David Powell
His kids call him a geek, which is apparently a compliment.
David wrote his first program in 1966. And it worked perfectly first time. So did the next four programs. Things didn't stay quite that rosy, but he graduated with a nice shiny degree in Computer Science and came to Canada in 1970. He worked for Manufacturer's Life for about 18 years in an IBM mainframe world as a techie, a manager, and a techie again. It was there that he learned how to analyse a situation, solve a problem even when it seemed impossible, and how to organize, plan and test so that things worked as they were expected to do.
In 1988 he joined the City of Toronto to manage the support arm of their Information Centre (IC). PCs were coming in, and gradually became the main focus of his work, although the mainframes still demanded some attention. Now he was learning to work in a different environment (municipal, unionised) and more directly involved with business units. He developed an agreement with the Purchasing department which streamlined PC purchases and saved the City money. He dealt with all departments to assess computing needs, and created a help desk and a walk-in centre. When the IC was closed as part of downsizing, he moved to manage the IT needs of the Toronto Fire Department and learned about mapping, dispatching, radios and fire trucks. His group got 200+ Fire Captains trained in word processing and e-mail, and put new computers in all the Fire Halls. After Toronto's amalgamation from six municipalities and Metro Toronto into one, he brought together six IT groups and formed an integrated unit. As Fire Chiefs would rather spend money on pumpers than computers, working for Fire Services taught him how to stretch dollars.
In 1999 he traded a 4-hour daily commute for an exit package and a twenty-minute drive to the Canadian Red Cross, where as IT Manager he looked after just about everything which had more technology in it than a stapler. 20+ servers, a building network, 300+ PCs across Ontario, building security, phones, fax machines and photocopiers. His penny pinching continued and he reduced his budget each year and yet provided better service. He got a problem tracking system and an automatic call distribution system running so that less time was spent losing track of problem reports. He developed an in house database to track employees across Ontario, and keep tabs on their complex working arrangements, where one person would often work in several locations, and tied it into payroll and Red Cross computer directories, so that when someone in Timmins left, he could secure e-mail accounts without having to wait for the husky to deliver the news.
Mainly, what he learned in these three jobs is that it's not about computers and technology, it's about people. He had great staff working for him, so he learned to leave the techie details to them, while he sweated the big picture. His clients had their jobs to do, and they didn't always see the computer as a friend. He came to respect that (although he still don't understand it!) and became a champion for their rights. Whenever a major change was mandated from above, he made it part of his job to put user education, user training, and most importantly, communications into the plan.
In 2003 David declared himself President of Creekwood Digital Solutions. He maintains the BAG web site, and the web sites for a number of his clients. His work for one client has evolved into pretty much running the back office for an Ontario-based professional society, and providing all of the technology, including a membership database and website.
He enjoys spending time with his long-suffering wife, and (well, most of the time) his post-teenage children, his home workshop and, in Summer, the deck and his bicycle. He has re-learned photography the digital way, and is way behind schedule editing 14 years of home video onto DVDs. He plays volleyball 10 months a year, and has long walks and exercises 12 months a year.
He has been a regular contributor to Microsoft's Canadian Small Business Forum, writing articles for entrepreneurs, especially those who are starting out in small business after leaving the corporate fold.