Austin Heap
Technologist
- e: me@austinheap.com
- w: austinheap.com
- p: (415) 830-3320
Biography
Austin Heap is an entrepreneur, technologist and activist whose work centers on developing Internet-based technologies to facilitate the rapid transfer of knowledge between people, groups, and organizations. He is the recipient of the First Amendment Coalition Beacon award, runner-up in the Huffington Post Political 2010 Game Changer competition, and a finalist in the 2010 WeMedia awards. Prior to establishing the CRC, Mr. Heap was a Chief Technology Officer at an Internet firm serving Fortune 500 companies where he developed technologies that simultaneously optimized users’ networking and personalization within and between online communities and organizations. Mr. Heap has also been involved in the creation of social media applications. He holds a B.S. from Bentley College.
Work Experience
Jul 2008 - Present
Executive Director
Censorship Research Center, Full-Time
- Assure that the organization has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress.
- Provide leadership in developing program, organizational and financial plans with the Board of Directors and staff, and carry out plans and policies authorized by the board.
- Promote active and broad participation by volunteers in all areas of the organization's work.
- Help maintain official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
- Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in the field.
- Work with the Director of Technology to develop new anti-censorship strategies and techniques.
May 2008 - Sep 2009
IT Director
New America Media, Full-Time
- Seamlessly transitioned all critical communication channels away from vendor solutions to modern, in-house systems – saving tens of thousands of dollars annually.
- Built and administered a cluster of redundant servers to handle web, database, and maintenance tasks.
- Overhauled an outdated web publishing package with an extendable and scalable platform.
- Designed and produced training documentation for staff to ensure a smooth roll out of major upgrades.
- Provided day-to-day technical support for the organization and managed internal network services.
Mar 2004 - Dec 2007
Chief Technology Officer
Zocalo, Full-Time
- Led a multi-disciplinary team through the development of a high-integration social networking and collaboration platform.
- Consulted with vendors in the value chain to understand requirements and develop a technical solution.
- Designed a method of data processing to bring greater understanding of user generated content to social media companies.
- Spearheaded the development, testing, and implementation of multiple interfaces for end-users on all customer-facing interactions including one of the largest media buyers in North America.
- Developed the strategic foundation for all technology solutions inside the organization.
Sep 2002 - Dec 2003
Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Bentley College, Part-Time
- Provided operational support to the department’s leading administrators.
- Conceptualized natural-feeling facilitator-participant interaction.
- Organized and directed hundreds of real-time virtual lectures.
- Administered over 1,200 student accounts on the Centra™ platform.
- Gained valuable knowledge of working effectively in virtual environments.
Apr 2000 - Feb 2004
Founder
New-Wave Networks, Part-Time
- Developed and launched four music entertainment sites.
- Built a system for aggregating, forecasting, and budgeting Internet-based affiliate partnerships and revenues.
- Directly contributed in the development and management of numerous Open Source projects.
- Developed and maintained over thirty code libraries released under the GPL.
- Constructed a complete platform for e-commerce.
Accolades
1996 - 2010
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, PBS, NPR, Fox News, BBC, Salon, One World, Rumpus, SF Chronicle, Alternet, USA Today, The OC Register, GOOD Magazine, Bentley Global Perspectives, National Business News Network, Alternerbeit, Intern, Giga, Yahoo! Business News, Spark PR, Wired News, Wired Magazine, MacWorld, Teen People, React Magazine, USJ Business News, FamilyPC, The Columbus Dispatch, YoungBiz Magazine, Scoop
Technical Skills
Expert, 15 years
UI Design & Development
Expert developer in (X)HTML & CSS, strong familiarity with majority of JS frameworks (Mootools, Prototype, jQuery etc). Advanced developer using UML, XML-based visual languages, wireframes, and Photoshop.
Expert, 13 years
Software Engineering
Extremely proficient in the three latest major revisions (3/4/5) of PHP including various MVC frameworks or 'rails'. Expert in
Expert, 17 years
Mac OS, Apple Hardware
From Mac OS 7 (yup) to current versions of OS X and OS X server. Experience developing for iPhone and Desktop versions of darwin.
Advanced, 13 years
Start-up Management
Helping take great ideas to the places through thoughtful planning. From social media to mobile startups.
Education
Bentley University
Bachelors of Science, Marketing – May 2006
Recipient of Leadership Award from The Young Alumni Association.