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Background information about True Blade's founders.
Robert Burgoyne
Robert has been a computer and technology enthusiast since childhood. He leads True Blade's sales efforts in New York City, develops client websites using Plone, and participates in True Blade's infrastructure support and services projects. He's hands-on and spends a substantial amount of his time working directly with clients. To support Plone, Robert founded the Plone NYC User's group, which he describes in this video.
Prior to founding True Blade, Robert worked in financial services as an investment adviser, where he operated his own RIA practice. Before that he held positions in the sales and management of financial products and services at PaineWebber and a startup mutual fund company. It was in these years that Robert learned about the operational complexities of pooled investment vehicles and developed a keen appreciation for internal control systems and processes in regulated businesses.
Prior to working in finance, Robert got his start in computer consulting and custom software development, including being a member of a team that developed the first highly successful client-server database system for Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), where he met Eric Smith, co-founder of True Blade, in 1993. Robert and Eric have kept in close communication ever since.
Robert also worked on DoD projects developing micro-miniature RADAR systems for the U.S. Army.
Robert holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). UMCP's Physics Department consistently ranks in the top 20 nationwide.
In his free time Robert enjoys exploring New York City and improving his Mandarin Chinese language skills. He travels to Taiwan and China regularly and has many Chinese language associates and friends. Robert's Chinese name is 包若伯。For the holiday season in 2008, Robert created this bilingual Christmas in New York video.
Robert's published articles are:
Improving Plone and Zope Market Acceptance, presented at the Plone 2006 Conference in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Plone: A Web Based System for Knowledge Management, presented at the Society for Applied Learning Technology's August 2006 Conference in Washington, DC, USA.
In 2006 Robert wrote a series of articles for Investment Advisors, including:
Eric V. Smith
Eric specializes in putting a friendly face on Linux server administration, TCP/IP systems implementation and network security. He's also a powerful advocate of the Python programming language, which lead True Blade to embrace Plone as a website and web-application development tool for ourselves and for clients.
Previously Eric worked for the NASDAQ corporation as a consultant for nine years on a variety of projects, including the development and monitoring of the NASDAQ.com website. Before that he worked in various positions doing software development and executive management.
Eric holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, with High Distinction, from the University of Virginia. In his free time Eric enjoys gourmet cooking for his family and playing the guitar. He resides in Kensington, Maryland.