An Open Letter from the President and Founder of Urangatang
Web Design
Dear friends,
Urangatang was born in October 2001; the result of an epiphany. One of
those "aha!" moments.
Here's the story…
The challenge that eventually humbles every freelance web developer on
the face of the earth is the realization that he will never learn everything
that he (or she!) wants to know about web design. There is just too much
information out there, and it's growing every day.
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Linda C. Uranga-Norton
President and Founder |
By the time you learn one programming language, three more spring up in its
place. Even the most enlightened web developer, unless he is blessed with a
photographic memory and a Mensa-quality IQ, will need at least 20 hours a day
just for learning. That doesn't leave much time for locating customers, doing
actual web design work, or even sleeping.
Once we recognized the problem, the solution became equally
obvious.
"Let people do what they do best."
Are they super Flash animation specialists? Then don't try
to jam a programming hat onto them. Are they wizards at programming?
Then don't ask them to design an award winning layout. Instead,
find the quality in each person that is outstanding, and use
that quality in a teamwork environment.
Here's the advantage:
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Price. We charge less than those big web development
houses because we have no overhead. All we have is our
hourly rates. No factories, no phone systems, no shipping
charges, nothing extra. Just our expertise.
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Quality. Our people do only what they do best. No learning
curve will ever affect your project. Frankly, the expertise
of our people is unmatched anywhere in the world. Keep
reading for more information…
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Teamwork. You don't need to micro-manage (and we hope
you won't!) because our project manager will handle the
entire thing for you. Don't have a high-tech vocabulary?
Great, you won't need it. Our people speak "tech"
internally, but they speak "human" to you.
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Accountability. Ever been odd-man-out in a finger-pointing
contest? This guy said it was that guy's fault. But that
guy said is was the other guy's fault? That won't happen
here. We iron out the accountability issues from within.
When a technology process isn't working (and that happens
every day in the web design world) we'll figure out whether
it's the server, the database, the programming… right
down to the exact line of code. You don't need to do a
thing.
Urangatang is an organism… it is a living, breathing
collection of the very finest web developers in the world.
We each do what we do best, and we do it as a team. Our membership
roster includes 150 professionals with backgrounds as diverse
as NASA, CNN, Microsoft, and almost every other major corporation
in the world. That is our talent pool. Care to swim
with us? Good. Click here to get started.
Sincerely,
Linda C. Uranga-Norton
President and Founder, Urangatang Web Design
Meet the Team
Linda C. Uranga-Norton
President and Founder
For the last thirty years, Linda has been involved in forefront communications
technologies including the Internet, Ethernet, and Email.
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As a member of System Development Corporation in the
mid 1970's, helped establish the protocol foundation of
the Internet, i.e. TCP/IP standards, etc..
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For Xerox Corporation, in the early 1980's, helped launch
and position product introductions of the first hard drives
and desktop publishing systems as well as the Ethernet
platform.
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As a founding member of Syntrex Corporation from the
mid to late 1980's, helped to test and refine the world's
first email system.
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For Bell Laboratories: from 1997 to 2000, developed Guide Builder®,
an internationally-recognized software product that generates custom documentation
on demand. This award winning program, released immediately by Bell Laboratories,
generates more than $1,000,000 in revenue annually, and immediately displaced
more than 100 paper documents as the de facto standard for quality deliverables
in customer support.
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For CommTech Corporation: as a founding member of this
$275 million-dollar corporation - and world-renowned provider
of end-to-end service order management, provision and
activation software - created all marketing, education,
communications, and documentation standards and tools.
Linda is a patent-holder for four separate programming inventions,
each created for, and embedded within the Guide Builder®
software.
Linda is married to John E. Norton, and is the mother of two young adults.
Her family includes daughter Jen, age 22 who is completing her Bachelor's at the New Jersey City University, and son Kenny, age 20 who is completing his Sophomore year at Rochester
Institute of Technology.
