Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)

Current

• Anti-consultant at SiliconGorge, LLC (Sole Proprietorship)

Past

• Director, WesternUnion.com at Western Union
• Director of Customer Experience, New Product Development at Western Union
• I spent 2004 screenwriting at . (Self-employed)

• Director of Web Communications at Cornell University
• Manager, Web Production Group at Cornell University
• Production Engineer at Internet Travel Network
• Designer at 401k Forum (mpower)

see less...

4 more...

Education

• Mahawithayalai Sukhothai Thammathirat
• Ohio University
• Indiana University Bloomington

see less...

Recommended

5 people have recommended Thomas

Connections

253 connections

Industry

Internet

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Summary

Blend marketing, user experience & Web production disciplines.
10 years management of online design, production & marketing teams. Extensive background in experimental filmmaking.

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Specialties:

Startup, Fortune 500, Higher Ed leadership experience.
New product development, including Web applications.
Accomplished writer & communicator.
Award winning filmmaker and designer.

Firsts--
First Director of Customer Experience at Western Union.
First Director of Web Communications at Cornell Univ.
First blog to track the redesign of major corporate site, for Cornell in 2003.

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Experience

• Anti-consultant

  SiliconGorge, LLC (Sole Proprietorship)

  (Sole Proprietorship; Internet industry)

  January 2000 — Present (9 years 11 months)

  Currently I am working with exploratorium.edu to improve access to their vast stores of educational content.
  
  SiliconGorge, LLC has been my consulting identity since 2000. I think of myself as an anti-consultant that does deep-tissue Web consulting. I'm located in Berkeley, Calif.
  
  SiliconGorge provides solutions for developing strong, sound Web sites for online businesses, higher education, and individuals.

• Director, WesternUnion.com

  Western Union

  (Public Company; WU; Financial Services industry)

  January 2008 — November 2008 (11 months)

  Led targeted Web design and UE projects for WesternUnion.com.
  SEO Training from Bruce Clay (2008)

• Director of Customer Experience, New Product Development

  Western Union

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; WU; Financial Services industry)

  November 2005 — January 2008 (2 years 3 months)

  Lead team responsible for Web, voice interface design and other aspects of the customer experience for Western Union's new line of electronic payment products. We work from concept to implementation.

• I spent 2004 screenwriting

  . (Self-employed)

  (Self-Employed; Writing and Editing industry)

  September 2004 — July 2005 (11 months)

  Took a year off to research and write a screenplay in Oaxaca, Mexico.

• Director of Web Communications

  Cornell University

  (Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Internet industry)

  September 2003 — August 2004 (1 year )

  Founded position and office. Was Principal Web Architect for Cornell Web Space, Chief Advocate for univ’s web authors/developers and Supervisor of Cornell’s primary web site (www.cornell.edu).

• Manager, Web Production Group

  Cornell University

  (Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Internet industry)

  July 1998 — September 2003 (5 years 3 months)

  Founded group.
  Duties included Production and Design Manager, Creative Director.
  Hired, trained, developed 10-12 member technical team.
  IT, ops, design and prod., prog, budgets, reporting and sales.

• Production Engineer

  Internet Travel Network

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; Internet industry)

  April 1997 — July 1998 (1 year 4 months)

  Product development, design, and production.
  First company to provide travel reservations via the Internet. (now Getthere.com)
  Developed world’s first web-based itinerary concept.
  Renovated ITN’s proprietary scripting language.
  Lead interface differentiation effort for ITN web products.
  Developed specialized, high profile corporate travel sites.

• Designer

  401k Forum (mpower)

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

  February 1996 — October 1996 (9 months)

  Designer for online retirement savings investment advice company.

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Education

• Mahawithayalai Sukhothai Thammathirat

  Thai-American Film Exchange Program 1993 — 1994

• Ohio University

  MFA , Film Production, Screenwriting , 1991 — 1994

• Indiana University Bloomington

  B.A. , Philosophy, Film Studies , 1985 — 1989

  Activities and Societies:

  Collins Living Learning Center, Graitas Cycling Team

Additional Information

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Interests:

My family, filmmaking, oil painting, writing, motorcycles, bicycling.

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Groups:

BayCHI

•    BayCHI
•    Obama for America
•    Interaction Design Association
•    Art & Design
•    UX Professionals
•    Consultants Network
•    Indiana University Alumni Network
•    User Experience
•    User Experience Group
•    O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference
•    Bedo Intrapreneurs

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Honors:

Western Union Performance Award, 2008
Worked with Ivan Chermayeff to develop Cornell site identity, 2004
CASE Gold Medal Award: Best Web Site, 2002
Garden Globe Award for Best Overall Product, 2002
Stewart Butterfield's "The 5k Award" for Best Overall, Concept and Originality, 2000
ITN beat Microsoft travel product in several corporate pilots, 1997

Thomas Richardson (tr at silicongorge.com)’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• getting back in touch