Keith Dawson


Keith Dawson		http://technologyfront.com/
118-A Hollis Street Groton, Massachusetts 01450-1355			978-449-0444

Summary

Internet/Web technology expert and hands-on webmaster, -designer, -builder, and project manager with broad software development experience. Net journalist; editor and publisher of an award-winning newsletter on the technologies affecting the life of the Net. Named Internet Journalist of the Year in 1999. Technically clued marketing professional with strong product focus and deep background in the ways of the Net. Extreme team-building and communication skills. Consistent involvement in leading-edge technologies, tools, and methods.

Reading
This
Resumé

Over a career spanning 35+ years I’ve developed expertise across a range of disciplines centered around software and the Internet. This resumé is organized according to these disciplines. Go to the end for a chronological summary of my employment and the traditional credentials.

Net Journalism (1994-present)
Web Development and Webmastering (1994-present)
Product Management, Marketing, and Strategy (1986-present)
Software Development and Management (1978-1993)
Technical Writing (1970-1978)

Net
Journalism

1994-present

Sep. 2006- present	Slashdot Fremont, CA	Editor
I’m one of the handful of people who select and edit stories for the premiere tech news site, Slashdot.org. Slashdot is a property of SourceForge Inc. (formerly VA Software), NASDAQ ticker LNUX.

Jan. 2002- Dec. 2002	Media Unspun Newton, MA	Weekly contributor
I participated along with the late Media Grok’s (see below) other writers and editors in this post-bubble experiment to see if a feisty, opinionated, and independent daily email newsletter could pay its way based on reader subscriptions and advertising. Answer: not in the economy of 2002; Media Unspun published its last number on December 13, 2002.

1999- 2001	*The Industry Standard’s* Media Grok** San Francisco, CA	Weekly contributor
I wrote one to three features per week for this widely read (peak circulation was 100,000) and influential email newsletter critiquing how the media were covering the information economy.

1994- 2001	TBTF Westford, MA	Editor and Publisher
Tasty Bits from the Technology Front started as an educational and current awareness service. Having worked online since 1970, I began distributing news and commentary to Atria colleagues to illustrate the culture and customs of the Net. In 1995 TBTF opened to outside subscribers. Readers were fanatically loyal. At its end an estimated 50,000 people in 101 countries read TBTF regularly; hundreds still visit the archived Web site daily.

1999- present	Miscellaneous	Columnist and contributor
I have written a number of pieces for the print edition of The Industry Standard, for the Boston Globe’s DigitalMASS Web site, for Silicon Alley Daily, etc. For up-to-date links to all of this work see http://technologyfront.com/journalism.html.

Web
Development
and
Webmastering

1994-present

1995- present	Personal sites	Owner, webmaster
I have developed and continue to grow a number of Web sites related to my professional and personal interests. Most are discussed elsewhere in this resumé. I host these sites on my own servers. the Technology Front (1997-present) dawson.nu a.k.a. keithdawson.com (1997-present) Impatiens Press (1995-2006) Tasty Bits from the Technology Front (1995-2001) No, We Don’t Have a Web Site (1998-2001) Jargon Scout (1999-2001)

1998	Reed Elsevier Technology Group Cambridge, MA	Editor, retg.com
Webmaster and content editor for an inhouse site used by Reed Elsevier employees worldwide. The site was ASP-based and hosted on NT 4.0 systems running IIS 3.0 and, later, Site Server 3. Investigated and instituted visitor traffic analysis. Reworked member registration to use Site Server 3.0. Grew the site by 100% in content, improved graphical and navigation consistency, tightened site security, added interactive forums, and regularized update procedures. Documented all of the above. Trained a permanent replacement.

1997- 1998	Sitara Networks, Inc. Waltham, MA	Director, Internet Strategy Webmaster
Implemented two complete Web sites, a teaser while the company was in stealth development mode and a product-launch site. Selected and managed an external hosting ISP. Coordinated messaging and content, wrote copy. Managed outside agencies for design and for back-end processing. Product site featured software downloads and a sales / prospect database implemented on SilkNet’s eService.

1994- 1996	Atria / Pure Atria Natick and Lexington, MA	Manager, Technical Marketing
Drove Atria’s Web strategy. Championed intranet for company-wide communications and applications. Put Atria on the Web: designed, built, and launched www.atria.com in February 1995.

Product
Management,
Marketing,
and
Strategy

1986-present

1996- present	the Technology Front Westford and Groton, MA	Principal
My DBA now focuses on Web design and development for small businesses, nonprofits, and single proprietorships. In the Internet boom years I consulted at the nexus of Internet technology, marketing, and business strategy. I offered strategic consulting, business development, technical evaluation, architectural consulting, project management, and focused research and writing. Clients included members of the Fortune 500, venture capital firms, nonprofits, and Net-centered startups. I was on the boards of advisors of two such companies and the board of directors of a third.

1994- 1996	Atria / Pure Atria Natick and Lexington, MA	Manager, Technical Marketing
Drove Atria’s Web strategy. Put Atria on the Web: designed, built, and launched www.atria.com. Brought TCP/IP technologies and applications inhouse. Staffed for competitive analysis, customer programs, and technical alliances.

1993- 1994	Oberon Software Cambridge, MA	Senior Manager, Technology & Marketing
Served as product manager and outside technical spokesman for SynchroWorks, a leading-edge visual programming environment for distributed-object computing. Chaired product design review board and representated Oberon at the Object Management Group. Responsible for competitive analysis, partner liaison, and marketing support.

