Acknowledgments

Each time I get a book published, I re-learn a lesson that transforming an idea into a finished book takes a project (it produces a unique product—that is, the book?and it has a beginning and an end) and a project team. As they say (well, if they don’t anymore, they should), first things first. Let me begin by thanking Mitzi Koontz for initiating this project. With two thumbs up, thanks to Cathleen Small for managing this project from the planning stage through the executing stage, the monitoring/controlling stage, and all the way to the closing stage.

It’s my pleasure to acknowledge the hard work of other members of the team as well: Bill Hartman for layout, Sandy Doell for proofreading, and Kelly Talbot for indexing. My special thanks to Paul Gneco, the technical editor of this book, for carefully reviewing a number of chapters and offering valuable feedback.

In some ways, writing this book is an expression of the project manager and educator inside me. I thank some great minds from whom I directly or indirectly learned about management during my journey in the computer industry from Novell to Dream Logic: Chuck Castleton at Novell, Delon Dotson at Netscape and MP3.com, Kate Peterson at Weborder, and Dr. John Serri at Dream Logic. I also thank my colleagues and seniors in the field of education for helping me in so many ways to become a better educator. Here are a few to mention: Dr. Gerald Pauler (Brooks College), Professor David Hayes (San Jose State University), Professor Michael Burke (San Jose State University), and Dr. John Serri (University of Phoenix).

Last, but not least, my appreciation (along with my heart) goes to my wife, Renee, and my son, Adam, for not only peacefully coexisting with my projects, but also for supporting them.