Front-end Web Designer and Developer

My name is Michael W. Reeps and I am the director of web design and development for RedWeek.com, the largest online marketplace for by-owner timeshare rentals and resales. I work as part of a distributed team, which includes members of the original Classmates.com, and am responsible for all of the front-end design and development, back-end code integration, online marketing, search engine optimization, social media, blogging, and much more.

In a typical day I might slice up a new PPC landing page from a .psd I've designed, track down a javascript bug, build the corporate newsletter, A/B test a new site feature, generate a year-over-year revenue analysis with Google Analytics, add some Facebook updates, or write a new blog entry. I get to wear a lot of hats in my position, and wouldn't have it any other way.

We support a lot of legacy browsers (IE6/7, AOL, etc.), due to the demographic in timeshare, and continue to serve XHTML transitional. I am keeping my HTML5/CSS3 skills sharp, however. As a formally trained graphic designer who worked in print prior to switching to the web, I find things like @font-faces, box-shadows, and background gradients very welcome additions. As a coder, I am really excited to see the move towards a more semantic HTML and the explosion in popularity of unobtrusive javascript design patterns using libraries like jQuery, which I have been using since version 1.0.

I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with my wife and daughter. I love to cook, play the guitar, and spend time with my family.