Linda Zimmer
I’m currently (since 1999) immersed in being co-founder and CEO of MarCom:Interactive, a modern media communications company. We do our utmost to help people working inside organizations gain a deep understanding of the way individuals interact with new and emerging media; and to assist them in re-shaping their communications - and their mindset - to live in modern media.
I’ve been occupied with computers since 1981 and actively online since 1983. In that realm, I’ve had a lot of identities. I founded a networking company and then one of the first Internet consultancies. For business clients, I've produced (some of the earliest) websites, e-commerce sites, and audio and video webcasts, including most ironically for me, the RIAA’s webcast announcing the SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative) in 1998. I’ve taught a variety of college technology courses in the evenings and developed technology curriculum as a consultant for a California state university. I’ve written a textbook on business computing, edited a few others, and I’ve authored and edited several technology and communications publications. I consulted with many major PR and advertising agencies on developing their interactive practices and online initiatives.
Today, I’m deeply involved in helping people (organizations of them) re-imagine their communications in the context of modern media.
While networks, and in particular, the Internet are the pivotal developments of modern communications, their contribution is, fundamentally, the shifting of the way individuals interact; and they are the framework in which “media” is being re-defined. Networks and the Internet are driving many innovations that collectively make up the realm of “modern media.” Modern media is more inclusive than, yet heavily dependent upon, networks.
I have been profoundly moved by the people and the culture that exist within the connections of networks and the Internet. I’ve had the privilege of living online during these modern times and because of it, both watching and participating in many of the world’s most exciting events and most horrendous tragedies. I’ve been at once swept up in this particular turning point in the evolution of human communication, and an observer of it.
I share my assortment of knowledge and experience of the connected world and the technology that drives it, through consulting, writing, speaking - largely with those venturing into connected initiatives, or moving into the modern business world, as they tend to have the most open minds and the most fertile imaginations. It also seemed to be an efficient way to help the communications evolution along. It surely teaches me a lot about the practical realities of evolving business understanding toward modern media.
Of late, I’m spending more time with those living in the old business world who are trying to catch up and understand.
