HOW I GOT HERE
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A LITTLE PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Harry Peterzell
No, I never worked for a public utility. I learned the basics the hard way - running a small phone-intensive business with little cooperation from the (then) monopoly phone company.
Next I sold telephone systems and various specialized items of telephone equipment, then drifted into consulting when I discovered that whatever shiny new thing I was selling at the moment was less helpful to my customers than a change in the configuration of their telephone systems and a different selection of telephone company services (for which advice the telephone companies didn't think they should pay me a commission).
When I saw that one couldn't be in telephony without also knowing something of computers, I returned to school with classmates mostly younger than my own children and got a degree in data processing.
What was then true of computing is now true of the internet. To keep up, I had to study the World Wide Web, and quickly. I now design and maintain websites. This one is one example of my work. To see others, click on the website samples link.
I have rented my present office since 1978. I have two desktop computers - one in the office and one at home. (And I carry a laptop with a modem when I'm away more than overnight. Since there is no geography in cyberspace, I'm never far from my "office", anywhere in the world I find myself.)
The hardest part of my practice is not doing the work; it's racing to keep up with the constant technology explosion. I spend more time in reading, attending vendor's seminars, browsing trade shows, and speaking to business groups, than in doing billable work. (The speaking gives me a chance to learn about the small business people's concerns by the questions I'm asked.) Want a speaker for your business group's meeting in southern California? Let's talk.
I'm active in professional organizations. That also helps me stay aware of general business trends.
I have worked for clients in manufacturing, retailing, food processing, loan brokerage, clothing design, typesetting, cemetery/mortuary operation, and others.
I've worked for more law offices than any other type of client. I don't know why; perhaps because I refrain from telling lawyer jokes. How many lawyers does it take to resent a lawyer joke? One.
