Education
I was in graduate school for computer science when I saw my first website. I didn't think there would be much application outside of academia, proving that I'm not much of a prognosticator.
Europe
Shortly thereafter, I was outside of academia myself with a family move to Luxembourg. I began Pickering Publishing there by providing editorial and layout services for English language non-profit newsletters. As interest in personal computing and the world wide web expanded from the United States to Europe, my background in computer science and management let me expand my services into computer training and website development. Since our family's return to the U.S. in 2001, website design and consulting for non-profits and entrepreneurships have become my primary focus.
Hands-on
I am a strong believer in coding to web standards. Separating content from presentation is the key to developing websites that are easy for my clients to maintain on their own. I design, from the very beginning, with ease of maintainance in mind. All of my sites are hand-coded and tested in a variety of browsers and operating systems. I train my clients how to maintain their sites on their own computers and I follow their progress to be sure all is going well.
Employment
I am currently the Webmaster for the Essex National Heritage Commission. I do all the site design, development and maintenance of EssexHeritage.org. I'm proud to say that the improved coordination between the Commission's promotional efforts and the website have resulted in a 100% increase in website visitors and 30% are return visitors. Since I work part-time for the Commission, I carry on my independent work as well but I'm careful to choose projects that I will be able to complete in a timely manner. I can help you, so please contact me at: jeanne@pickeringpublishing.com.