Greg Shore
Senior Project Manager
Greg brings to Urangatang seven years of experience as the
Communications Director of a large church in Mount Pleasant,
South Carolina. He was responsible for all printed communications,
software training, website development, database maintenance,
and video production. In this capacity he oversaw the work
of other staff members and also a large, talented, and diverse
group of volunteers who assisted with the technical ministries
of the church. He is a former naval officer and a graduate
of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Greg came by his interest in computers at an early age. His
uncle, an Army warrant officer who worked on ARPA-NET, told
what seemed like fantastic tales about one day being able
to type a letter on his typewriter at home and have it appear
at Greg's house in his family's typewriter. Thirty years later
Greg is reaching thousands by sitting at his "typewriter"
and communicating with people around the globe.
When not working on web projects he can be found in his shop
working at a lathe turning decorative bowls.
Heather Niemann
Senior Project Manager
Heather has more than 14 years of experience in the graphic
arts industry. She spent most of her career as an in-house
designer in corporate America, where she became proficient
in a wide range of skills. These include print design, print
management, marketing, usability, web and multimedia design,
online advertising, ecommerce and branding development. She
designed and developed her first web site in 1996.
Heather started her career as a designer in a print shop,
then moved on to the corporate world, where she advanced quickly.
At PTEK Holdings, after a short 5 months, Heather was promoted
to Web Design Manager, and only a few months after that came
the position of Director, Web Marketing. When her former boss
and mentor approached her to join a company he helped found,
Heather took the chance and made the move to AnyDevice as
Creative Director. At AnyDevice, Heather designed the company
logo, all marketing materials, several iterations of the web
site, multimedia presentations, and the company intranet.
She was also tagged as a usability specialist to assist in
the development of the company's products. When AnyDevice
merged with HiddenMind, Heather's role expanded as she helped
plan and implement the new company launch. As part of this
process, she designed all new materials, the new company web
site, and the company's online advertising in just a few short
months.
Heather left the corporate world when her first child was
born, and became a freelance designer and Project Manager
for Urangatang. She graduated from Washington University School
of Art in St. Louis. Her husband, Randy, and she have two
children, Daniel, 2, and Naomi, 1. In her "free"
time, Heather volunteers on the production team at North Point
Community Church, and for the Foundation for Hospital Art,
where she also serves on the board.
Enrique Prado
Project Manager
Enrique has spent most of his professional career at Microsoft.
He began working there in 1991 as a Software Test Engineer.
His first job was quality control for MS Project version 3.0
where he learned the ropes about international application
testing and standard testing methodologies. A year and a half
later, he moved to the Visual C++ team and honed his C++ and
MFC programming skills. Later, he became a Software Design
Engineer in Test which entitled him to write tools that were
used internally by other engineers. For three years, Enrique
worked with an extremely talented team to pioneer Visual Studio
suite versions 1.0 through 4.0. This taught him the disciplines
and processes that are necessary to ship world class software
on time.
As his career at Microsoft progressed, Enrique became a test
lead for the Direct Animation engine technology that shipped
with Internet Explorer 4.0, PowerPoint and the Liquid Motion
animation tool. After a few more years honing his management
skills, Enrique became a Test Manager for the DirectX Media
division where he was responsible for the quality assurance
strategies of several products. During his last 3 years at
Microsoft, Enrique worked with the Windows Media Player team
as a full-time software developer. Enrique was part of the
user interface design team for Windows Media Player versions
7.0 through 8.0. This included designing and coding the user
interface elements (including buttons, sliders, and tabs)
as well as the skinning technology.
Enrique is now an esteemed member of the Urangatang project
management staff, where he manages, designs, and implements
absolutely stunning websites.
William DeYoung
Project Manager
As a project manager for Urangatang, Bill has over eight
years' experience in web design and graphic art. His strong
business background includes database design and applications
expertise. However, his reputation at Urangatang has been
established by his excellent work ethic and client relations.
