Lauren is a lot of things: An XML wonk, a standards-process veteran with a track record of success, a conference organizer, a blogger, and a WordPress hacker. For my money her biggest talent is project management: She’s technical, has a good bullshit filter, and is completely relentless (in the most polite and friendly way imaginable) in extracting units of useful progress from gaggles of geeks, even when they’re distributed across multiple continents. — Tim Bray
I've been a software developer, publishing consultant, conference chair, committee chair, project manager, and product manager. I organize people to get things done, on time, on budget (assuming both are set reasonably). No one solution suits all companies, teams, or people; flexibility coupled with pragmatism and an appreciation of changing circumstances works better than strict adherance to pre-ordained "how it should be done" rules.
I am a Senior Consultant for the Lantana Consulting Group, a US consultancy specialising in healthcare standards, on a contract basis. In this company, all work is done remotely, with employees across Canada and the US. One current project is supporting the Query Health initiative of the Standards and Implementation (S&I) Framework, assisting with process and ensuring the work being done works with related standards. Another project is technical work on the Health Associated Infections Clinical Document Architecture Implementation Guide (HAI CDA IG), where the team creates electronic versions of the reporting forms submitted to National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). We create the IG, and the related artifacts such as XML sample files and testing methods, as well as support for the vendors implementing the IG. For other clients, I analyse client requirements and recommend solutions, evaluating various healthcare standards for suitability of purpose. I also occasionally act as Project Manager for smaller projects.
Additionally, I am Course Director for the XML Summer School, chairing the Faculty Board, teaching in the Practical Web Applications Course, working with Faculty members, and ensuring that the myriad small details associated with a successful event are attended to. In my remaining time I help organise the local Vancouver blogging conference, Northern Voice, implement and maintain WordPress and Drupal web sites for local companies and dabble in other web technologies.
My work history includes projects in identity management for Sun Microsystems. I managed a research project team distributed across four countries and nine timezones, working on a cloud-computing project including hardware, software, identity management and operating system components, with a strong emphasis on consumer-level usability. In addition, I was data guardian and policy designer for Sun's OpenID identity provider, and chaired the Liberty Alliance's Business Marketing Expert Group as well as Sun's internal cross-department identity management group.
Previous consulting clients include IDEAlliance, for whom I chaired the XML conference series from 2001 until 2005, Reach (a department of the Government of Ireland), Thomson Corporation, and Justsystem. I was also an elected member of the W3C Advisory Board.
My technical standards involvement includes chairing the W3C Document Object Model Working Group from its inception until November 2001, just after the DOM Level 2 was approved as a W3C Recommendation, the OASIS Entity Resolution TC, and active membership of many other technical groups in W3C, OASIS, and the IETF.
My full resume (CV) is available, as are references, on request.
My musings about technology and general issues are on my main blog, while my postings about hobbies are on my crafting blog. I also have an irregular Twitter stream.
