At TownNews, we believe success starts with finding the right people. The work we do here is changing the local media industry, and these are the people who are making it happen. Today we shine a light on Dustin Ward, Senior Systems Administrator.
What is your background?
I started working at TownNews as an intern for the systems department in the summer of 2001 and 2002 while I was still in high school. After graduating, I was hired full-time as a programmer and worked on various projects. While I enjoyed programming, I liked systems and network administration more. Once an opportunity opened up in the systems department, I jumped on it and have been in the department ever since.
What do you love most about your job?
I enjoy the challenge of developing, troubleshooting, and maintaining a network that serves millions of users. Normally you would have to go to a silicon valley company for that.
What are you currently working on that you'd like everyone to know more about?
I'm helping design a new infrastructure that will host our new microservices architecture. At the same time, I'm maintaining and upgrading our BLOX CMS and Rayos platform infrastructure.
What are you most excited about for the future of the news industry?
When I first started at TownNews, the web was secondary to the physical newspaper. I've had the opportunity to be a part of the transition from print to online, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.
What's something people don't know about you?
I have many newspaper people in my family. My wife Jamie was a journalist when I met her. She's worked at the Quad City Times, The Dispatch, and The Times in Munster, IN. (And apparently, some people do not know that Brad Ward is my father.)
