Linda G. Branagan
133 Noriega Street - San Francisco, CA 94122 - h:415.661.3018 -
c:415.860.7983
lgb@well.com
Summary:
A senior project, department, and executive manager
with experience in both engineering and marketing roles and a proven ability
to plan and deliver Internet technology products.
Education:
Alliant University, Alemeda,
CA. MA in Organizational Psychology
expected June, 2002.
University of
Texas at Dallas, Richardson TX. Graduate level credits in Cognition
and Neuroscience.
Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh PA. BA in Professional Writing.
Experience:
Construct Internet
Design was a highly technical Internet professional services company
with a substantial blue-chip client base. The 18-person company was
acquired by IllusionFusion! in March of 1999.
Acting General Manager, San Francisco, February
2000 - August 2000.
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Tracked and reported staff utilization and project costs.
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Lead the project acquisition process, provided authorization
to pursue or abandon sales leads, worked actively to evaluate client needs,
develop proposals and cost estimates, negotiate contracts.
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Functioned as Account Manager for projects acquired by our
office, maintained and protected client-company relationships.
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Worked with managers at other corporate locations to ensure
that resource requirements for all projects are met.
Acting General Manager, New York, December 1999 -
February 2000.
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Implemented a process for authorizing pursuit or abandonment
of sales leads.
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Implemented weekly management meetings to communicate project
and team status, identify and resolve issues.
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Negotiated graceful termination of multiple legacy projects
that no longer represented significant strategic or financial opportunities.
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Restructured departments to be more appropriate for company
size and direction, eliminated four positions.
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Implemented weekly project status reporting process.
Director of Engineering, April 1998 - November 1999.
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Participated actively in the new project acquisition process,
by determining technical feasibility, scope, and risks for project proposals.
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Established quality assurance guidelines for projects as
appropriate to their revenue structure, client, and end-user requirements.
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Managed five software developers, often each working on multiple
projects. Prioritized and assigned tasks based on client needs, revenue
structure, and technical requirements and limitations.
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Functioned as Producer for highly technical or risky projects;
worked directly with clients to develop specifications and delivery schedules
and communicate issues and status.
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Helped project Producers successfully communicate technical
issues and limitations to clients.
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Worked actively with the CFO to track actual project costs
and accuracy of pre-production estimates.
Intervista Software,
Inc. developed 3D Internet applications based on the Virtual Reality
Modeling Language (VRML). They were acquired by Platinum
Technology in May 1998.
Product Manager, August 1997 - March 1998.
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Managed planning, development, and release of two products:
WorldView 2.5 (a VRML browser for use within Netscape or Internet Explorer)
and WorldView for Developers (an Active X control for use by component-based
application developers). Determined market requirements and product positioning,
negotiated features and schedule with engineering, determined licensing
strategy and price points, coordinated beta testing, assisted with key
sales presentations, analyzed competing products.
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Negotiated features based on difficulty of implementation,
time and resources required, and value to end-users. Worked with upper
management to predict and track actual project costs.
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Wrote white papers, data sheets, and reviewer guides. Developed
product marketing procedures, technical support policies, bug escalation
procedures.
Project Manager, November 1996 - August 1997.
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Managed project schedule for a six person programming team
for a seven-month development effort involving five planned beta releases.
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Determined, prioritized, and assigned tasks based on input
from engineering, sales, beta testers, and OEM clients.
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Implemented weekly project team meetings to discuss status,
priorities and schedule changes.
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Wrote functional specifications, test plans, and product
documentation.
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Implemented procedures for bug tracking, advised QA staff
on testing procedures.
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Provided technical support for beta testers.
Light Source, Inc.
developed the Colortron, a hardware and software product used for color
measurement primarily in the graphic arts and publishing industries. It
was acquired by X-Rite, Inc. in March, 1997.
Project Manager, February - October 1996.
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Facilitated the development of market requirements documents
and engineering specifications. Managed input from cross-functional team
members to resolve critical issues and fully establish product specifications
and risks.
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Held weekly project review meetings to communicate status,
schedule changes, and potential challenges to all departments. Created
agendas and minutes and tracked action items.
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Revised the product development process to be more appropriate
to company size. Reduced the number of development phases to five from
fourteen. Minimized document requirements to essential elements to allow
development to move ahead as quickly as possible.
Z-Code Software developed Z-Mail, a cross-platform
electronic mail application. Acquired by Network
Computing Devices in March 1994. Product Marketing Specialist,Quality
Assurance and Technical Publications Manager, August 1993 - January
1996.
Convex Computer Corporation manufactured high speed
mainframe computer systems and was acquired by Hewlett
Packard in December 1995. System Engineer, Documentation
and Training Developer, January 1989 - August 1993.
Publications and Professional Activities:
Panel Member, National Research Council Board of Assessment
for the National Institute of Technology. This 20-personal panel
of academic and industry specialists meets twice annually to evaluate the
quality and nature of work done in the Information Technology Laboratory
at NIST. Our evaluations are used both internally by NIST administration
and externally as part of the federal program review and budgeting process.
Author, VRML: Low Tech Illusion for the World Wide
Web, chapter 7 in Digital Illusion: Entertaining the Future with
High Technology, edited by Clark Dodsworth, Jr. and published by Addison
Wesley. Ghost-written for Tony Parisi.
Producer and Chair, Computer
Animation Festival, SIGGRAPH
1996, often referred to as "the Academy Awards of Computer Graphics".
Responsible for conceiving and implementing a risky and non-traditional
theme and vision; assembling and managing a jury of experts, a volunteer
staff of ten, and a six figure budget; supervising film editing and video
post production; editing and approving conference publications; conducting
press interviews.
Author, The Frame Handbook, with M. Sierra. Published
by O'Reilly & Associates.