Mr. Jeff Stenger

Jeffrey D. StengerVice President of DevelopmentMr. Stenger leads the software development efforts at St. Croix Systems.Prior to his appointment to this role he was the chief technology officer at I-Vantage Inc., where he managed the design of web-based and pocket PC-based information systems for two leading healthcare clients, Baxter International's Fenwal division and GE Medical Systems.Prior to I-Vantage, he founded and served as president for Dabble Communications Inc., a custom software development firm.Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and master's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jeff Stenger, Vice President of Development

Jeff Stenger is the President and founder of Dabble Communications Inc., a Chicago-based custom software development firm.Jeff has managed several projects involving offshore programming teams.He can be reached at jeff@dabble.com.

Jeff Stenger

Jeff Stenger is the President and founder of Dabble.Jeff serves as project manager, software designer, and programmer.He has a unique combination of technical, business, and interpersonal skills as evidenced by his background in both computer science and social work.Prior to forming Dabble in 1997, Jeff worked for a non-profit software venture Child and Family ProFile where he supervised a team of programmers and led the development of technical standards.In prior positions, Jeff served as a computer programmer, network administrator, personal computer support person, software trainer, network architect, and information systems manager.

In 1990, Jeff received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering/Computer Science from the University of Illinois in Urbana.Between 1990 and 1993, Jeff worked for Discover Card Services as a systems programmer.After leaving Discover Card to pursue a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago, Jeff continued to work part-time for Discover Card as one of their first remote programmers/project managers.In total, Jeff has thirteen years of experience in the software field.

"Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or doing it better."

Jeff Stenger said he has no trouble getting his 15 team members in Hyderabad, India to show up for work on time.He said they do just about anything he requests and they do it well.Some have canceled vacations, worked all weekend and done whatever it takes to get the job done.

When Mr. Stenger, who helped lead the company's venture in India, thanks his Indian workers for working hard or doing a particularly good job, he said they often respond with a simple phrase, "It's my duty."

He said he sometimes feels uncomfortable about how hard his Indian team members work and strives to work as hard as they do.

Mr. Stenger said the working relationship with his offshore colleagues is so strong that his only big obstacle is convincing the Indian workers that they should criticize projects or ideas that they believe to lack merit.

Mr. Stenger said St. Croix, based in Watertown, MA, depends on a free and open exchange of ideas and opinions and he said he wants all team members to view projects critically and point out shortcomings.

"The teams in India are so eager to please and afraid to criticize," Mr. Stenger said.

With assistance from i-Vantage, a service provider that handles training and human resources issues for St. Croix in India, Mr. Stenger said he believes his team members are learning to become more assertive.

"We are trying to help them understand that we value and appreciate their input," Mr. Stenger said."It is much better than it used to be."

--> TIP #1.For better or worse, Indian techies are becoming more westernized -- in some ways -- every year.

For a few years, Mr. Stenger said any new people who were hired to work with St. Croix in India were given a form of assertiveness training."In India, there is a strong culture of being eager to please and a strong work ethic," he said.

St. Croix has stopped using the assertiveness training because Mr. Stenger said young Indians have been immersed in American culture through movies and television and are starting to become more assertive."And they are becoming more and more westernized every year," he said."Working with people from the U.S. and Europe has become commonplace, so most people are familiar with the process or work with others that are familiar with it."

I-Vantage does help its Indian staff with accent training."All of our developers have been through accent training to help them verbally communicate with their colleagues in the US," Mr. Stenger said.

In addition to handling the accent training, Mr. Stenger said i-Vantage also manages St. Croix's facilities, hires workers, conducts performance evaluations and handles payroll.The US liaison operation of i-Vantage has also shared office space with St. Croix.

Founded in 1993, St. Croix develops clinical engineering and maintenance management software and launched its software development center in India in 2002 as a cost-savings measure.

Mr. Stenger joined St. Croix just before the Indian facility opened.Before joining St. Croix, Mr. Stenger had been the president of a Chicago-based company he founded that developed custom software.

He had managed several projects involving offshore programming teams.His prior experience involved using foreign workers for programming only.He argues that it is critical for software design -- what he calls the most important part of any project -- to be handled by US-based designers who work closely with clients.