Click here to read a customer
testimonial about his phenomenal project management ability.
Bill's outstanding design skills have landed him contracts
with national and international organizations including The
Institute for Family Wealth Counseling (Parsippany, NJ), Roller
Hockey International (East Rutherford, NJ) Hope for a Hopeless
Child & Hope International Academy (Malawi, Africa), Shekeinah
Music (Maharastra, India) and Shiseido Cosmetics Worldwide
(New York, NY).
The artistic juices constantly flow through Bill's veins.
When he is not designing websites or graphic art, he performs
with two contemporary Christian bands - Ninth Hour and Beloved.
Bill lives in East Rutherford, New Jersey with his wife,
Judy. They have been married eleven years, and Bill still
calls her his "beloved."
Brian Fox
Project Manager
Brian has been involved in various phases of leading projects
or developing applications in a variety of languages for Fortune
500 corporations since 1987. His experiences have also included
database design and maintenance, and he has been developing
websites since the mid-90s. His clients include KDM &
Associates, LLC, a business development, government affairs
consulting and public relations marketing firm that has procured
over $1 billion in government contracts since its inception
in 2001. Never satisfied with being "status quo,"
Brian continually hones his skills by continually reeducating
himself in the latest technological advances.
Brian's software development skills have also benefited him
as a licensed and ordained minister. As the founder and president
of Eagle-Eye Ministries, he transitioned from a weekly radio
broadcast to developing a website that includes online Bible
studies and streaming audio and video sermons. In conjunction
with his weekly audio broadcast on OnePlace.com entitled "The
Engrafted Word," his ministry has directly impacted believers
worldwide with audio sermons, distribution of materials and
other forms of benevolence. He teaches, preaches and conducts
workshops and seminars at many churches, and is also currently
pursuing his M. Div. at Regent University as well as writing
a book that has already been contracted with a publisher.
Brian has been married to his beloved wife (Pamela) since 1987, and she joins
him in many ministerial endeavors as well as being involved in prison, nursing
home and street outreach ministries. They have two sons, Kyle (born in 1990)
and Trey (born in 1993), and Brian is active in spending time with them, serving
as a basketball coach and basketball board member, and as a role model to their
friends.
In the little free time that Brian has, he enjoys teaching
and training as a 2nd Dan (2nd degree black belt) in Tae Kwon
Do.
Daniel Rockwell
Project Manager
Daniel has been working in the field of media and communications
for seven years. He has hands-on experience in web design
and graphics. He led the media team which was responsible
for a multi-million dollar church expansion campaign. This
work included designing multimedia for web, video and print
as well as photography and layout.
His professional design skills have been honed by designing
the look of nationally televised events. He also has an extensive
knowledge of customer relations due to working with clients
around the world. Daniel's experience with multimedia communication
makes him a valuable asset to Urangatang.
Mark Brodsky
Developer
Mark has over 15 years' experience in technology-related
fields and for the last 8 has been working primarily on Internet
technologies, database and website development. Mark focuses
on building web applications for clients who want their site
to be truly interactive.
Beginning with a career in radio in the 1980's, Mark found
his way 'up and down the dial' in several different states,
including Nebraska, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Vermont, South
Carolina and New York. As he moved up the radio ladder including
positions of Assistant Program Director and Program Director,
as well as on-air duties, Mark found the nomadic life tiresome,
so he settled down on Long Island and found his niche at Times
Mirror's Newsday, one of America's largest newspapers.
At Newsday, Mark built his skills as a UNIX Audiotext system
operator and programmer, then as a Systems Administrator,
and finally as a web developer for Newsday.com, where he built
an automation system that processed over one million stories
and saved the company more than $800,000 in production and
consulting costs. He built many portions of Newsday.com, including
the award winning "The Lost," a searchable web site
containing information on all the victims from September 11,
2001.
