Tara Maxwell

Current

Interactive Manager / Team Lead / Sr. Web Developer at NBC 17 ~ WNCN

Past

Project Manager at McClatchy Interactive
Software Engineer at Visiting International Faculty Program
Professor and Assistant Director of Education at School of Communication Arts

Digital Media Professor at East Tennessee State University
eLab Web Development Director at Vanderbilt University
Web Services Manager at Nortel

see less...

3 more...

Education

East Tennessee State University
University of Virginia

Recommended

6 people have recommended Tara

Connections

196 connections

Industry

Online Media

Tara Maxwell’s Summary

Web/Application Developer and Designer, IT Director, Instructor, and Project Manager in a wide variety of online and development technologies. Particularly interested in leading an IT or Web Development or Design team using technologies such as AJAX, Flex, Flash, PHP, Perl, DHTML/Javascript, CSS, ColdFusion, XSLT and all Adobe products. Also very interested in getting back into education. I was a tenure-track Professor of Digital Media for 3 years and truly loved it!

Tara Maxwell’s Specialties:

Project Management, People Management, Team Leading, Public Speaking, Training, Effective Communication, Agile Development, GUI design and development, XML, HTML/DHTML, XSLT, Javascript, Perl, PHP, AJAX, MySQL, MS SQL Server, Coldfusion, CSS, SEO techniques, Web Analytics, Usability issues, Accessibility issues, Layout and Design, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Actionscript, Authorware, MS Project, Visio, InDesign, Lightwave 3D, SoftImage, Contribute, WordPress, Expression Engine

Tara Maxwell’s Experience

Interactive Manager / Team Lead / Sr. Web Developer

NBC 17 ~ WNCN

(Public Company; Broadcast Media industry)

2007 — Present (2 years )

- Managing and leading the development of a large-scale network of news and community websites. Successfully launching the initial 20 regional sites on MyNC.com within a 4-month time period using a new Content Management System and developing added functionality and social networking features to accommodate the sites’ unique specifications. Managing resources, both people and time, for designing and developing all of the MyNC sites and over 30 blogs. Leading and managing the migration of these 30+ blogs (http://myncblogs.com) which were using over 20 Wordpress Templates into a standardized, but customizable template with ad tags and site tracking. Managing and assisting with the development of a custom Video Management System hosted on Amazon EC2 used to store metadata and video files for all the network of sites and blogs. Leading and assisting with the development of a custom video player including XML playlist parsing, comments on the timeline, pre-roll ads, and many other advanced features. Developing and enhancing mobile web presence, iPhone and Blackberry apps – http://m.MyNC.com. Leading and assisting with the development and design of the new NBC17 site (migrating from older CMS) – http://nbc17.MyNC.com (under development)
Project Manager

McClatchy Interactive

(Public Company; MNI; Online Media industry)

October 2006 — September 2007 (1 year )

Managed the transition of 17 newly acquired, large-scale newspaper websites into McClatchy’s publishing system. Managed the successful migration of each of these sites into their new systems (both hardware and software), including the management of several 3rd party integration projects, the largest being the rollout and integration of VMix video and user-generated content. Led and helped implement the 3rd party mobile solution for all properties. Managed resources, both people and time, for getting all of these sites migrated in only 6 months. Each site involved 12-40 3rd party integrations, multiple application migrations, and parsing their newspaper feeds into the new systems, including shared content from other sites and state news feeds.

Skills: XHTML, CSS, Perl, XML, Javascript, MySQL, SiteCatalyst (analytics), SEO, large-scale project management, MS Project, MS Excel, Project360, BackPack, Google Spreadsheets, Firefox debugging tools, lots of communication internally and externally with customers and affiliates
Software Engineer

Visiting International Faculty Program

(Education Management industry)

November 2005 — October 2006 (1 year )

- Redesigned their Intranet Web presence including a complete overhaul of all of their design elements and reorganization of their content. Managed this large redesign project as well as the redesign and development project of designing a new online application for admission into the program from start to finish. Administered and implemented a content management system for all of the department leads using Macromedia Contribute and Dreamweaver templates. Designed and developed external applications for their Internet at http://www.vifprogram.com .Developed training videos for the web (in Flash format) for various technologies such as how to import and export video in Flash, and how to set up a meeting correctly in Outlook.
Professor and Assistant Director of Education

School of Communication Arts

(Privately Held; Higher Education industry)

2005 — 2005 (less than a year)
Digital Media Professor

East Tennessee State University

(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

2002 — 2005 (3 years )

- Researched and taught digital media courses including Intro to Web Design, Intermediate Web Design, Advanced Web Design and Development, Web Animation I, Digital Portfolio/Self-Identity, Principles of Interaction, Digital Imaging, Desktop Publishing, Digital Media Systems, Engineering Drawing, and Technology & Society. Student work which won awards: http://digm.etsu.edu/web/portdetail.php?id=71
- Consulting work for local companies including web design, development, search engine promotion, marketing, and print design.
- Managed and worked on various service projects for the community including the Blue Plum Arts and Crafts Festival, and the first Annual Blue Plum Animation Festival. Served as the Festival Chairperson managing a student website redesign and content for http://www.blueplum.org and http://www.blueplumanimation.org, a t-shirt design contest, as well as managed the project of showcasing the animation entries through a multimedia presentation setup throughout the downtown area. A couple professors and I published a paper after the festival describing the process we went through to successfully launch this first annual festival, and two of the students along with another professor and I participated in an Entrepreneurship contest in which the team won 1st place.
- Web server administration on MS 2002 server, FTP administration, MySQL and all server app administration
- Project Management, Presentation Skills, Dreamweaver, Captivate, HTML, DHTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, ColdFusion, Access, Visio, Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, Swift3D, InDesign, Illustrator, IIS Server Administration, NT/2000/2002 server administration, Viewpoint, Atmospheres, ZoomView, 3D Studio Max; http://digm.etsu.edu
eLab Web Development Director

Vanderbilt University

(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

December 2001 — August 2002 (9 months)

- Managed, designed, and implemented eLab's online research projects and experiments along with enhancing the current eLab website. Marketed and promoted website and improved search engine rankings. Achieved #2 ranking in Google for targeted keywords
- Supervised and managed 2 full-time and 4 part-time employees.
- ColdFusion, PHP, MS SQL Server, DHTML, Javascript, CSS, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Maya, Viewpoint, SAS, MS Office including Project, Google Analytics and Marketing, Project Management, ROI Analysis, Project Management, MS Project
Web Services Manager

Nortel

(Online Media industry)

December 1999 — August 2001 (1 year 9 months)

- Managed and maintained the Nortel Networks ITAS Website (Technical Services Website for 2 product lines) – consisted of 1000+ pages, several applications, 4000+ registered user database
- http://www.nortelnetworks.com/itas (no longer active)
- The site saved over $1.5 million / year from software and documentation downloads
- Managed several contractors and employees and all internet and server-related projects.
- HTML, PERL, Java, Java Servlets, SQL, Oracle, Web graphics, Sun Solaris Admin., Unix, NT Server, Symposium Call Center Server Administration, MS Office including Access and Project
- Evaluated and solved all software and hardware problems/conflicts on call center technician’s computers (2000, NT, 98, 95)
- Won pride award for good work and ethics, 2 bonuses based on performance reviews

Tara Maxwell’s Education

East Tennessee State University

MS , Technology, Design Graphics , 1996 — 1998

GPA:3.9

Activities and Societies:

Honor Sociey
University of Virginia

BS , Computer Science , 1994 — 1996

GPA:3.9

Activities and Societies:

Honor Society