Mark Lazen
Chief Technology Officer, Social Media Today | @marklazenI'm the CTO at Social Media Today, home of the world's best thinkers on social media.
For fifteen years, I've mashed-up content and technology to deliver great customer experiences in news, gaming, 3-D CAD, interactive television and distance learning.
A one-time writer and editor for Time Inc. and others, I made the new media leap in 1995 when I was selected to spearhead digital product development for Time-Life Books. Two years later, I was in Silicon Valley for a multi-year stint with groundbreaking consumer CAD startup Books That Work. That's where I coded my first data-driven dynamic Web sites.
In 1997 I returned to the east coast to direct online sports development for news aggregator New Century Network and later served as a product and project director for online game company Bottle Rocket. In 2000 I was brought in to the publicly traded interactive television company ACTV to direct product development on top of a massively parallel message distribution system and a browser-based operating system approach that would come to be known as AJAX. My team and our cutting edge toolkit were acquired by Harcourt Inc. in 2005, and I served as the Director of Production for all media and software in the development of a series of distance learning programs.
As a partner at Social Media Today since the company's infancy in 2008, I oversee operations, development, design and editorial strategy. Thanks to an incredible team, the company has grown from two communities to 10, and from 30,000 visits per month to 1.3 million.
When I'm not working, you can find me finger-picking a steel string guitar, or weaving through traffic on my bicycle. I live in Jersey with my wife, in a home overrun by dogs and children.
16 articles by Mark Lazen
-
The 3 Lessons of RebelMouse for Startups
Aug. 23, 2012 -
Facebook and Twitter-Killers No More?
Aug. 14, 2012 -
Pandas, Penguins, and the Murky Line Between Black and White Hat SEO
Aug. 1, 2012 -
About the Malware Warnings Some Visitors are Seeing
May 30, 2012 -
The Facebook Deathwatch: An Easy Prediction
May 30, 2012 -
"Thinking Fast and Slow" for Social Business
May 3, 2012 -
Right-sizing your Social Media Management Process
April 26, 2012 -
Social Media Today: Demanding Credibility in Authorship
April 5, 2012 -
Social Media Today Partners with Tabbed.co to Power Facebook Presence
Jan. 10, 2012 -
Last Chances to Register for Hands-On Social Media Training in New York, Chicago, San Francisco!
Sept. 12, 2011 -
Gigya Arrives on Social Media Today!
July 16, 2011 -
Salon Gets The Energy Collective Wrong
March 16, 2011 -
SAP Wins AMI Partners 2010 Award for Best-in-Class Social Media Marketing on MyVenturePad
Nov. 15, 2010 -
A Clarification from Social Media Today: Zynga, Farmville, and Charitable Giving
March 4, 2010 -
The Facebook Death Watch Begins
May 20, 2009 -
Royal Dutch Shell Speaks Up at The Energy Collective
April 16, 2009