"The communication, cultural and distance challenges would make it very difficult for an offshore team from India or Eastern Europe to design a software application for a US client," he said.

In some ways, however, Mr. Stenger said having offshore programmers is really no different than having them "across the hall."

--> TIP #2.Plan to spend a greater amount of time in the design phase of your project when using offshore programmers.

"In both situations, it pays to have a thorough design with meticulous attention to detail.Well written, comprehensive documentation, a technical architecture developed by an experienced engineers and client-reviewed mock-ups lead to efficient software development," he said.

With offshore programmers, Mr. Stenger said, it is even more important to ensure that the design phase of a project receives strong attention."Short-changing the design phase is likely to have a larger negative impact on offshore development projects than on projects where the entire team is in one location," he said.

He offered an example: "If I'm managing a software project with an on-site programming team and I neglect to document the functionality of a button, the programmer can [walk over and] say, ‘Hey, Jeff, how is this button supposed to work?'"

With programmers around the world, the oversight will surely cause a more lengthy delay in development.

St. Croix, he said, entered its Indian partnership with its technical issues well developed and strongly documented.

He said the entire St. Croix experience in India has been incredibly positive from both a financial as well as a human relations perspective.

He said he considers all 15 team members in India to be his friends."I have definitely gotten to know all of them.Our team has become a small family," he said.

Mr. Stenger has traveled to India to work with his team members, but most of their communication has been over the Internet.

--> TIP #3.Don't rely on the phone.

Mr. Stenger and his Indian co-workers occasionally talk by phone.But the connections are often bad and, at times, he said it is sometimes difficult to understand his team members because of their accents.

Instead of relying on the often-frustrating phone calls as their primary method of communication, Mr. Stenger said he and his team members now use Yahoo Messenger."This really helps cutting through the accents," Mr. Stenger said.

Because he is what he called a "night person," Mr. Stenger said he is able to chat with his programmers when they arrive in the morning.During daylight savings time, when it is 9:30 a.m. in India, it is 10 p.m. for Mr. Stenger at his home office in Chicago.He said he is sometimes able to chat with his team members in the morning when those workers are at the end of their days.

--> TIP #4.Lay out specific protocols for written communications.

He said all of his team members speak English, but from time to time, he said he has noticed that they don't all write it with great proficiency.

Laughing, he recalled an error message written by one of his Indian programmers: "You MUST enter string for search."

After this, he said he learned that it's not a good idea for the Indian programmers to write error messages.Instead, he said, St. Croix has developed strict protocol for error messages and closely oversees any writing that programmers do.
...
Mr. Stenger said he believes that writing English properly is a widespread problem throughout India."When we have been hiring and looking at resumes, we have noticed a lot of typos on resumes -- they call them CVs.It mystifies me.I just don't get it.They will be filled with grammar errors."

Mr. Stenger said the errors on resumes definitely give him pause when making hiring decisions."What you do is look for those that are better than the others.But there are errors on almost every single resume," he said.

--> TIP #5.Expect to add some new expressions to your American vernacular.

Mr. Stenger said he has adopted some Indian phrases himself:
...
Mr. Stenger said in the seven years that he has been working with offshore teams, he has come to appreciate the value that can come from the partnerships -- personal bonds, financial gains and technological excellence.

But he cautioned, "There are a lot of failed offshore development projects.

Jeff Stenger said he has no trouble getting his 15 team members in Hyderabad, India to show up for work on time. He said they do just about anything he requests and they do it well. Some have canceled vacations, worked all weekend and done whatever it takes to get the job done.

When Mr. Stenger, who helped lead the company's venture in India, thanks his Indian workers for working hard or doing a particularly good job, he said they often respond with a simple phrase, "It's my duty."

He said he sometimes feels uncomfortable about how hard his Indian team members work and strives to work as hard as they do.

Mr. Stenger said the working relationship with his offshore colleagues is so strong that his only big obstacle is convincing the Indian workers that they should criticize projects or ideas that they believe to lack merit.

