What's been Happening?

I started thinking about blogging once again this week - mainly I've been wanting to add blogs to my various websites and have been looking at software. I've found one that I particularly like called thingamablog - basically you load the software on your computer, add some settings to a website so the software can upload via ftp, and start blogging. When you save the information is updated on the site. It allows for multiple blogs on different sites -seems ideal for me but I'm still experimenting with it.

I recently started a new job with Xpanxion - a development outsourcing company here in Atlanta. My current position as Product Manager places me down at Turner working for their Member Services group. As I have some friends down at Turner, it's allowed me to reestablish contact and catch up with them. While having lunch with my pal Steve Iverson, he mentioned Clay Croker's blog - so I went there today and took a look. Great content and well up my alley from both an interests and collecting point of view.

Xpanxion: http://www.xpanxion.com/
Clay Croker's blog: http://arglebarglin.blogspot.com/
Steve Iverson's website: http://www.culttvman.com/

I also got into a conversation with some coworkers about musical interests and it got me thinking about what type of music I like - quite diverse and eclectic. I'm currently in a post-punk mood and am listening to a new compilation I recently found called "Great Post-Punk A's, B's and E.P.'s" dated 2006. I'm not sure if it's a real collection put together by a label, or something a fan or group of fans worked on but it's really interesting and diverse. There are 125 songs in the collection starting with The Pop Groups "We are all prostitutes" and ending with The B-52's "Rock Lobster" - along the way are many familiar groups and songs from Adam Ant to U2. Many are from one-hit wonder type groups and the B-sides tend to keep things interesting - it tends to wander from very-g00d-recognizable to WTF, but in general it's a good sampling of what I listened to on college radio and enjoyed - it has that "I'm a student and I can decide what to play, whether you like it or not" that WREK was famous for in the 80's and 90's (and one still hears from time to time today, though it's much more programmatic now). Speaking of compilations that are similar, my favorite thus far is still "Left of the Dial" but this one is proving to be very promising - Altered Images "I could be happy" was the turning point.

To continue with the randomness of this thread - and I apologize for it but it's been a while since I've exposed by current mind state I thought I'd go into what's been happening to me lately. I know there isn't much about me in my previous posts - basically I first created the blog when I first heard about blogging around 2003 as an experiment - from there I didn't think much about it. I was working for a company I help start called Auctionworks - now called Marketworks. I started the company with then CEO Alec Peters (the original name was AuctionNexus - basically all the good names were taken related to Auctions and Alec, being a huge Star Trek fan, though of Nexus from one of his favorite episodes). The company did quite well, going into profitability the 4th year - since then it's anyone's guess. You'll still see ads on eBay with Auctionworks/Marketworks templates, but the focus is shifting towards ecommerce (Marketworks provides software for the creation and maintenance of webstores). I left the company in October of 2006 - through the years 1999-2006 I was completely engulfed in the task of making a great company - I didn't take much time to do the things I like - since leaving Marketworks I'm thinking more about my various interests and how to further them - this blog is one of those.

Marketworks: http://www.marketworks.com/
Alec Peter's Star Trek Costumes and Props blog: http://startrekauction.blogspot.com/

When I left Marketworks I began working full time on a new project that Alec Peters and another former Marketworks employee, Shawn Haynie had put together - FSDashboard and Screaming Sports. I originally became involved early in 2006 by providing some design and feature ideas to Shawn for his fsdashboard product - basically it aggregates information from multitple sporting websites for fantasy sports players. The corporate version became a reality and I joined early in 2007 - primarily to document all the processes, expand functionals and create those needed and missing, and provide product direction - I came on as Director of Product. Some friends of mine who were working at Xpanxion (who I had interacted with as Product Manager at Auctionworks/Marketworks) contacted me in April to tell me about a new position there - I accepted in mid April and came on with the company on May 1st with Turner as my first project. I'm continuing at FSDashboard as a contractor, providing some product support as needed, but my primary focus is on the Turner project for Member Services. The change has been quite enjoyable and I believe I've made a good career move.

FSDashboard: http://www.fsdashboard.com/

Historically, I've been on the web since the early 90's - right around when Netscape 2.0 made the web accessible - I started to look at HTML and it's potential (I was working in restaurants but wanted to transition to graphic design - something I'd done in the past in more the classical sense). I eventually landed a job as a graphic designer that really opened things up for me and allowed me to explore web development - it's funny how something that's a hobby can become a driving force in your life - this has been repeated over and over in my life - case in point, I first met Alec Peters on a Major Matt Mason board in the late 90's and that association brought me into the corporate world at Auctionworks, so I got to do something I really enjoyed). Prior to working with Alec, I was doing marketing and worked as Bob Burden's assistant on Flaming Carrot Comics - that was quite a hoot - both doing something I like and working with one of my best friends - it was right around the time of the Mysterymen movie so there was a Hollywood element to it that was really interesting. Unfortunately the film didn't do as well as hoped and when Alec contacted me I was ready to try something else.

Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot: http://www.flamingcarrot.com/

Many of the relationships I've foisted over the years has had to do with eBay Auctions, collecting and the web - I started a simple Major Matt Mason page in the mid 90's, basically to learn web publishing and show my collection - this grew into the wildtoys website, where I showcase a number of my collections. Interactions on Major Matt Mason email groups (this was basically before forums), has enabled me to develop friendships with collectors across the world. Besides helping me to grow my collection, it caused me to research the toyline, and toys in general. Everything reinforces itself through time and action, and as I mentioned, it was this interest that led me to find Alec and the great job I had there. The funny thing about collecting - once you start you basically never stop - the more you like something the more you want, it's basically an addiction. Something similar happened to me when I moved into my current neighborhood - I had always been a big fan of modern design, but owning a mid-century modern home "brought it home" so to speak. Once you live in a house of a particular style, it makes you want to learn more about it, seek out those with similar interest, and if you're a collector like myself, you keep pushing it until you become a subject matter expert (not that I'm one but that's what I'm striving to become).

Wildtoys: http://www.wildtoys.com/
Major Matt Mason Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/majormatt/

I put together a website as an homage to my neighborhood in 1999 - once again as an excercise that eventually garners a life of its own. The Northcrest neighborhood is fairly unique for Atlanta - it was marketed more like an Eichler neighborhood on the West Coast and features many modern home designs.

Northcrest Neighborhood site: http://www.northcrestmodern.com/
My Modern Design site: http://www.modusmodern.com/

Well I think that's about it for today - I hope I haven't been too long winded and I'll try to add to the blog more frequently in the future.

-- John