1986- 1987	Texet Corporation Cambridge and Arlington, MA	Manager, Product Marketing & Business Strategy
I was the first product manager in this e-publishing startup, responsible for product requirements, pricing, technology evaluation, sales support and training. Chaired corporate product planning committee.

Software
Development
and
Management

1978-1993

1990- 1993	Eastman Kodak Cambridge and Billerica, MA	Manager, Applications Software Product Development Manager Department Manager, Environment
Led multiple software teams developing shrink-wrapped and OEM imaging software applications. Built and managed a team of engineers implementing image support for Novell NetWare. Developed in C and C++ on MS Windows, NetWare NLM, Mac, OS/2, and Unix. Managed engineering, documentation, and QA for an innovative, color imaging software product exploiting PhotoCD technology, targeted for home use by amateur photographers. Built a focused product team around chief technologist Jonathan Sachs (author of Lotus 1-2-3 and Lotus Manuscript). Developed in C on Mac and MS Windows. Led infrastructure work on a large-scale, distributed advertising front-end / financial system for newspapers.

1987- 1990	Apollo Computer / HP Chelmsford, MA	Section Manager, User Environment
Technical leader of engineering teams writing X Window System software for Apollo’s Domain / OS-based workstations. Also managed development through release 1.0 of Open Dialogue, an industry-leading user interface management system. Work was done in C and C++ on Unix systems.

1983- 1986	Texet Corporation Cambridge and Arlington, MA	Group Leader / Principal Programmer
Started up group for language-translator development. Investigated author tools. Totally responsible for The Designer, Texet’s acclaimed book-design software: proposed, designed, prototyped, implemented; staffed to go forward. Work was done in C on Unix systems.

1978- 1983	Digital Equipment Corp. Maynard, MA and Nashua, NH	Principal / Senior Software Engineer
Led documentation tools group developing state-of-the-art indexing, cross-reference, table-of-contents, and table software. Implemented changeover from word-processor-based publication to computerized typesetting; installed and trained four sites.

Technical
Writing

1970-1978

1976- 1978	Digital Equipment Corp. Maynard, MA and Nashua, NH	Principal / Senior Software Writer
Set new procedures for publications work flow. Instituted a scheme for automatic indexing used by writers for all VAX/VMS manuals. Wrote manuals for VAX/VMS and RSX-11M operating systems.

1970- 1976	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA	Writing Supervisor / Group Leader / Technical Writer
Planned, scheduled, and supervised five writers documenting two large scientific computer networks. Carried out a study of hypertext online documentation systems and instituted such systems for both networks. Hand-picked to edit the Laboratory’s Monthly Report.

Chronological
Experience

11/96- present	the Technology Front Westford and Groton, MA	Principal
9/06- present	Slashdot Fremont, CA	Editor
1/02- 12/02	Media Unspun Chestnut Hill, MA	Contributing writer
8/99- 9/01	The Industry Standard San Francisco, CA	Contributing writer, Media Grok et al.
1/00- 4/00	Boston.com Boston, MA	Internet Columnist, DigitalMASS
3/98- 10/98	Reed Elsevier Technology Group Cambridge, MA	Editor, retg.com
1997- 1998	Sitara Networks, Inc. Waltham, MA	Director, Internet Strategy Webmaster
1994- 1996	Atria / Pure Atria Natick and Lexington, MA	Manager, Technical Marketing
1993- 1994	Oberon Software Cambridge, MA	Senior Manager, Technology & Marketing
1990- 1993	Eastman Kodak Cambridge and Billerica, MA	Manager, Applications Software Product Development Manager Department Manager, Environment
1987- 1990	Apollo Computer / HP Chelmsford, MA	Section Manager, User Environment
1983- 1987	Texet Corporation Cambridge and Arlington, MA	Manager, Product Marketing & Business Strategy Group Leader / Principal Programmer
1976- 1983	Digital Equipment Corp. Maynard, MA and Nashua, NH	Principal / Senior Software Engineer Principal / Senior Software Writer
1970- 1976	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA	Writing Supervisor / Group Leader / Technical Writer

Credentials

Education

B.S. summa cum laude, Physics-English double major, Carnegie Mellon University. Coursework in general and project management, O-O design, software engineering, programming, graphics, etc.

Publications

TBTF newsletter, 195 issues (see above). “Corporate Publishing on the Internet: Is It Realistic Yet?” — The Gilbane Report on Open Information and Document Systems (9/94). “Document-Centered User Interfaces & Object-Oriented Programming: How Will They Affect You?” — The Gilbane Report (1/94). “Taking the Plunge: Doing Computer-Aided Typesetting In-House,” Proceedings 27th ITCC (1980). “A Computer-Generated Movie is Worth a Thousand Pictures,” Proceedings 24th ITCC (1976). Co-founder of Impatiens Press, publisher of Saltwater Farm (1993). Instigator and maintainer of Siliconia and the Jargon Scout. Perpetrator of No We Don’t Have a Web Site and the notorious Congressional Hypocrites page.

Honors

Featured speaker at the First Geek Pride Festival, Boston, MA (2000). Invited judge of the GII Awards (1997-1999) and NII Awards (1996). Elected to Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi. Accepted at Harvard for graduate work in physics. High-school valedictorian; recipient of the Harvard Book and awards in mathematics, French, and English. National Merit Scholar.

Most recently updated 2007-06-01