Mr. Stenger said St. Croix, based in Watertown, MA, depends on a free and open exchange of ideas and opinions and he said he wants all team members to view projects critically and point out shortcomings.

"The teams in India are so eager to please and afraid to criticize," Mr. Stenger said.

With assistance from i-Vantage, a service provider that handles training and human resources issues for St. Croix in India, Mr. Stenger said he believes his team members are learning to become more assertive.

"We are trying to help them understand that we value and appreciate their input," Mr. Stenger said. "It is much better than it used to be."

--> TIP #1. For better or worse, Indian techies are becoming more westernized -- in some ways -- every year.

For a few years, Mr. Stenger said any new people who were hired to work with St. Croix in India were given a form of assertiveness training. "In India, there is a strong culture of being eager to please and a strong work ethic," he said.

St. Croix has stopped using the assertiveness training because Mr. Stenger said young Indians have been immersed in American culture through movies and television and are starting to become more assertive. "And they are becoming more and more westernized every year," he said. "Working with people from the U.S. and Europe has become commonplace, so most people are familiar with the process or work with others that are familiar with it."

I-Vantage does help its Indian staff with accent training. "All of our developers have been through accent training to help them verbally communicate with their colleagues in the US," Mr. Stenger said.

In addition to handling the accent training, Mr. Stenger said i-Vantage also manages St. Croix's facilities, hires workers, conducts performance evaluations and handles payroll. The US liaison operation of i-Vantage has also shared office space with St. Croix.

Founded in 1993, St. Croix develops clinical engineering and maintenance management software and launched its software development center in India in 2002 as a cost-savings measure.

Mr. Stenger joined St. Croix just before the Indian facility opened. Before joining St. Croix, Mr. Stenger had been the president of a Chicago-based company he founded that developed custom software.

He had managed several projects involving offshore programming teams. His prior experience involved using foreign workers for programming only. He argues that it is critical for software design -- what he calls the most important part of any project -- to be handled by US-based designers who work closely with clients.

"The communication, cultural and distance challenges would make it very difficult for an offshore team from India or Eastern Europe to design a software application for a US client," he said.

In some ways, however, Mr. Stenger said having offshore programmers is really no different than having them "across the hall."
...
With offshore programmers, Mr. Stenger said, it is even more important to ensure that the design phase of a project receives strong attention. "Short-changing the design phase is likely to have a larger negative impact on offshore development projects than on projects where the entire team is in one location," he said.

He offered an example: "If I'm managing a software project with an on-site programming team and I neglect to document the functionality of a button, the programmer can [walk over and] say, 'Hey, Jeff, how is this button supposed to work?'"
...
Mr. Stenger has traveled to India to work with his team members, but most of their communication has been over the Internet.

--> TIP #3. Don't rely on the phone.

Mr. Stenger and his Indian co-workers occasionally talk by phone. But the connections are often bad and, at times, he said it is sometimes difficult to understand his team members because of their accents.

Instead of relying on the often-frustrating phone calls as their primary method of communication, Mr. Stenger said he and his team members now use Yahoo Messenger. "This really helps cutting through the accents," Mr. Stenger said.

Because he is what he called a "night person," Mr. Stenger said he is able to chat with his programmers when they arrive in the morning. During daylight savings time, when it is 9:30 a.m. in India, it is 10 p.m. for Mr. Stenger at his home office in Chicago. He said he is sometimes able to chat with his team members in the morning when those workers are at the end of their days.
...
Mr. Stenger said he believes that writing English properly is a widespread problem throughout India. "When we have been hiring and looking at resumes, we have noticed a lot of typos on resumes -- they call them CVs. It mystifies me. I just don't get it. They will be filled with grammar errors."

Mr. Stenger said the errors on resumes definitely give him pause when making hiring decisions. "What you do is look for those that are better than the others. But there are errors on almost every single resume," he said.

--> TIP #5. Expect to add some new expressions to your American vernacular.

Mr. Stenger said he has adopted some Indian phrases himself:
...
Mr. Stenger said in the seven years that he has been working with offshore teams, he has come to appreciate the value that can come from the partnerships -- personal bonds, financial gains and technological excellence.

