Hi, I’m Von
I build marketing technology systems for a living and spend a lot of my free time learning, building, and trying to understand how things work.
I’ve always been fascinated by technology. More than twenty-five years ago I started building websites, running Linux servers out of my house, and teaching myself whatever I could. That curiosity eventually became a career, but it never really stopped being a hobby.
Building Better Systems
The tagline of this site is Building better systems, and I mean that in the broadest sense.
Sometimes that means marketing automation, data, APIs, or WordPress.
Sometimes it means training for a marathon, developing better habits, or finding a simpler way to solve everyday problems.
I’m interested in systems because good systems make difficult things easier.
What you’ll find here
Compass (this site’s code name) is my place to document what I’m learning.
You’ll find articles about:
- Marketing Technology
- AI and automation
- WordPress
- Running and CrossFit
- Books and ideas
- Whatever rabbit hole I’ve wandered into this week
Some posts will be technical.
Some will be personal.
Most will simply be an attempt to capture something I don’t want to forget.
Outside of work
When I’m not working, I’m usually training for something, spending time with my family, or reading about a subject I knew nothing about a week earlier.
I’ve always loved endurance sports because they reward consistency more than talent. The same mindset has shaped my career: keep showing up, keep learning, and keep improving.
Why I write
For years I built websites, wrote articles, and then eventually let them disappear.
One of my biggest regrets is losing that record of what I was learning at different stages of my life.
Compass is my attempt to fix that.
It’s a place to think out loud, document what I’m building, and leave behind something worth looking back on years from now.
If something here helps you solve a problem, teaches you something new, or simply sends you down an interesting path, then it has done exactly what I hoped it would.