Paul Conner

I began my career as an academic librarian specializing in reference and research services. Not the most glamorous choice, but it was the perfect way to explore the things that mean the most to me: learning as much as I can about the world, sharing what I've learned with others, and helping them do the same. Librarianship also helped me develop some basic technical chops. At a time when libraries made large data sets available through CD-ROM towers, I took a special interest in digital research tools. Among my too-much/too-soon efforts was an early model of a personal research portal, built on a resource-starved iMac running WebSTAR. Librarianship eventually led me to Yale Law School, where I worked on a grant-funded research project and joined a YLS professor in writing a series of peer-reviewed articles in legal history. We shined some light on the development of legal institutions in the early Republic, and I got a taste for writing and publishing.

Changing tack, I moved New York to join the executive team of a small professional publisher, where I oversaw acquisitions and IT while contributing to our marketing efforts and developing manuscripts. I later accepted an invitation to serve as an information technology consultant at Zayed University in Dubai. After returning to the US, I moved to Iowa City, started a family, and joined the proposal-writing team at Pearson plc. There, I wrote and edited high-stakes proposal materials, created a database of boilerplate text for more efficient proposal production, and produced insightful reports each month on the department's performance. My efforts helped our department increase its output by 71%, its win rate by 22%, and the value of its winning proposal submissions by more than $112 million without a change in staffing levels. During my time at Pearson, my wife got a job offer from a newspaper in Grand Cayman. Our older child was ready to start kindergarten, and we thought it was a great time for a little family adventure. So off we went. Some time later, Pearson sought to sell the division in which I worked, and looked for personnel to trim as a way of sweetening the deal. I accepted a buyout and launched my freelance career.

I live in Bainbridge Island, Washington with my wife, two sons, and a large hound named Bubba. Aside from my freelance work, I enjoy woodworking, making music, and fixing stuff. As a teenager, I worked on several home-construction service projects in rural Appalachia, and I've applied what I learned back then to the renovation of two homes, including substantial plumbing, framing, and wiring work. I also like to keep myself honest with an amateur project or two that tests the limits of my competance. I've gotten good at making beer and I'm handy with a soldering iron, but don't look for me on stage with a guitar any time soon.