To think I've been doing all this for 14 years. That's about as long as it's been around to do. During that time, I've built more sites than I can count, hand-coded HTML in my dreams, used countless versions of Photoshop and other tools, and my latest multi-year adventure has been with PHP & MySQL. I think about the big picture and the small details, which just means I can see past the actual code and know the limitations and advantages of the various approaches & technologies one could use. I see sites as growing, living entities which shouldn't become frozen in time the moment you release them to the client. I have a passion for this stuff, or why else would I have been doing all this extra stuff? Resumes are great for some professions and even some people, but I've never had much hope for it in terms of aptly describing what I've done or can do. I would hope that you'd take a look at this site and all the ones which are linked from it (see the full list). But I know it serves some purpose, so here it is. It's also available in alternate formats (see the right column).
Matte Elsbernd matte@elsbernd.net PROFILE Not your typical web professional. I've been around the block; Worked in quite a lot of companies/verticals and played many different roles. I bring a range and depth of experiences that is unique and this allows me to play a role beyond what's laid out in any job description. I'm hard to fit into a box and so I'm best off in roles where there are few of them. I am ready to bring ideas to life either on my own or by managing a development team. I get things built. EXPERTISE Content - research, copywriting, copyediting and proofreading Design - web graphic design, branding, animations, video and audio Development - hand-coded HTML, PHP, CSS, XHTML, JavaScript, mySQL & CGI Information Design - schematics, use-cases, functional specifications, mockups Maintenance - unix/apache, CMS, SEO, traffic analysis and customer support Management - creative & technical staff management Strategy - website and business-process development and brainstorming PORTFOLIO matte.elsbernd.net - my personal portal www.firmlist.com - largest guide to web design/development firms www.electricalsocket.com - 14-year collection of experimental web projects www.usedideas.com - ideas collection EXPERIENCE The Firm List - Mountain View, CA Founder 04/98 - Present The Firm List is a comprehensive resource grown organically over time to become the largest guide to web design/development firms in the world. This 10-year project has battle-tested all of the skills I've learned in my career and challenged me to learn new skills in order to continually improve this industry resource. > Design and branding for a high-profile website > Online transaction integration and fulfillment > Offline event hosting > Customer service and feedback resolution ON24 - San Francisco, CA - Interviewed 6/08 Yates Advertising - San Francisco, CA - Freelance Work 03/08-04/08 Buzzillions - Milbrae, CA - Interviewed 01/08 Kin Lani Charters - off-site - Freelance Work 12/07-02/08 Kadium/Euro RSCG - San Francisco, CA - Interviewed 12/07 LeapFrog - Emeryville, CA - Interviewed 10/07 Charles Schwab, Inc. - Creative Services - San Francisco, CA Interactive Studio Manager 04/07 - 01/08 Day-to-day management of an agency studio producing everything from banners & emails through intranet applications. > Direct management for staff of 13 designers & developers > Process refinement & workflow automation SixApart - San Francisco, CA - Interviewed 03/07 Yahoo! - Santa Clara, CA - Interviewed 03/07 HealingQuest - off-site - Freelance Work 01/07 AVA Living - off-site - Freelance Work 12/06-02/07 Apple - Cupertino, CA - Interviewed 12/06 ATTIK - San Francisco, CA - Offered Full-Time Position 12/06 Discover.com - off-site - Freelance Work 10/06-11/06 Autobytel - Irvine, CA - Interviewed 07/06 EVB - San Francisco, CA - Offered Contract Work 06/06 Venables Bell & Partners - San Francisco, CA - Offered Contract Work 05/06 BlastRadius - Vancouver, BC - Interviewed 02/06 Weidlinger Associates - Los Altos, CA - Freelance Work 11/05-05/06 Charles Schwab, Inc. - Creative Services - San Francisco, CA Interactive Producer (contractor) 05/04 - 07/04, 09/04 - 10/04 & 12/05 - 04/07 Technical project management in an internal ad agency. > Developed & managed technical specifications and project timelines > Bridge between the studio and the client > Managed external vendor relationships QuinnStreet - Foster City, CA - Interviewed 11/05 Dealix - Redwood City, CA - Interviewed 11/05 TBLPod - off-site - Freelance Work 10/05-06/06 Friendfinder, Inc. - Palo Alto, CA Lead/Senior Project Producer 04/05 - 10/05 Project & Product management for a network of dating sites. > 5-20+ projects for each 2-week development cycle > Managed the integration of various website acquisitions > Oversaw teams of between 2-20 developers & designers > Led team of 2-3 other project producers > Performed rapid UI-prototyping for new