Saludos de New Mexico!

My name is Jeffery Abbott (Jeff for short) and I live in the state of New Mexico in the United States of America. My FAS username is jdabbott5100 and my IRC alias will be #jdabbott5100 (although I have yet to sign on yet).

I learned about the Fedora Marketing team by reading the How do you Fedora? feature on the Fedora website, in which one of contributors proclaimed to love the Fedora community. Moved by my own appreciation of Fedora, I too have decided to join and contribute in any way I can. This will be the first Open Source project of which I've officially sought to be a part of.

My Skills, which I hope to utilize in Fedora Marketing, include:

Promotions – I was the assistant director of Circulation and Audience Development for the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper for several years in which I oversaw several promotions to help expand readership.

Writing – I have a bachelors of arts in Literature, with a concentration in Spanish and Latin American literature. I've had several columns in English and articles translated to/from Spanish published in the Santa Fe New Mexican Newspaper. My first writing project out of college was with a small newspaper in Quito, Ecuador where I worked as an intern for several months.

Graphic Design – My three go-to programs are GIMP, Inkscape and Scribus (a great program I don't think is ever mentioned enough). I've created advertisements and promotional materials for both print and web.

Web Design – I am proficient in HTML/CSS. I've also been an avid user of the Drupal Content Management System since 2011.

Currently I work for the Special Education Department for Santa Fe Public Schools as a Coordinator for Parent and Educator Resources. I am incredibly fortunate to be put in a position to support students, teachers and families of students who have special needs. Personally, I have a son who was born with Special Needs, something which has opened my eyes, I feel, to the incredible wonder that it
is to be a sentient human being. In using Fedora and the vast array of Open Source offerings, at work I'm known as the guy capable of doing a lot with little. My heart often breaks when I see such institutions like public schools pay so much money for the licensing of software of which I know there is a perfectly good open source alternative. My chief interest in joining the Fedora Marketing Team is to promote Fedora as a viable alternative for nonprofits and public institutions. I currently use Fedora on an eight year old laptop that was discarded and reported to be “old and broken” but that worked superbly once I put a Fedora Spin of LXDE on it. I've also spent time with my son navigating the joys of Sugar on a Stick.

Being a father of a child with special needs, a husband to my beautiful wife Katia, and a coordinator in the public schools often means I can be a bit busy. I may not be the first to respond to collaboration initiatives but that doesn't mean I won't be paying attention. I'll gladly chime in and contribute whenever possible! :)

Thanks so much for the opportunity and please consider including me on your marketing team!

Kindest regards,

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Jeffery Abbott