It's Time To Meet Nate Flannery...

Sept. 15, 2008

-- posted by Nate Flannery, Director of New Media and Technology

HoriZONE fans... it's time to get to know Nate Flannery. Don't worry... only one third-person reference allowed per blog post, so I got it out of the way early. I hope this is half as entertaining as Stephanie Jarvis' post last week...

What do I do?

I've been here at the Horizon League office for three years now. I'm on my third different job title and third different office. So, I guess change is my forte. My newest title is Director of New Media and Technology, which probably doesn't tell you much about what I do day-to-day. The main item that consumes 90% of my time is the Horizon League Network. With the move to our own platform before the 2007-08 athletic season, the majority of the work is now in-house rather than out-sourced to a provider. This is great for us because we now have total control and can make HLN as unique as we want. If you aren't already registered, you should go do that now before you read the rest of this blog. It takes 30 seconds and is FREE!!!

I'm also the office "computer geek," which has its pros and cons. It's nice to be able to help people out, but, as I tell people here, 99% of all computer problems are user error not a technical issue.

I'd say the most exciting part of my job is finding new technologies that can benefit the league. With the world of Web 2.0, the ability for the League to communicate with its fans has greatly increased. It's my job to find the ways the League can capitalize on these new forms of communication.

Who am I?

As you probably wouldn't expect, I hold a history degree from Indiana University. I find it hilarious that my college studies had nothing to do with what I do now. I spent the majority of my time in college reading and writing about events that happened hundreds and even thousands of years ago.

I am married and have one son. Well, it's a dog, but he might as well be human with the way he acts. Dave is a 70-pound monster that is completely deaf. Most of the time it's great he can't hear, because he sleeps through just about everything and never goes crazy when another dog is barking.

I'm a Chicago fan... Bears, Bulls, Cubs and Blackhawks. Big Z gave all of us Cubbies fans something to cheer about last night as he mowed down the Astros with ease. I guess he was making up for the fact Ron Turner decided to help out the Panthers and lose the game for the Bears earlier in the day. No, I'm not bitter at all!!

When I'm not at the office, I'm usually exercising. I've been an athlete my entire life and still play competitive roller hockey for the Indiana Mission Kodiaks.