smorty71

Biography

I have over 11 years of web product development experience. I spent the past 9 years at CNET Networks where I focused on large-scale community and social media initiatives. I have also led user experience and usability consulting projects for companies including Office Depot, Yahoo! Shopping, Sony, HCA Healthcare and Kemper Insurance.

In July 2008, I joined Nationwide in Columbus, OH as the Senior Consultant for Social Media. I am tasked with establishing the enterprise social media strategy and advocating social media within the organization.

In addition to my work on the web, I am a professional writer, blogger and speaker. I have written articles on web development and personal technology for CNET's TechRepublic and Builder.com and was the editor of TechRepublic's consumer electronics blog Practical Gadgetry. I have maintained a personal blog since 2004.

Other writing and press credits include an appearance on the local NPR program State of Affairs to give an introduction to blogs and blogging, an interview for WIRED to discuss Netflix, a ZDNet Whiteboard video on tagging, an interview for Online Community Report on online community trends and an interview with Louisville's Velocity Weekly about Twitter.

Prior to relocating to Columbus, OH, I was very active in the Louisville startup community and participated in the Social Media Club's Louisville chapter and Forge Louisville. I also co-founded the Louisville Tweetup.

Interests

Family, Home Theater, HDTV, TiVo, HTPC, XBOX, XBOX 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Personal Technology, Pop Culture, NFL, Fantasy Football, Movies, Filmmaking, Web Development, CSS, Design, Blogging, Online Communities, Social Networking, Mustaches, Consumer Electronics, Guitar Hero, Social Media

Music

Pixies, Queens of the Stone Age, Urge Overkill, Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, Possum Dixon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Distillers, The Clash, The Hives, Morrissey, The Roots, Cibo Matto, Prince, Bjork, A Tribe Called Quest, The Cure, Weezer, White Stripes, At The Drive-In, Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, Eagles of Death Metal, Fiona Apple, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Bulletboys, Jeff Buckley, A, Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Cinderella, Breeders, The Cult, Faith No More

Movies

Superbad, Slacker, Glengarry Glen Ross, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Barton Fink, La Jette, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Stranger Than Paradise, Being John Malkovich, The Big Lebowski, Living in Oblivion, Star Wars, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Raise the Red Lantern, Boogie Nights, Metropolitan, Michel Gondry, Woody Allen, Coen Brothers, Richard Linklater

TV Shows

24, Arrested Development, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, A-Team, Entourage, The Real World, Reno 911!, Seinfeld, Chapelle's Show, Six Feet Under, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, Brady Bunch, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lost, Survivor, Rollergirls, Heroes, Ugly Betty, The Amazing Race, Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Design, Damages, Rescue Me, Chuck, Dirty Sexy Money

Books & Authors

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band, Envisioning Information, The Life and Death of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring Journals, Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, The Way of Zen, Malcolm Gladwell, Alan Watts, Edward Tufte

Sports

Football, Hockey, Rollerderby, Skateboarding, Soccer

Video games

XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS Lite, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Genesis, N64, Halo, Halo 2, Elite Beat Agents, Burnout Revenge, Gears of War, Wii Sports, Rockstar Table Tennis, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Mario Kart DS, The New Super Mario Bros, Brain Age, Earthworm Jim, Tecmo Bowl, FIFA World Cup 2006, Guitar Hero II, Wario Wares: Smooth Moves, NHL 2K7, Virtua Tennis 3, FIFA 07, Halo 3, The Bigs, Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, FIFA 08, Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero World Tour, Gears of War 2