Introduction

My name is Mark Platt. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia with my wife and our four cats. I like to be surrounded by people who are smarter and more capable than me. I like surprises, unless I find out about them.

I'm basically a good dude, you can ask around.

Work

I'm a Manager and Software Architect with a strong background in IT, consulting, ecommerce, and agency work. I bring insights about processes, cost, timelines, staffing, team resourcing, and culture building to the table. I tend to thrive in smaller, scrappier, messier environments. I'm pretty good at growing teams of talented developers through careful and consistent interviewing practices. I intend to pursue my career down the management track, but I also understand it's a career jungle gym, not a career ladder.

I work for Benefits Data Trust steering our application ecosystem towards the larger organizational goals through collaboration, vision, and hands on development.

Drop me a line if you want to talk about software things or software managemet things; I'm more than happy to share my experiences.

Interests

My hobbies and interests are constantly changing, and if I'm being honest I can't really keep track of them. Over the years the ones that have remained consistent are music, games, and cats.

I play some games. Mostly video games and table top RPG's, but I'm also into board games, and dabble in TCG's every few years. I've recently taken up Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, and have a lot of points of unbuilt skaven sitting on my shelf, and a smaller amount of built ogors. None of it is painted. I'm that guy. I play in a weekly-ish D&D game with a bunch of folks I have known for a really long time. I'm a pretty big nerd, and I'm pretty happy with that.

Everyobody loves music, so it seems trite to say it, but I am unsurprisingly also fond of music. I play a little, and sporadically. I listen to a lot. I'm currently trying to find the very weird seam between country, American folk, and heavy metal. I've been in some bands, one of them was described as being "like a young Throbbing Gristle," and that was one of the greatest compliments I have ever received.

Our cats are Sam, Charlie, Panther and Half-Panther. Sam and Charlie are older tuxedo brothers. Panther and Half-Panther are foster fails. Sam is my best friend. Charlie is the neediest cat in history. We call the kittens "the kittens" but they are fully grown cats. I've been to a cat convention.

Contact

You can email me at mark+2021@mrkplt.com.