site features GoFish Technologies - San Francisco, CA - Interviewed 05/05 Current TV - San Francisco, CA Web Designer (contractor) 11/04 - 01/05 Short-term contract to help design promotional web application for an unlaunched cable television start-up. > Developed wireframes and functional specifications > Built mock-ups of initial web application Young & Rubicam - San Francisco, CA Web Producer (contractor) 11/04 - 01/05 Short-term contract to manage quick redesign of a major international retailer's website. > Built CSS-positioned, table-less website using PHP > Orchestrated project among multiple vendors and client divisions > Managed project schedule & team of 1-3 designers/developers Minnick Web Services - Sacramento, CA Web Developer 06/03 - 03/04 Day-to-day publishing of content for various technology magazine's websites. > Published content in Interwoven Teamsite & other CMS applications > Search engine optimization (SEO) research and implementation PageWeavers - Sacramento, CA - Freelance Work 04/03-07/03 FansRule - Lowell, MA - Interviewed 08/02 City of Lowell - Lowell, MA - Freelance Work 06/02-11/02 StoneTech Professional - off-site - Freelance Work 06/02 Ontra Systems - off-site - Freelance Work 05/02-06/02 Vegas Rescue - off-site - Freelance Work 04/02 MIT / Information Systems - Cambridge, MA - Interviewed 04/02 Cosmic Blender - Watertown, MA - Interviewed 02/02 Dominis Group - Boston, MA - Freelance Work 01/02-04/03 SmartBargains - Boston, MA - Interviewed 11/01 Nascent State - Boston, MA - Interviewed 04/01 ModernProject - off-site - Freelance Work 02/01-06/01 Irma S. Mann, Strategic Marketing, Inc. - Boston, MA Group Creative Director, Interactive Marketing 10/00 - 10/01 Developed & managed the interactive capabilities at a traditional, travel-focused advertising/marketing agency. > Managed a team of 1-3 designers & account managers > Oversaw external vendor relationships > Conceptual development and information design for client projects B3 Interactive - Waltham, MA - Interviewed 08/00 ThoughtBridge - Boston, MA - Freelance Work 08/00 DailyJolt - Boston, MA - Freelance Work 07/00-08/00 VeltiNet - off-site - Freelance Work 06/00-07/00 PaperMundo - off-site - Freelance Work 06/00-01/01 MOCA Inc. - Boston, MA - Freelance Work 05/00-08/00 SiteUsers - Boston, MA - Freelance Work 12/99 Razorfish - Cambridge, MA Information Architect 12/99 - 02/00 Worked with several start-up clients to define their site & business needs. > Led discovery workshops with clients to develop website & business strategies > Partnered with UK-based branding firm to help define the start-up's identity > Developed schematics & functional specifications Open Ratings - Cambridge, MA Information Architect (Contractor) 10/99 - 03/00 Worked with several start-up clients to define their site & business needs. > Led discovery workshops with clients to develop website & business strategies > Partnered with UK-based branding firm to help define the start-up's identity > Developed schematics & functional specifications Peoplestream - Cambridge, MA Web/UI Designer (employee) 03/99 - 11/99 Lead front-end role within an early-stage start-up building a proprietary web application. > Developed use-cases, wireframes and functional specifications > On strategic development team for business & website NBC - New York, NY - Interviewed 11/98 Newfangled Graphics - Providence, RI Senior Designer 09/98 - 12/98 Design & development of websites & online advertising for small clients. > Conceptual design for banner ads & websites > Site maintenance & graphic production Conduit Communications, Inc. - Boston, MA Digital/Web Designer (employee) 12/97 - 09/98 Lead designer for a technology firm, in both their Boston & London offices. > Oversaw the growth and development of the Visual Delivery department > Worked on international development teams, both remotely and onsite > Development/design for Fortune 1000 intranets, extranets and websites NBC Interactive - Burbank, CA - Interviewed 10/97 Preview Travel - San Francisco, CA - Interviewed 10/97 Internet Entertainment Group - Seattle, WA HTML Programmer (employee) 01/97 - 05/97 Part of a small development team focused on maintaining and growing a large set of content sites. > Enhanced and standardized multi-site templates & CGI scripts > Streamlined site-maintenance workflow Amazon.com - Seattle, WA Warehouse Staff (contractor) 01/97 Temporary position involving the distribution & fulfillment processes that lie behind the websites.br /> > Worked in the warehouse doing order fulfillment WebNet, Inc. - Tacoma, WA Web Page Designer (employee) 07/96 - 11/96 Lead designer/developer for small web design firm. > HTML development & design work for clients > Branding & strategy definition for the firm EDUCATION California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo, CA Graduated June 1996 Major - Liberal Studies Minor - English		> home > misc > photos > portfolio > press > resume > writings fotomatte has 4,865 photos