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Member Spotlight: Jodi Swartz

For the last year or so this project manager and consultant for e.magination, a Baltimore-based web design firm, has seen non-stop action, ironically, she says, because "coming out of a dot.com, I was looking for a little reprieve." Jodi has been a Jill-of-all-trades: Information Architect, Training Coordinator, Requirements Writer, you name it. She's the Coordinator for the Online Web Certificate Program and an instructor for the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Before working at her current job, she was director of web development for a now-defunct Internet start-up.

Jodi says she got started in the business when she moved to Charm City about 5 years ago as a web designer with Aerotek. (She graduated in 1997 with three bachelor's degrees - English writing, English literature, and philosophy - from the University of Pittsburgh.) From a course on writing that spurred a desire to be published electronically, Jodi started her own business and was hooked. She says that her degrees gave her the preparation needed for the critical thinking and communicating that her career requires. That is, Jodi has combined her interests so that she could teach colleagues and others about making web sites. Jodi said that managing web projects and teaching web design keeps her constantly challenged. When asked if her life pre-web design was just as interesting, the answer appears to be yes. She went from "pizza making delivery driver, to kindergarten teacher, to rock-n-roll singer, to web woman."

Active in the Baltimore area, Jodi found her previous job and the teaching gig through DCWW. Currently, she's lunch bunch coordinator for the Baltimore Bunch, and a co-founder of the Baltimore WebGrrls. She also attends a number of Greater Baltimore Technology Council events.

Among friends and loved ones - yes, frequent trips back home to Pittsburgh - there is a lot of laughter and cats. Jodi's spare time is also kept occupied with karaoke (partly to relive her former life as a rock singer and cooking with all the latest kitchen gadgets. Jodi jokes that someday she'll open up a "live music, acid jazz/hip hop karaoke restaurant."

Online, you'll see Jodi at:

• M-W.com: Use this site to translate high tech into regular language
• Webopedia.com: Another handy reference to help keep high tech jargon current
• WebTechniques.com: Great magazine with compelling articles
• UseIt.com: For the guru Jakob's insight on usability
• Business2.com: For the big picture backed by evidence, a perfect blend of technology, business and information

Contributed by Beth Archibald Tang

Curious to see who our previous member spotlights were? Check out our archives!

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