But he cautioned, "There are a lot of failed offshore development projects.

Dabble -- Jeff Stenger The link between job-hunting and real estate Job hunting on the Internet Real estate needs associated with the consulting business
...
Jeff Stenger (Home Page) -- from Chicago
...
Jeff Stenger -- Hello.I'm an intranet/Internet software development consultant in Chicago.

Bob Zwick -- Jeff, Interesting name "Dabble" how did you come to choose it ?
...
Jeff Stenger -- It's easy to remember, easy to spell, it's tongue-in-cheek, it had a .com available, it's relatively high in the alphabet.

Bob Zwick -- Jeff - interesting how search engines are a determining factor in naming businesses today.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I second the thought that networking is the key.

...
Jeff Stenger -- I'm excited to see Kaye's success with Internet job finding.

Jeff Stenger -- Everyone - Can you recommend any good books on running a consulting business?
...
Jeff Stenger -- As far as web sites go, the only one I can think of right now is Janet Ruhl's site.It provides a lot of information about consultant's rates as well as other stuff.Look it up on Yahoo.

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- where at Yahoo? (I sometimes get lost in the maze of cascading menus there.) Thanks.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - just search on "Janet Ruhl"
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what do you think about the "business" end of consulting vs. the technical end (doing the work).
...
Richard Seltzer -- Bob and Jeff -- about how much of your work week is spent in activities that directly generate revenue? about how much in promotion, proposals, trying to sell yourself? about how much in general overhead activity?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, at least half my time so far has been overhead.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I started a referral program that is beginning to reap some rewards.If a person gives me a lead that turns into business, I pay the person 10 - 12% of the revenue for the first six months working for the client.Has anyone else tried this?

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- a referral program sounds like a good idea.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, I've established contractual relationships with three or four people that I know.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - What do you plan to focus on?
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- My main focus is business on the Internet -- not the technical side, but the people and business model side.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- with my non-technical emphasis, I believe that I could work in conjunction with technical folks in helping companies put together successful Web sites.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - Do you have some potential clients in mind?
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- I have a couple of quick projects that I expect to get started on next week.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, do you have employees or are you planning to move in that direction?
...
Bob Zwick -- Jeff - I have no one on a payroll but frequently sub-contract work for various projects.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob - I do the same -- subcontracting.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, maybe I missed this, but how long have you been consulting?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what was your experience getting established as a consultant?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob - The obvious questions -- What is the wrong kind of networking?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, I'm glad to hear you say that about the professional association.
...
Dabble -- Jeff Stenger

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- What's your specialty, main area of interest?
...
Jeff Stenger -- I basically serve as a technical project manager and programmer.I do a variety of software development from database-enabled web sites to traditional client/server development.I often work with other independent consultants or small companies.

Jeff Stenger -- Richard -- For me, joining the Association of Internet Professionals has been extremely valuable.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- What's the URL for the Association of Internet Professionals?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard -- it's http://www.association.org/
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff, did you dive in all at once or go through a transition? and as you built your client base, what worked best/worst?
...
Jeff Stenger -- I took a salaried job that was four days per week to get started.After one year, I transitioned to being a two or three day consultant for my former employer.I just made that transition about four months ago and I'm working on getting down to one day or so with my former employer.It was slow going at first until I got a few clients.I spent alot of time reading business and technical books and laying the foundation.For instance, I got my accounting system set up, got incorporated, did a lot of networking, etc.

...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- That gradual approach definitely sounds good.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - Whoa, that kind of sucks.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- I do have some of the rudiments set up.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, do you mean job hunting as in employment or as in contractual job?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, have you tried DejaNews?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, you mentioned temporary office space.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- that's a good question.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what is an "executive suite?"
...
Bob Zwick -- Jeff - check the business rental or lease section of the newspapers or look for "Executive Suites" in the yellow pages.
...
Bill Wendel -- Jeff, HQ (Headquarters) is big in the New England.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, thanks for the HQ idea.

