Hi! I'm HighTechDad

Background

I currently work as a Strategist of Digital, Content, and Customer Marketing at AppDynamics, which is part of Cisco. Previously at AppDynamics, I was a Senior Manager of Partner Marketing Strategy. Before Cisco AppDynamics, I worked at Riverbed as a Senior Manager of Content Marketing within the Solutions Marketing group. Before that, I worked at HP Inc. as a Senior eCommerce Content Marketing Manager, developing various lifestyle content strategies for the HP shopping experience.

Prior to that, I was at Intel as a Brand Journalist for Intel Free Press, where I investigated, interviewed, and wrote articles about technology and people in and around Intel. The target audience was technology journalists, and the content that I produced was designed to be used freely without attribution by that audience. You can read my explanation of what Brand Journalism is if you are curious. I was also a Social Media Strategist for the Global Public Relations group.

For over five years, I was the Technology Evangelist for GoGrid, a Cloud Computing Infrastructure Provider. (What is a Technology Evangelist? Read my explanation!) I created GoGrid’s blogging and social media presences (achieving a Klout score of 78 in July 2013 – Klout is no longer in existence unfortunately) and launched and positioned GoGrid within the Cloud Community through the use of Social Media, Social Marketing, Public and Press Relations, and corporate blogging — evangelizing the significant and growing benefits of outsourced server infrastructure in the cloud. I have well over 15 years of Product, Account, and Engineering Management experience, as well as a passion for all types of technologies.

I desire to bridge the gap between the technical and marketing aspects of various products and services, but doing so in a way that is understandable by most, informative, and unique. Also, I write all of the product reviews that you see on HighTechDad.com from the perspective of a parent – how well does it integrate into a family environment, how easy is it for children to use, how does the price point match against an “average” family, and once and a while, I even include my children in a review!

I received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Comparative Literatures from Occidental College in Los Angeles as well as a Marketing Certification at U.C. Berkeley Extension in San Francisco. After college, I lived in Madrid, Spain for two years as I made my best efforts to avoid getting sucked into the workforce. In Madrid, I taught English to business executives and government officials.

My technology expertise is entirely self-taught, and I try to provide regular critical analysis of technology trends. You can read more about my Work Experience in my LinkedIn profile.

The “Birth of HighTechDad”

This blog was conceptualized long before blogging became as popular as it is now. I had the desire to create a way to provide helpful insight to people, and my first thought was writing a How-To book. The problem was, writing a book takes time and was slow (it did not reflect the speed of technology).

So, when my girls where quite young (and when blogging started to become more prevalent), I jumped in feet first – my first post was on November 3rd, 2005. At that time, there were sites about parenting and sites about technology. But back in 2005, I discovered an untapped niche, one which analyzed the intersection of these two subjects. Thus, my tagline, where technology and fatherhood collide, was born (as my fourth child).

The rest is history.