The life and autobiography of Scott Mark Huelsman (Waunakee, WI).
Independent Contractor Years
In November of 1994, I made the fateful decision to leave my environmental career behind and jump into the brand new field of computer multimedia (PC-based text, graphics, music, audio, video, animation and training delivered via CD-ROM). I had written a multimedia novel and was determined to build and market that, so I created Spectrum Multimedia and produced the MediaNovel “Convictions.” as well as serving a variety of local training-based clientele.
After selling Spectrum, I launched a new web-based consultancy called Digital Age Development Inc., primarily building content learning management systems. I then rebranded in 2004 to The Huelsman Way LLC which I’ve been using ever since as a one-man web hosting and technical consulting business.
Convictions MediaNovel (1996 - 2000)
After writing the design document for a new PC-based game in the early 1990s and shopping it around, a publisher in Kansas City elected to pick it up, not as a game but essentially as a multimedia CD-ROM. In the span of a few years, I wrote the mediaplay, produced the hundreds of audio and video clips needed, then developed all the programming to pull everything together. The result was “Convictions” which consisted of 100,000+ words, over 1000 illustrations and hundreds of audio, video and background music clips. The first edition required four CD-ROMs but the second edition utilized just two. A related music CD was released along with a hardcover book around 2000.
Media Trek by Demco Media (1996 - 1998)
Alongside the Convictions CD-ROM, I spent the greater part of three years working on a new product that was targeted to children in the classroom grades 4-6. The “Media Trek” product contained activities and data regarding popular books in the classroom; kids would read the books, log into the Media Trek product and then do activities and answer lots of questions regarding the book. I wrote the entire product in Adobe Authorware (a precursor to Flash) and even developed a networked version. Helping to build an actual product was quite the experience and it helped me market Convictions as well (including its publication in book form as a “Turtleback” cover).
CUNA & Affiliates STAR E-Learning System (1999 - 2000)
Developed in partnership with Madison Productions Inc. (which later became Web Courseworks in Madison, WI), I wrote all the programming and databasing for this unique, from-scratch web-based content learning management system that CUNA & Affiliates used to train their staff online. The project was a wild success and was the cornerstone for all the e-learning development I would do over the next ten years.
American Family Insurance AmChoice App (1999 - 2003)
Following my successes with Madison Productions Inc., I had the good fortune of acting as an independent contractor for American Family Insurance (Madison, WI) first developing training CD-ROMs and then entire online content learning management systems. I soon developed a customized, built-from-scratch CLMS we called “AmChoice” that eventually served e-learning content to thousands of agents across the country. The opportunity really helped me launch my online web content and programming career and remains an absolutely wondrous experience for me!
Huelsman Way Web Manager System (2003 - 2008)
After rebranding my business to better focus exclusively on myself and what I can do for clients, I built a final, grandiose web content management system I called the “Web Manager.” This engine utilized a common programming library to host a potentially limitless number of individual websites, and at one point I had many dozens of sites working in the system. In addition to doing basic things like site navigation, there were also a variety of functional features available such as e-commerce. The system was popular and I did well with it, but eventually I discovered the DotNetNuke CMS and ultimately replaced my from-scratch system with that.
Huelsman Way DNN Instance (2008 - 2016)
Around 2008, I began systematically migrating all the websites in my Web Manager system to a new, free, available-to-anyone application content management system called DotNetNuke (DNN for short). Not only was DNN every bit an equal to the Web Manager system I had built from scratch but it was being actively developed by an entire team of professionals, something I couldn’t hope to do with the Web Manager. So, I bought “skins” (graphic templates) and rebuilt all my sites in DNN, running dozens of client sites in DNN for many years.
Wisconsin Conference Webmaster (2008 - 2019)
When the Wisconsin Conference UMC site was rebuilt in Joomla back in 2008, I was called in to help manage the site and ended-up becoming the site’s chief webmaster for over ten years. Not only did I update and manage the site on a near-daily basis throughout that time but totally rebuilt the site using a newer version of Joomla back in 2015. While I’m no longer directly involved with the site, the overall experience was wonderful and it certainly helped me hone my skills as a professional content developer and webmaster!
Huelsman Way WordPress Cloud Server (2016 - 2024)
Eventually, the popularity of the DNN CMS began to wane and a new CMS called WordPress came into its own, to the point where, today, it runs nearly half of all websites on the planet. Recognizing the writing on the wall, I again did a mass migration of sites from DNN to WordPress, securing a cloud server from SiteGround to host and manage all my sites. Following my cancer diagnosis in July 2024–coupled with the desire to professionally retire anyway–I then began having another web management company (Freshy) begin to migrate my sites away from my server, essentially ending an era that was nearly two decades in length!