...
Jeff Stenger -- Len, how did you make the transition to consulting?
...
Len Segal -- Jeff, easy . . . DEC laid me off!!
...
Jeff Stenger -- Len, that'll do it.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, I could go for more discussion.
...
Jeff Stenger, Dabble Communications, Inc. http://www.dabble.com/ jeff@dabble.com

Dabble -- Jeff Stenger
...
Jeff Stenger (Home Page) -- from Chicago
...
Jeff Stenger -- Hello.I'm an intranet/Internet software development consultant in Chicago.

Bob Zwick -- Jeff, Interesting name "Dabble" how did you come to choose it ?
...
Jeff Stenger -- It's easy to remember, easy to spell, it's tongue-in-cheek, it had a .com available, it's relatively high in the alphabet.

Bob Zwick -- Jeff - interesting how search engines are a determining factor in naming businesses today.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I second the thought that networking is the key.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I'm excited to see Kaye's success with Internet job finding.

Jeff Stenger -- Everyone - Can you recommend any good books on running a consulting business?
...
Jeff Stenger -- As far as web sites go, the only one I can think of right now is Janet Ruhl's site.It provides a lot of information about consultant's rates as well as other stuff.Look it up on Yahoo.

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- where at Yahoo? (I sometimes get lost in the maze of cascading menus there.) Thanks.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - just search on "Janet Ruhl"
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what do you think about the "business" end of consulting vs. the technical end (doing the work).
...
Richard Seltzer -- Bob and Jeff -- about how much of your work week is spent in activities that directly generate revenue? about how much in promotion, proposals, trying to sell yourself? about how much in general overhead activity?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, at least half my time so far has been overhead.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I started a referral program that is beginning to reap some rewards.If a person gives me a lead that turns into business, I pay the person 10 - 12% of the revenue for the first six months working for the client.Has anyone else tried this?

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- a referral program sounds like a good idea.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, I've established contractual relationships with three or four people that I know.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - What do you plan to focus on?
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- My main focus is business on the Internet -- not the technical side, but the people and business model side.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- with my non-technical emphasis, I believe that I could work in conjunction with technical folks in helping companies put together successful Web sites.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - Do you have some potential clients in mind?
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- I have a couple of quick projects that I expect to get started on next week.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, do you have employees or are you planning to move in that direction?
...
Bob Zwick -- Jeff - I have no one on a payroll but frequently sub-contract work for various projects.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob - I do the same -- subcontracting.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, maybe I missed this, but how long have you been consulting?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what was your experience getting established as a consultant?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob - The obvious questions -- What is the wrong kind of networking?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, I'm glad to hear you say that about the professional association.
...
Dabble -- Jeff Stenger

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- What's your specialty, main area of interest?
...
Jeff Stenger -- I basically serve as a technical project manager and programmer.I do a variety of software development from database-enabled web sites to traditional client/server development.I often work with other independent consultants or small companies.

Jeff Stenger -- Richard -- For me, joining the Association of Internet Professionals has been extremely valuable.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- What's the URL for the Association of Internet Professionals?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard -- it's http://www.association.org
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff, did you dive in all at once or go through a transition? and as you built your client base, what worked best/worst?
...
Jeff Stenger -- I took a salaried job that was four days per week to get started.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- That gradual approach definitely sounds good.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - Whoa, that kind of sucks.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- I do have some of the rudiments set up.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, do you mean job hunting as in employment or as in contractual job?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, have you tried DejaNews?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, you mentioned temporary office space.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- that's a good question.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what is an "executive suite?"
...
Bob Zwick -- Jeff - check the business rental or lease section of the newspapers or look for "Executive Suites" in the yellow pages.
...
Bill Wendel -- Jeff, HQ (Headquarters) is big in the New England.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, thanks for the HQ idea.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Len, how did you make the transition to consulting?
...
Len Segal -- Jeff, easy . . . DEC laid me off!!
...
Jeff Stenger -- Len, that'll do it.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, I could go for more discussion.
...
Jeff Stenger, Dabble Communications, Inc. http://www.dabble.com jeff@dabble.com

Dabble -- Jeff Stenger
...
Jeff Stenger (Home Page) -- from Chicago
...
Jeff Stenger -- Hello.I'm an intranet/Internet software development consultant in Chicago.

