Rich Cherry, Director
The director the Balboa Park Online Collaborative, Rich Cherry formerly was Director of Operations for the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, where he oversaw Information Technology, Operations, Admissions, Facilities, Security, capital projects and more than $70 million in ongoing construction. Before that he was the CIO and Director of Facilities at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, preceded by his tenure as the CIO of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. He has also taught New Media theory, web design and animation in the Media Studies department at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
His experience includes executive management of Information Technology, Web Services, Library Services, Digital Imaging, Museum Admissions, Security, and Facility departments as well as construction. He has initiated, developed funding streams for and implemented significant technology projects in all areas of museum operations, including major network infrastructure upgrades, digitization of collections, and online access to the collection management systems, library catalog, educational material and the archives, as well implementing and integrating retail, financial, visitor and membership management systems.
He is also a board member of the Museum Computer Network, serving as Secretary, on the finance committee, and as chair for marketing and vendor relations. He has been a member of the Program Committee for the Museums and the Web Conference since 2005. He is a founding member of Steve.Museum and serves on the steering committee. In the past, he served on committees such as the WNED Life Long Digital Learning Advisory Committee (www.thinkbright.wned.org), advising the regional PBS affiliate on using digital media for education and as Chair of the Technology Committee for the Art Museum Image Consortium, an organization dedicated to enabling educational use of museum multimedia.
Bill Bostick, Director of Web Development
Bill Bostick has worked in software development for over 25 years. He spent the past five years running RoopleTheme, a private web consulting firm. Bill’s company provided web development services for many companies in the music and entertainment industries, and he has helped develop numerous high profile websites. As an Engineering Manager for Emulex Network Systems, Bill was the lead architect for a patented Storage Area Network management suite that is used extensively by Fortune 500 companies, and he managed the development team that brought this product to market. Bill also served as an IT manager for a prominent Southern California Civil Engineering firm, and he managed the Technical Support team for a large computer hardware manufacturer in Orange County. Bill is an active member of the Drupal community, and his contributed themes and modules are in use on Drupal sites throughout the world.
Erin Chambers Smith, Senior Editor
Erin Chambers Smith to the BPOC team. She will be our content editor and writer for Balboapark.org http://Balboapark.org and will also project manage the website improvements. Erin came to us from Citysearch.com http://Citysearch.com, where she was editor and community manager for the San Diego market. In addition to creating and managing content online for Citysearch, she also managed their broad social media strategy, special events series, and appeared regularly on behalf of Citysearch and San Diego in the media on FOX5, NBC, KUSI, San Diego Magazine, and KPBS 89.5. Her work has also appeared in BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, San Diego Magazine, and MSNBC. Trained as a journalist, she’s stationed in the Hall of Champions with notebook (and iPhone) in hand, excited to cover her new beat: Balboa Park. On a personal note, Erin and her husband Jenner celebrated their wedding in 2008 in the park at the Spanish Village Arts Center, and currently enjoy working on the Craftsman bungalow in Normal Heights they share with their Lab/Shepherd mix, Honey.
Heather Hart, Technical Assistant
As the BPOC technical assistant, Heather combines a can-do attitude with technical and writing skills. In 2007, she graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Print Journalism and Political Science. After walking across Spain, working for an online magazine in Madrid, volunteering for two political campaigns, and providing technical support for a school district, she's back home in her native San Diego and energized about the potential that the BPOC has to change how technology is used in cultural institutions.