Michael Russell (sozzled)
Position: Site Founder
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
URL: https://quorooom.com.au
Contact: Please use the forum on this site
In a nutshell, his career in Information Technology spans over 40 years, nearly all of that working in various Australian Government departments and agencies. For the last 15 years of that time, he's had a keen interest in developing intranet sites and this naturally evolved into the Internet space. His experience covered most activities in the IT field: systems analysis and design, programming, testing, project management, customer relationship management, knowledge management—you name it and he's probably had something to do with it (or he managed teams of people who had the subject-matter skills).
He retired from the workforce in January 2007 and, if he thought he was busy when he was working, he's been busier now than ever—mostly he's busy having a great time!
When he's not thinking about world events, Australian politics or making sure he's not far away from coffee, Michael is involved in helping people make the best use of Joomla. He is currently one of the site administrators of Joomla! Australia.
About The Quoroom
The internet gives us the opportunity to satisfy our personal need to "make a statement" somewhere regardless of whether it has any permance or if others notice it. The internet allows people to publicly share their news and views with a minimum of technical knowledge on a scale as unprecedented today as the invention of the movable type printing press was 600 years ago.
Following several earlier experiments, The Quoroom was created in 2008 primarily with a "social networking" intention. The popularity of commercially packaged "social networking" products (e.g. Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest, Twitter) notwithstanding, The Quoroom was a proof-of-concept—something different, less constrained by technology, age group or mind-set.
The Quoroom was always to satisfy a personal ambition of creating "my space on the internet" free from the constraints of "three-mouse-clicks-and-hey-presto" packaged solutions. Although there's nothing specifically bad about Facebook or Twitter we're too well aware of their limitations (and their dangers) and, if they're anything like their predecessors MSN Groups, My Spaces or Bebo, who knows how long they'll be around? Somehow it just does not seem a good plan to base one's business on "three mouse-clicks" and then expect that business to survive. So, while the original concept has not varied, it is fair to say our needs have changed and the site's purpose has beed refined. Whether or not The Quoroom succeeds in its purposes is of small consequence; the importance lies in the attempt.
