Usually, as an IT communicator, my job is to inform people about an amazing new technology or service. A new tool or offering that will profoundly impact their work experience and propel their company or university into a new era of success (we hope!).

That is not my task today, however. Instead, my first announcement as UC ANR IT Communication Specialist is… me.

Last week, I joined CSIT to support ANR web development and to assist IT in getting the word out about all the cool new things we are building. I, myself, am not likely to have a profound impact on your daily work, at least in comparison to the ANR Portal or SiteBuilder 3.0, but what I can promise is to keep you very well informed about the powerful tools and services that CSIT provides.

Often, the role of an IT communicator is to be a kind of translator, taking very technical topics and making them understandable, and useful (!), for a general audience. Luckily, I love technology and have a hard time NOT telling people about it, as my friends and family would eagerly confirm. After a short career in academia, I have spent the last decade or so working for technology companies, both big and small, to bridge the gap between the bleeding edge and the safe middle of the road. Ultimately, no technology has value beyond its ability to empower the user, and I am very excited to assist in deploying great IT tools in the service of ANR's mission of healthy food, healthy environments and healthy communities.

Please don't hesitate to email me or drop by my desk if you have any technology questions*. I would love to hear from you and I look forward to getting to know you and ANR better in the coming weeks.

*(topics including but not limited to: SiteBuilder, Portal, Collaborative Tools, Survey, web development, web design, SEO, blogging, social media, computer hardware, digital video, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, comic books, German philosophy, the films of Stanley Kubrick, anything from Joss Whedon, and pretty much anything labeled as “nerdy.”)