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How did you end up hearing about the job?

I found out that UnitedHealthcare was closing our office, so I got pretty motivated. I had been involved in some of the (social media) community things around Des Moines, had met Mike Templeton (a Catchfire Media analyst) a couple of times, but was at a WordPress mixer and saw him and exchanged some information and I thought it sounded like an exciting opportunity.

Were you working with social media before this?

I’ve been an early adopter of Twitter and Facebook and Foursquare for a long time. I had a couple of side clients that I work with that I have tried to kind of evangelize how they can use it. It definitely wasn’t my forte, but I knew how powerful it was.

Tell me a little bit about why Catchfire wanted to bring you aboard?

I think we were both excited about the opportunity, because before, we had a lot of smart people who could analyze data and know how to use social media to help our clients help their clients. But I think what I bring to the table is being able to take some of their ideas that aren’t out there already, implement those, and bring some new ideas to the table.

What are some of your general responsibilities as lead developer?

We have some exciting things in the works. We have been doing some Facebook development for our clients, working on some Facebook connect type stuff to further expand within the Facebook shell. We like Foursquare and are trying to utilize where it is going.

How does your Web development background fit into what Catchfire is trying to do?

The technical side just lets us come up with ideas for clients and just dream. Maybe we can do this, or maybe we can do that. If you don’t have somebody like me in your agency, you have to look for what is already out there. We can dream bigger because we can implement it in house if it doesn’t exist. I’m another tool in Catchfire’s toolbox.

Do you have a good example of a way your skills have been used?

We were the social media sponsor for (the Iowa Association of Business and Industry’s) conference a couple of weeks ago, and so we were able to quickly develop a little website that aggregated a bunch of Twitter comments and Twitpic stuff all onto a display that people walking around could check out and see what comments were being made about the conference in real time.

What would you say is your biggest challenge in this role?

Social media is a newer field, and it is a developing field, so you always have new things to learn. But that is also kind of what draws me to it. It is not stagnant and you are always learning new things, and I think that is one of my strong suits, too.

What is your main goal for your time here as lead developer?

I’m excited about where we are going, and I think I joined the company because I saw the ownership as really having a passion for it, and seeing the other team members having passion for helping our clients. And my goal is for us to be the best social media company in Des Moines.

What kind of advantage is it for a social media consultant agency like Catchfire to have Web development capabilities?

You are not limited to what is out there for one. People can analyze Facebook, but when you have someone that can develop things you can expand upon your basic Facebook page or a tab or a Twitter account. You can take the application programming interfaces that those services already provide and make brand-new things.

What is your one escape from work?

I rock climb, I’m an original member at Climb Iowa up north of Des Moines. I ride my motorcycle a lot; it has been pretty much my only transportation this summer. A buddy of mine and I started the Des Moines Web Geeks. They have kind of grown beyond us, but I stay involved with the Social Media Club and the little communities within Des Moines.