Hi. I’m Ryan Plesko. This is who I am.

Some people just design, some just develop, some just do finance, and some just lead the team.
Not me. I don’t do just one thing; I do a lot of things. I’m an entrepreneur, a designer, a developer, a tech evangelist, and an organizer. I also study marketing, love photography, remodel houses, appreciate architecture, design and build furniture, and read way more than I watch television. I’ve been referred to as a “human Swiss Army Knife.”

This is who I am…

Tech Evangelist.

I function primarily as a marketing strategist and web developer with a concentration on design, user experience, function, content, usability, and search engine optimization. I’m passionate about the things I do and have traveled throughout the nation giving presentations about each of those subjects.

I’m currently the chairman of the Dallas Chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association, a national organization that supports those who promote and advance the development of usable products. Members come from a broad family of disciplines and act as advocates for usability and the user experience. Additionally, I was honored (although slightly nervous) to be asked to redesign the chapter website to better meet the goals of the organization.

In January of 2009 the planning began for the first ever Big (D)esign Conference that was held on May 30th in Dallas, TX. I co-chaired the event which drew nationally known speakers, 517 attendees, and a plethora of praise (alliteration). Pegasus News had a great write up about the event here. You can also check out the photos shot during the day on Flickr, a wonderful video from Jeremy Johnson, or the Twitter stream. I was privileged enough to work with a great team and can’t wait to do it again.

I’m a founding member of The Creative Space, a co-working-inspired space full of tech creatives, developers, and entrepreneurs. We’ve been fortunate enough to get a little press here and there.

We used to drive 100 miles to Houston through rush hour traffic each month to attend Refresh Houston. A couple of those trips inspired us to find a cheaper way to attend the event. The cheaper alternative? Hosting our own! The five Creative Space founders hosted the first RefreshBCS and drew about 50 people. We have since hosted speakers ranging from local talent to heavy hitters such as Amazon and Google, which drew 170 attendees.

On January 26th and 27th of 2008 The Creative Space hosted the second BarCampTexas. Our promotion efforts paid off as nearly 300 people gathered for two days of sharing, networking, and learning. We also received some great press both online and off for our efforts.

Last, but not least, I am the founder of BuildingProcess, a social network & utility that enables efficient communication and connects consumers and home professionals. I put two years into building the service from scratch, performing usability and market testing, writing and revising the business plan, and working towards funding and revenues. And although I don’t spend much time on it, it still receives a fair amount of visitors. I would be more than happy to tell anyone who will listen more about the site.

Web Developer.

English is my first language, but PHP, MySQL, and Javascript are my second, third and fourth. I’ve been laying in bed, dreaming in code, and jumped up and ran to my computer to write the code that solves whatever problem I had left for the next day.

I hand code (standard compliant) XHTML and CSS. I actually cringe a little when I’m at a meetup and someone suggests that I use Dreamweaver for site creation.

I absolutely hate that Internet Explorer 6 & 7 not only render pages differently than all the other browsers, but differently than each other. Is Microsoft doing that just to screw with us? I would think if they were going to go against the grain they would at least keep a straight line. They’re just zig-zagging.

Despite cross browser headaches, I build sites that work on all browsers. I hate going to sites that don’t work in my browser of choice, I don’t want to subject others to the same aggravation.

One of my favorite things to do is to prove people wrong when they say “I don’t think that is possible.” I like challenges, and that is exactly what that sounds like to me.

Web & Print Designer.

I have actually been a web designer longer than I have been a print designer. I designed my first website in 1997 for my high school’s basketball team. The Houston Chronicle featured it in the technology section along side the official NBA and other professional teams’ sites as the best basketball websites on the web. I later started designing print pieces for clients I was designing websites for at the time.

I’m a big fan of Wordpress as a blogging platform and content management system, and I enjoy creating interesting templates and helpful plugins for it.

Even though I think Wordpress is great, sometimes it’s not always the best solution (sorry Matt). But it’s cool; I’ve had a beer with Matt and discussed when it hasn’t been the right choice for the project and he agreed.

Lifelong Student.

I don’t think people should ever stop learning. I read a massive amount of blogs, magazines, and books. I study people and how they interact – both with each other and with the products and services they use. I study not only marketing theory, trends, and forecasts, but also architecture and interior design. Check out my links page to see some of the things I check out on a regular basis.

Plugged In.

I’m an obsessive business networker. Being an extrovert really comes in handy when I’m promoting an event, networking, or discussing the latest technologies. I’ve been involved in podcasts discussing technology utilization to promote organizations, companies, and causes. The technology I love helps me stay plugged in.

Random Stuff.

There has been a blog post going around encouraging people to tell others more about themselves, so if you’ve read everything and still don’t know enough about me, here’s some more.

• I would have been an architect had all this other stuff not come so naturally to me.
• I love modern architecture, but I can appreciate any style if it’s done well.
• I enjoy photography, but I don’t have a camera that produces good pictures anymore, so I am forced to live vicariously through others’ photographs.
• I enjoy remodeling homes and have also built homes for charity in New Orleans and South Texas.
• I’ve built furniture and home accessories (professional quality stuff, not cheesy plywood crap).
• I really enjoy traveling. Las Vegas and New York are my favorite destinations.
• I have a twin sister named Lindsay, and an older sister named Andrea who was born seven years earlier to the day.

Lastly.

You can view my printable resume if you’d like.