Mark J. Norton
Short Bio
It's been a long time since our days at Wang. Some of you will recall that I started at Wang right out of college doing diagnostics under Mike Cabuccio, and eventually drifted into OIS doing library and utility work. My time spent with Dan Corwin doing AI work let to a long period of research and development in AI-related work at GenRad (intelligent circuit testing), and General Electric (AI lab). From GE, I made the jump into digital video and helped to found Avid Technology. Avid was a lot of fun since we got to really push the envelope on what was possible for digital video editing. After seven years at Avid (and a Technical Emmy), I moved into web-based training and developed a Learning Management System for MicroMentor which led to the company being acquired. The dot com bubble had started up, so I took an executive position (VP) at a start-up eLearning company called TechOnLine. That was fine until the VCs fired the whole management team. Since then and currently, I work at IMS Global Learning, which is an international consortium developing specifications for eLearning along the lines of the Worldwide Web Consortium. Standards work is turning out to be a little less technical than I like, so I'm looking about for opportunities or contracting work.Outside of work, I've spent over twenty years mastering a martial art called Aikido. I currently hold the rank of yondan (4th degree) and teach regularly in Chelmsford. My son got active in Boy Scouting, and somehow I ended up as scoutmaster. He's currently 15, so scouting is likely to last another three years or so. My older daughter is off to college this fall. My wife, Brigid Cassidy is a technical writer at Avid (she joined after I left, ironically). I met Brigid at Wang when she worked on the Wangwriter and Wang PC under Phil Florence. In summary: a happy, married life, two wonderful children, a moderately rewarding career. I consider myself quite lucky to be blessed with warm, caring people around me.
Visit my personal website at www.nolaria.org