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Andrea F. Hill (afhill on most social sites) is passionate about optimizing digital experiences. She also keeps a running blog at www.afhill.com/gothedistance.

I have been working in the IT field since the late ’90s. I purchased the domain afhill.com in 2000, when I was working as a web designer/developer for a small ISP in Edmonton, Canada. Since then it has gone through several iterations as a portfolio, a code and document repository, and now it serves primarily as the home to my two blogs, this one and Go the Distance, a blog dedicated to running/training.

Prior to entering the web development field, I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta in Combined Languages (French and Spanish), with a minor in Linguistics. The intricacies of human language, how we choose to communicate and how our native language influences our world perceptions continue to be areas of interest to me.

I’ve always been interested in the web as a means of communication and community, and many of my earliest activities on the web were what we would now consider aspects of social media. I helped foster online communities by serving as a community leader at Geocities before their 1999 purchase by Yahoo, had a livejournal before they required invite codes, and started a non-profit online magazine in 2000 that shot up to Yahoo Canada site of the week within a month of launch, “just for fun”. As an editor with the Open Directory Project, I was mining the web for sites and categorizing them- social bookmarking in its infancy!

I cultivated my development skills through a combination of work experience and education: I completed a Graphic Design Certificate at Sessions Online School of Design - where my portfolio project continues to be featured on their course description for the Web Portfolio Design course. I also completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Digital Communication and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Franklin University. When possible, I tied together my passions: doing presentations on natural language processing and web accessibility. My capstone presentation was on Web Accessibility for Rich Internet Applications (RIAs).

“Andrea Hill is definitely part of the solution…….Andrea has an impressive set of technical and design skills, combined with impressive abilities to communicate with and motivate others.”
- Rich Miller, Research Scientist at LexisNexis

While in school, I continued to work in the development field. I spent four years in the User Experience department at LexisNexis, a leading global information solutions provider. We developed working HTML/CSS prototypes for usability testing, and provided front-end expertise and guidance to the production development team. In my last year at LexisNexis, I headed up the web accessibility initiative and served on the architecture advisory board and the branding and identity committee.

“I have had the opportunity to work with Andrea on multiple projects for some of the biggest brands in the world. When she speaks up - I listen.”
- Jason Leimgruber, Information Architect at Resource Interactive

After four years in a single organization, I moved to agency life, and took a position at Resource Interactive. My skillset expanded greatly as I worked with some incredible Flash and Flex designers and developers, and became trained in ATG. ATG is a leading eCommerce solutions provider, with a strong focus on personalization. While I enjoyed the amazing work that Resource continues to put forth, I felt that my own path was leading me away from the individual contributor role, into something more strategic.

In the fall of 2008, I joined Worldways Social Marketing as their Director of Social Media and Interactive Technology. This position allows me to share my insights related to social media and online marketing and engagement with a very special segment of the population. The “social marketing” in our company name refers to a more established application of marketing with a goal of achieving behavioral change for social good. Not only is social media as we know it a fascinating new frontier, I am very interested in how we can leverage these tools for significant impact in people’s lives.

Through my decade of experience in the online space, my particular areas of interest have ebbed and flowed. Yet there are a few consistent underlying themes. I have always been interested in interpersonal communication and how we choose to interact. I have always felt that technology was a good medium through which to connect: a means rather than an end. I’ve been interested in the user experience and ensuring equal access for all. I am very user- rather than client-focused. I am interested in user behavior and motivations, and the implications for business, but ultimately I value individuals over entities.

In late 2008, I decided to reposition my blog, and Digital Likeness was born. I do not seek to represent myself as a definitive expert in any single topic, but rather as someone who has a broad view on many topics related to the web and its implications to individuals, businesses and causes.

I may be reached via email at andrea dot hill at gmail dot com