In 2002, Mark went full time into freelance web development
and found Urangatang as a great place with great people. Mark
is now back in South Carolina where he lives with his wife
and 4 kids and Clifford the dog. When not building web sites,
he can be found investing in Real Estate, swimming in the
pool with the kids, or playing drums on his church's worship
team.
Jenny Popp
Developer
Jenny won the prestigious Silver Omni, a national award for
graphic design in both 1999 and 2000. She has over six years'
experience in the graphic design and web development field.
She has designed and developed over 160 websites and understands
design from concept to completion. In fact, Jenny has designed
everything from a logo to a full Flash website. She loves
the creative process and the challenges that it creates. For
her, every project is a new adventure.
Jenny worked in the corporate world for the first five years
after college. She worked as a creative director and designer for
three years and helped a small company double their work in
one year. Afterwards, she chose to leave the corporate arena and begin
work as a freelance designer. Jenny now works as a graphic
designer for Urangatang.
Jenny graduated from Fort Hays State University in Hays,
Kansas. She resides in Kansas with her husband, Albert, an
electrical and computer engineer. Jenny and Albert are active in their
church as youth leaders and sponsors.
Bill Boehm
Developer
Bill's dazzling career in the graphic design field began
in 1980. High-tech companies, as well as educational publishers,
have utilized his skills in their design departments. In fact,
he has extensive experience as a designer of educational books
at the elementary and high school level. Ever broadening his
skills, Bill has also been a professional photographer at
the corporate level working on multimedia production.
In 1997, he began to design websites for various computer
user groups. This initial foray into web design has led to
many exquisite websites being developed by his artistic hands.
He currently divides his professional time between web design,
graphic design and technical illustration work.
In 2004, Bill became the youth director for his church and
spends his weekends working with them. He is also developing
a website for his congregation and works with the communications
team to produce a quarterly newsletter.
Daniel Castady
Developer
Daniel joined Urangatang in 2003 and now has nearly 10 years of web design
experience as a freelancer under his belt. He cut his teeth in web design as
webmaster for his band's website. Music websites led him into general business
websites, where he could serve more people, honing his skills all the time.
Having worked on over 150 websites, he never tires of his passion for web design.
In his time away from the computer screen, Daniel sings and plays guitar with
a rock band called THE FOLD, who signed with Tooth & Nail Records in 2005.
He is currently touring the country with the band.
Daniel married his high school sweetheart, Lauren Castady, in October of 2003.
They have a dog named Maisy, and live in West Chicago, Illinois.
Linda Smallwood
Developer
Linda has more than 25 years' experience as a technical writer,
editor, and publisher. She began her career as a technical
writer while serving in the Army in Europe where she authored
and published more than 30 Army Regulations and Training Manuals.
The work she did on the Army Training Manuals - and establishing
a new training program in her unit - were so successful that
she was appointed to teach her training techniques to all
the training personnel throughout Europe. While she was serving
in Texas, the Surgeon General requested Linda's assistance
as an Editor and Designer for a 700-page Army Fitness manual.
During the eight years she spent at North American Refractories,
Linda wrote, designed, and published more than 40 technical
manuals and four full-page four-color ads for a special "Sports
Illustrated" promotion.
In her most recent technology-related position at Management
Reports International, she wrote and designed technical manuals
and online Help systems for business accounting and property
management software. She holds a copyright for a Monopoly
board Help system and a side-by-side notebook that she developed
for them.
In January 2000, Linda resigned that position and at age
51, she began pursuing a life-long dream to become an ordained
minister and to serve God as a missionary. Today, Pastor Linda
is working in southern India where she is helping independent
indigenous ministries establish orphanages and outreach programs
to widows, the blind, lepers, the destitute, and the elderly.
Linda joined Urangatang in 2002 as a graphic artist, writer,
and editor. Her most recent work with Urangatang is the development
of the graphics for the company's intranet.
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