Advisory Council

Charles T. Mattice – The Chamber Site Configuration & Maintenance

 
Most of Charles’ (Chuck’s) business career has been in “Brick and Mortar” businesses. Currently he is the Technical Director of a small manufacturing firm and has held the position for over 30 years. During that time he has, at one time or another, worked almost every aspect in the business world.

Chuck has always enjoyed working with computers and everything in the field of information technology. As a tinkerer, the first computer he modified was an IBM PCxt and from there started building workstations, desktops, and servers.

As the thrill of building systems wore off, Chuck began programming. The first language he dabbled in was Fortran when he was in high school. His preferred language is a language called “Pick Basic,” which is a variant of Dartmoth basic. This is the language used by early multi-dimensional databases (Pick Systems, now known as D3) which are still in existence today.

Although SQL databases are the norm today, NoSQL databases such as MongoDB are beginning to gain a foothold due to their ability to be multi-dimensional, fast, and extremely reliable. As they are very different than the SQL databases, they could be referred to as “document stores” rather than a database.

In working with anything web related, Chuck prefers to work with the server side and its software which, by many, would label him as a back-end developer. And although he prefers working with databases, server software, and security, he’s not been known to pass up working on a challenging web design, whether it is for desktop browsing or a responsive design for smart phones.

Besides his work in the “Brick and Mortar” world, Chuck also has an online presence called “C of C Solutions™ which supplies the needs of businesses for their net presence whether it be web hosting, web design, or various sundries such as SSL Certificates.
 

Will & Mary Bontrager – The Chamber Web Site Software

 
Twelve years after leaving home, Will got his first computer. It was an Osborne portable with C/PM operating system, tiny built-in monitor, two 5-1/4 floppy drives and no mouse. Will cracked open the manual for the BASIC computer language and learned he could make software that others can use. He started learning how to use dBase II (database software with a query language).

Before his introduction to the internet in 1997, Will became competent with four software programming languages. When he realized some of the awesome possibilities of the internet, he began programming exclusively for web sites and learned three more software programming languages.

Willmaster.com was registered in February, 1998, shortly after Mary and Will married. It is where they give away and sell software for web sites. The domain has over a thousand pages of “how-to” and other articles and answers of interest to web site owners. They also do custom programming and are often consulted for determining how best to implement an idea.
 

Donna Maher, RN – The Chamber Logo & Graphics Design

 

Donna is a retired nurse who worked for over two decades in the healthcare field as a nurses’ aide, then returning to college to acquire a RN. Donna has always been artistically inclined. After taking up various online pursuits, she found that she could express her artistic side and, most importantly, she could continue to help others.

Donna continually studies various marketing trends and techniques in order to stay on top of the latest developments. Her passion for helping “newbies” to start their own businesses inspired her to develop her own step-by-step product that shows even total web neophytes precisely how to take ready-made resale content and turn it into a real web business.

Donna soon became a consumer advocate, graphic artist and webmaster. She currently works in the artistic realm creating web site graphics, banners, logo designs, ebook covers, collages and more at BizUnlim.com She also manages several infopreneuring projects, such as ProductCreationPro.com (where the team does the work and you take the credit) plus her DomainCondo.com domain registrar site, her namesake blog and several other web sites.
 

John Zinda – The Chamber Troubleshooter

 

John started his adult life with the desire to be an electrical engineer, but that hope was dashed when it was determined he was color blind. John owned a small restaurant that did very well. He decided to give that up, however, as 80+ hours a week became more life than he was willing to put into it.

Eight years ago, John says he didn’t even know how to turn on a computer. He is self-taught using resources found on the web. He, “… spent the first three or four years just figuring out what was good information and what was junk.”

John has a partner in the PuzzleAttic web site, who is a professional photographer and has a degree in web-media. While anyone will be able to eventually upload photos at PuzzleAttic, he is gearing it toward a target consumer of professional photographers who will find a nice and different way to display and sell their works of art. It will basically be a membership site.

John has another site planed. It will be Some Perfect Solutions. That will be his main business site of which all others will be a part. Some Perfect Solutions will be just as it sounds – perfect solutions – and have a public and members only section. John will be providing quality information, software and services.

He not only creates new websites, he also makes adjustments to existing websites. He works with static html sites, and content management systems for WordPress and Joomla. He codes in html5, css3, php, javascript and works with mysql databases. In addition, John does responsive web design allowing sites to be viewed on all devices.
 

John Payne – Environmental Specialist

 
John lives in Australia’s National Capital, Canberra. He started a retail career at 16 and found a niche in the consumer electrical field. He eventually acted as Company Buyer-Electrical for a major chain of 23 stores, producing outstanding growth, then, founded his own business, Electricland Pty Ltd.

Stints as Visitor Centre Manager at the local Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, and as General Manager of a wastewater treatment company, introduced John to the practical aspects of environmentalism. As a result, he formed a family business, Enviro Friendly Products, which today sells a diverse range of water and energy-saving products.

Enviro Friendly Products has grown strongly, largely on the back of his high-ranking web site. The site today has more than 300 pages, with hundreds of Top 5 search engine rankings. Nearly 1500 visitors a day visit the site, now called Enviro Friendly World, looking for real world products such as water tanks, greywater systems, solar hot water and solar power systems.

In 2000, John founded the WebMarketingEzine.com website. John is a Member of the Australian Institute of Marketing, and a CPM (Certified Practicing Marketer). He also serves his environmental community on the Committee of the Australian Solar Energy Society.

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