Back in 1995, when Votelink first made its debut on the Internet, we won every award out there, including GNN's BEST of the NET. Our focus on Electronic Democracy attracted lots of investment money. That same year, in December, Newsweek Magazine called our company president, Alexia Parks, "one of 50 people who matter most on the Internet ." In the following years, we hosted two National Student Parent MOCK Elections, launched voting from the G8 (G7) Summit in Denver and teamed with Mercury Mail to invite a global audience to vote on hot issues of the day. Our editorial team set the agenda and you responded. Our clients included Hewlett Packard, DOE, CDOT, and other businesses and federal agencies whose jurisdictions crossed boundaries.
Now, Votelink is putting *you* in the driver's seat. You're in charge. Once you chose a name for your homepage, as in
Votelink's transaction-based voting and decision-making tools are the results of rich, collaborative thinking between one of the folks who built the intranet for amex, a "computer guru" in the software development world, a web branding expert with the laser focus of a ZEN master, a shaman: the HAL in the machine at both the EPA and NIH, Votelink's original DIVA and marketing director, and an Advisory Board that included powerhouse Jared Polis, Chris Byrne, Tilman Schad, Richard Schuh, co-founder Colin Cantwell, and myself, Alexia Parks, President.
Here are a few more details:
Dan Fitzpatrick is President of ePark Labs, Inc.. "Smiling Dan" brings 20 years of business technology experience to Votelink. Dan has been a business and technology architect to many large corporations and companies including Boeing, NASA, Raytheon, Delta Airlines, Costco Wholesale, and American Express. Currently ePark Labs provides software and technology management services to hundreds of companies in 120 countries including 10% of the Fortune 500 companies. Dan received his MBA from the University of Southern California,
Ara T. Howard is a self-described code poet, early adopter, Ruby pioneer, and Ramaze core developer. Ara's personal motivation is to empower people through better software and humane design. When he's not coding he can be found somewhere in the mountains of Colorado with his wife, two kids, and three dogs, skiing, riding, or walking high above tree-line. You can peer into the caffeinated recesses of his mind at http://drawohara.tumblr.com.
Mark Fischer is the founder and CEO of W3 Sustainable, LLC, where he creates sustainable marketing strategies for small business. Mark is the the orchestrator of our user experience here at Votelink, in conjunction with our technical team and graphic design team. He also has a Master's degree in Oriental Medicine, and has a passion for building community around positive transformation. When not working, Mark spends time with his wife Carrie, and new son Judah.
Steve Sky, our CTO, is a seasoned IT professional with over 25 years experience that include Federal Government data center operations for the EPA and NIH. With the mindfulness of a shaman, Steve is most interested is applying his talent to projects that contribute to the betterment of mankind. His other interests and projects include audio/visual systems integration, music production and helping others to communicate with clarity.
Hillary Griffith develops marketing strategies for Votelink. A successful entrepreneur, she served on the original Votelink team in 1995. Hillary was also the driving force behind SOBO –a street festival in South Boulder (SOBO) which attracted more than 50,000 people and spurred the development of similar festivals in other communities around the U.S. Hillary brings a global network and visionary zeal to Votelink.
Alexia Parks is president of Votelink. A pioneer in electronic democracy, she has served as a bridge between innovation and culture for more than 25 years. As a nationally syndicated columnist and author of seven books, Alexia also wrote for the national desk of The Washington Post. In NYC, she served as magazine publisher, then Director of Communications for a trade association representing 100 major metropolitan daily newspapers around the U.S. She then returned to Boulder as president of Media Syndicate, which distributed story leads to more than 1,000 news media. Alexia now focuses her skills on motivating people to use Votelink to seek common solutions and "think together" for the common good.
Here is another way to describe Votelink.
Votelink IS: Voting, Meetings, Discussions, Groups – Community (engaging, compelling, social, civic, in service to…), Ruby on Rails, Electronic Democracy, Collaborative (thinking together for the common good), Wisdom Seeking, Engaging, Finding Solutions for a Sustainable Future, The Voice of the People, Bottom Up, Effective, Accessible, Better World, Caring, Empowering, Inclusive, Innovative, Progressive, Neutral, Social Network, Content Rich, Inside the Global Mind, and Fast (from dial-up to broadband).