Who am I
Your standard about page that no one reads but I am obligated to write.
I am the son of Dutch immigrants. My parents came to Canada as teenagers with their respective families. They both settled in Ontario in a small hamlet 1 hr West of Toronto. I am the youngest of three children. I have two older sisters which came with its own set of challenges.
I grew up in a small town of ~ 17,000 people. I attended private school as it is called here for both my primary and secondary education. I bought (with my Dad) my first computer when I was in grade 10. It was a state of the art Apple 2 clone that had a monochrome monitor and 2 (yes 2) 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drives – good times.
Out of high school, I worked for a short time in both horticulture and cabinetry. During this time my high school sweetheart and I got engaged and married. About a year or so later I went back to school to get my diploma in Micro Computer Electronics which set me on the path I am still on today.
I have worked for many companies over the past 20 years, but always in technology and for the past 10 years, I have been in various management positions.
I have always had a passion for technology and the advancements over the past 20 years. While I still contest that my grandfather born in 1901 saw the most change in a lifetime. He was around when the Wright Brothers took off, lived through WW1, the Great Depression, WW2, saw a man land on the moon and witness the birth of the computer – WOW!
What’s this all about
So maybe you’re thinking great back story Mark, but what is markvermeer.com really all about? When I first setup the blog is was going to be about things that I loved – golf, technology, leadership, and fitness. I started by loading up lots of article on the said categories from Ezine. While I liked the stuff I posted, the content was never written by me. In its prime the site had almost 400 article posted, that I let rotate through some backend magic.
Fast forward to January 4th, 2015 and I found myself reading an article about rebooting your writing on your blog. It struck a chord with me as I realized I have several domain properties, but I do not write any of the content and I wonder why my readership never grew because I never really engaged with them. I have now committed to rebooting markvermeer.com and writing original content that is still based on some of the things I enjoy.
I know that the site will evolve over time, but that’s the point it’s dynamic, living has a life of its own that I can breathe into it and call it my own.
What’s in it for you
Now that you know a little bit more about me and what direction I plan on taking this site. I hope to always provide you with content that will be helpful, thought provoking, from the heart, funny, real and most importantly originally me.
You (yes you) can help too. Tell me what you like and maybe what you don’t – take the time to be interactive. If you take the time to write to me I can assure you I will take the time to write back.
Update January 2017
I’ve rebooted my writing again. No pressure this time. Just write once a day. Say what’s on my mind and share it with others. Like it or not – it’s me.
Enjoy.
Update September 2019
Rebooted yet again. I stopped in June of 2017 and had not written a word since then. Just felt the need to start again for no particular reason. One day at a time trying to find my way.