:14:54 PM) Tiffany Brown: Really? Do you like it?
(9:15:00 PM) Black Web 2.0: I love it
(9:15:05 PM) Tiffany Brown: woo-hoo!
(9:15:09 PM) Black Web 2.0: except for some small ftp issues
(9:15:15 PM) Tiffany Brown: same here.
(9:15:22 PM) Black Web 2.0: but the editor itself is great
(9:16:17 PM) Tiffany Brown: I use MAMP Pro for Virtual Hosting on my work MacBook Pro. I use Versions for SVN.
(9:17:32 PM) Tiffany Brown: I use CocoaMySQL for MySQL database development, although it chokes on extra-large database tables.
(9:17:59 PM) Tiffany Brown: It provides a pretty GUI for MySQL. Kind of like phpMyAdmin for the desktop.
(9:18:29 PM) Tiffany Brown: I use the Adobe suite, of course
(9:19:04 PM) Tiffany Brown: And I’d lose my web geek cred if I didn’t mention Firefox.
(9:19:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: of course.
(9:19:23 PM) Tiffany Brown: Opera is a close second.
(9:19:31 PM) Black Web 2.0: I’m surprise you’re not a safari user
(9:19:40 PM) Tiffany Brown: But Firefox has such dope development tools.
(9:19:52 PM) Black Web 2.0: yes, that’s so true
(9:20:21 PM) Tiffany Brown: I don’t use Safari because I used to do a lot of cross-platform stuff. Mac at work, Win at home.
(9:20:34 PM) Tiffany Brown: I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to learn keystrokes for two browsers
(9:20:45 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:20:52 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m for real.
(9:21:00 PM) Tiffany Brown: That’s why I use a lot of cross-platform tools
(9:21:16 PM) Tiffany Brown: That’s why I love Aptana and jEdit. I don’t have to relearn them.
(9:21:26 PM) Black Web 2.0: that’s true
(9:21:32 PM) Black Web 2.0: and you can’t beat the price
(9:21:41 PM) Tiffany Brown: exactly
(9:21:44 PM) Black Web 2.0: ok last question…
(9:22:56 PM) Black Web 2.0: When Tiffany’s not on her computer we can find her __________________
(9:23:06 PM) Tiffany Brown: sleeping or showering.
(9:23:13 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m always on this b*tch
(9:23:18 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:23:22 PM) Black Web 2.0: what type of computers do you have?
(9:23:33 PM) Black Web 2.0: did I say that was the last question?
(9:23:37 PM) Tiffany Brown: Well, I’m using my work laptop now.
(9:23:45 PM) Tiffany Brown: But I also have my own MacBook
(9:23:56 PM) Tiffany Brown: and an aging HP running Windows XP
(9:24:04 PM) Tiffany Brown: A desktop
(9:24:35 PM) Tiffany Brown: Actually, my real answer to your last question is …
(9:24:53 PM) Tiffany Brown: you can find me at a play, or restaurant.
(9:25:17 PM) Black Web 2.0: any in particular?
(9:25:21 PM) Tiffany Brown: or at home making jewelry
(9:25:52 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m a big fan of Ecco and Vickery’s in Midtown Atlanta.
(9:26:03 PM) Tiffany Brown: I also like Feast in Decatur.
(9:26:27 PM) Tiffany Brown: But I’m not quite a regular at any of those.
(9:27:00 PM) Tiffany Brown: Oh, I also read a good deal.
(9:27:30 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:27:33 PM) Tiffany Brown: mostly when I’m on the train
(9:27:47 PM) Black Web 2.0: Kindle?
(9:27:55 PM) Tiffany Brown: nope. actual books
(9:28:03 PM) Black Web 2.0: they still make those?
(9:28:06 PM) Tiffany Brown: lol
(9:28:38 PM) Tiffany Brown: I’m thinking about a kindle though. I’m one of those people who packs 3-4 books for a weeklong vacation
(9:28:54 PM) Black Web 2.0: so the kindle would be perfect for you
(9:28:57 PM) Tiffany Brown: right
(9:29:16 PM) Tiffany Brown: But that’s $400
(9:29:21 PM) Black Web 2.0: yeah
(9:29:28 PM) Tiffany Brown: I could just start going to the library
(9:29:38 PM) Black Web 2.0: they still make those too?
(9:29:43 PM) Tiffany Brown: lol
(9:30:56 PM) Black Web 2.0: Well thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to us!
(9:30:59 PM) Black Web 2.0: this was so fun
(9:31:10 PM) Tiffany Brown: oh yay! glad I could make you giggle.
(9:31:15 PM) Black Web 2.0: lol
(9:31:20 PM) Tiffany Brown: I like to let my inner clown out once in a while.