Blogs

Mark has a curiosity and thirst for knowledge that I find fantastic. As Mark says on his “About me” page: I love learning new stuff. I love finding out about new things, delving into them, and then finding other related things that interest me.

And while he’s in IT, that’s not what defines him.

Certainly not. I feel fortunate that he's been willing to be one of our expert bloggers.

Blog:      http://markjowen.wordpress.com

About me:  http://about.me/markjowen

LinkedIn: http://nl.linkedin.com/in/markjowen

Twitter:   @markjowen

Google+: https://profiles.google.com/markjowen/about

Duhon: What do you do and how did you get there?

Owen: I help people get to stuff, and find stuff. I listen and find solutions or give advice. I interpret; and elucidate. 

I'm a Business System Analyst at one of the major Pharmaceutical companies. 

How did I get here: I was given the great opportunity to work as part of a global team involved with redesigning, upgrading, and expanding a regulatory documentation system to make it easier to access and locate regulatory content. 

Duhon: What was your best day at work? Worst?

Owen: Best day: everyday. I work with a great team.

Worst day: haven't had one yet.

Duhon: What are you proudest of?

Owen: The skills I have learnt working as a global team, across multiple time zones, and different cultures, as well as learning that solutions do not necessarily have to be ones based purely on technology.

Duhon: What is your No. 1. goal today—and what is your greatest content-related challenge?

Owen: My No 1 goal today is to try and determine what will be required to meet the current changes that are occurring as a result of new ways of thinking.

My content-related challenge includes migrating content between two systems that have dissimilar information architectures.

Duhon: Why do you consider yourself an information professional?

Owen: I've got an extensive technical background in the legacy document and image management systems (including capture). The last five years I have been working in a very regulated environment, and have been with the "customer," understanding what they want, and looking for the best solutions that are not necessarily based on technology. In this time I have had the opportunity to work with SharePoint, applying the rigor that the legacy systems, and the regulatory industry, require. 

I've also got the scars from many small, and large, projects that I have been involved with in various industries such as legal, civil engineering, utilities, finance, construction, and, of course, pharmaceutical.

Just for fun:

Duhon: What are your three favorite websites?

Owen: * BBC - for great news, and articles

* My blog site - I love "capturing" things that interest me.

* Google

Duhon: What are the three greatest books ever written—and what’s on your  nightstand today?

Owen: * Never Talk When you can Nod. Compliance, eDiscovery and Enterprise Content Management Systems - by Andrew Chapman. Great book.

* The Vonynich Manuscript

The Time Machine - HG Wells

On my nightstand at the moment - You are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto - Jaron Larnier

Duhon: What are the three greatest movies of all time—and what’s the last one you’ve seen?

Owen: Any Dreamworks, or Disney (Pixar) movie. I watched "Finding Nemo" over a 100 times and never get bored with it.

Duhon: What was your first concert—and what are the three greatest songs on your iPod?

Owen: My first concert was an outdoor Deep Purple concert. I jumped the fence.

I don't have an iPod..I've got an Samsung Galaxy 2S, but there are no songs. I'm boring - I listen to lectures (from The Teaching Company) 

Thanks for the time, Mark.

Who's Next?

Who do YOU know in the AIIM community doing good and interesting work? Who do you know who deserves their “15 Minutes” of fame? Send names and contact details to me at bduhon@aiim.org.