Bob Zwick -- Jeff, Interesting name "Dabble" how did you come to choose it ?
...
Jeff Stenger -- It's easy to remember, easy to spell, it's tongue-in-cheek, it had a .com available, it's relatively high in the alphabet.

Bob Zwick -- Jeff - interesting how search engines are a determining factor in naming businesses today.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I second the thought that networking is the key.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I'm excited to see Kaye's success with Internet job finding.

Jeff Stenger -- Everyone - Can you recommend any good books on running a consulting business?
...
Jeff Stenger -- As far as web sites go, the only one I can think of right now is Janet Ruhl's site.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- where at Yahoo? (I sometimes get lost in the maze of cascading menus there.) Thanks.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - just search on "Janet Ruhl"
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what do you think about the "business" end of consulting vs. the technical end (doing the work).
...
Richard Seltzer -- Bob and Jeff -- about how much of your work week is spent in activities that directly generate revenue? about how much in promotion, proposals, trying to sell yourself? about how much in general overhead activity?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, at least half my time so far has been overhead.
...
Jeff Stenger -- I started a referral program that is beginning to reap some rewards.If a person gives me a lead that turns into business, I pay the person 10 - 12% of the revenue for the first six months working for the client.Has anyone else tried this?

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- a referral program sounds like a good idea.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, I've established contractual relationships with three or four people that I know.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - What do you plan to focus on?
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- My main focus is business on the Internet -- not the technical side, but the people and business model side.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- with my non-technical emphasis, I believe that I could work in conjunction with technical folks in helping companies put together successful Web sites.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - Do you have some potential clients in mind?
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- I have a couple of quick projects that I expect to get started on next week.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, do you have employees or are you planning to move in that direction?
...
Bob Zwick -- Jeff - I have no one on a payroll but frequently sub-contract work for various projects.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob - I do the same -- subcontracting.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, maybe I missed this, but how long have you been consulting?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what was your experience getting established as a consultant?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob - The obvious questions -- What is the wrong kind of networking?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, I'm glad to hear you say that about the professional association.
...
Dabble -- Jeff Stenger

Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- What's your specialty, main area of interest?
...
Jeff Stenger -- I basically serve as a technical project manager and programmer.I do a variety of software development from database-enabled web sites to traditional client/server development.I often work with other independent consultants or small companies.

Jeff Stenger -- Richard -- For me, joining the Association of Internet Professionals has been extremely valuable.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- What's the URL for the Association of Internet Professionals?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard -- it's http://www.association.org
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff, did you dive in all at once or go through a transition? and as you built your client base, what worked best/worst?
...
Jeff Stenger -- I took a salaried job that was four days per week to get started.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- That gradual approach definitely sounds good.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard - Whoa, that kind of sucks.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- I do have some of the rudiments set up.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, do you mean job hunting as in employment or as in contractual job?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, have you tried DejaNews?
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, you mentioned temporary office space.
...
Richard Seltzer -- Jeff -- that's a good question.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bob, what is an "executive suite?"
...
Bob Zwick -- Jeff - check the business rental or lease section of the newspapers or look for "Executive Suites" in the yellow pages.
...
Bill Wendel -- Jeff, HQ (Headquarters) is big in the New England.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Bill, thanks for the HQ idea.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Len, how did you make the transition to consulting?
...
Len Segal -- Jeff, easy . . . DEC laid me off!!
...
Jeff Stenger -- Len, that'll do it.
...
Jeff Stenger -- Richard, I could go for more discussion.
...
Jeff Stenger, Dabble Communications, Inc. http://www.dabble.com jeff@dabble.com

Jeff Stenger, Chief Technology Officer

Jeff Stenger, Chief Technology Officer for i-Vantage, has over fourteen years of software development experience.Prior to joining i-Vantage, Mr. Stenger ran his own consulting business, which developed custom database applications using offshore programming teams.He has served as a team leader for a software company, a technology director for a social service organization, and a programmer/analyst for a credit card company.Mr. Stenger is a PMI certified Project Management Professional and a Computer Science graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana.