Welcome to Open Chattanooga

[Tim Moreland]

Go ahead and introduce yourself to the group. Tell us a little bit
about yourself, your interest in open cities / open government and the
skills you have to contribute to the group. I'll start.

My name is Tim Moreland and I am interested in all things technology,
especially as it relates to making the world better. I work as a city
planner at the Chattanooga / Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency.
I've recently been inspired by all the amazing work being done in the
open city / open government movement and got excited about starting
something here in Chattanooga. I defiantly lean on the nerdy side but
am not a coder / programer. I have a broad knowledge of the open
city / open government movement and a skill for thinking broadly and
connecting the dots for creative solutions. I'm hoping this skill
comes in handy as Open Chattanooga gains momentum and begins to have a
real impact in our community.

Now its your turn.

[Data_Nerd]

Carla Gentry here aka @data_nerd:


Being a single mother of two sons was a challenge but no one has ever
accused me of backing down from a challenge, eager to learn and grow,
I entered the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the spring of
1993. I worked in the Developmental Math Lab my entire tenure with
UTC, assisting students with all levels of mathematics. Upon
graduating from UTC with a double major, Applied Mathematics and
Economics in 1998, I moved to the Chicago area to start my career in
analytics.

During the past 14 years, I have worked with Fortune 100 and 500
companies including but not limited to, Discover Financial Services,
J&J, Hershey, Kraft, Kellogg’s, SCJ, McNeil and Firestone. Acting as a
liaison between the IT department and the Executive staff, I am able
to take huge complicated databases, decipher business needs and come
back with intelligence that quantifies spending, profit and trends.

Being called a data nerd is a badge of courage for this curious
Mathematician/Economist because knowledge is power and companies are
now acknowledging its importance.

I returned home to Chattanooga in 2008 bringing with her extensive
knowledge of marketing, trends and database analysis. I opened my own
business http://Analytical-Solution.com in March of 2011 to assist
companies in handling and running analysis on large datasets/databases
(Big Data), my clients range from Universities to Mom & Pop Shops down
the street.

When not trying to solve the world’s problems, I enjoys Golf, playing
with my 2 year old grandson, tutoring high school and college students
in mathematics and beating my big sister at anything!


Looking forward to meeting soon, Carla Gentry 423-552-2062

[Rina Hatcher]

I am Rina Hatcher, User Experience Developer at AREA203 Digital in Chattanooga. 

I bring with me:

- curiosity in people, structures, government, and society

- the ability to ask questions from a "user" perspective, which I hope will aid in bridging gaps between government and the users it serves (which is all of us!)

- front end web development skills and some creative input

- problem solving

- defining scope and relation of things, people, resources, etc

I don't live in Chattanooga, so I'm unaware of a lot of things locals know. But, that tends to give me a fresh and unbiased look at the Chattanooga area through the eyes of a new city "user".

As a relational and visual learner, I actually enjoy learning most things. With open government, demystifying entity relationships and answering "why" things exist appeals to me a great deal. It seems that this is a decent calling :)