My name is Jennifer Gingras. I was Jennifer Campanile for a while, but it didn’t fit me well.

I am not the only Jennifer Gingras (and wasn’t the only Jennifer Campanile). I’m the one born in Vermont and defined in Northern California, with a side of Washington, DC. After finding any excuse to get back to NorCal for years, I finally made Oakland my home in 2011.

When I was 16, I met the love of my life. In 2008, he came back into my life, and he and our sons are pretty much my whole world. I blog here less often than I’d like — life is a little more in the way right now than it used to be.

I’m the internet’s biggest fan, and I still thrill to the siren song of a connecting external modem. I credit email and IM with the fact that I never lost touch with my best friends from high school; Facebook is responsible for everyone else. I’m 40 and child-free having a baby have a son (!) have two sons (!!), and I humbly present the most likely — and accurate — playground joke for my kids’ peers: “Yo mama’s so old, she paid to use AOL.”

I started blogging using Blogspot in 2001 because it was more efficient than sending mass emails to friends. I eventually deleted that blog during one of those times when you shouldn’t make snap decisions. Whoopsie. (Seriously? I still have journals from the first grade. I can’t believe I threw away that much writing.) (First-grade me hated pancakes.)

I also blogged in MySpace for a while, because that’s where my people were, but I finally went with my own domain in 2008.

Welcome! Please use your inside voice.
(Opinions of all shades are welcome; malicious comments may will be deleted at my discretion.)

I’ve always been a writer and an editor. Occasionally, I have been a Writer, published here and there with pieces I like less than some of my eulogies, love letters, and lit theory essays. I moved from print publications (+web when I had time) into full-time web work in 2007, and I make my living trying to improve and measure online communication and engagement (I do still edit on paper from time to time). I operate from a cross-functional, collaborative philosophy — on the best days, I pull together the right people, understand the audience, craft the best message(s), apply the right technology, press “go,” then measure and optimize.

On the worst days, I just press “go.”

I have a bachelor’s degree that says I’m a journalist who could not pass up a law or government class. I am addicted to CNN MSNBC not having cable. Also to marathoning scifi shows I should’ve watched ages ago or haven’t seen in ages (Babylon 5 quotes are always welcome).

I have a master’s in communication from Johns Hopkins University with a concentration in digital communication…or: A Master’s Degree In My Job. Making the time to reload my theoretical knowledge and tune in to cutting-edge stuff was a phenomenal opportunity; it helped me formalize web expertise that’s hard to quantify on a resume.

I’m an irreverent Cradle Catholic. Do not be surprised to find here discussions of doctrine and denouncements of dogma.

In 2014, I became a competitive masters rower. In 2015, I got a lot more competitive, found myself elected to my club’s Board of Directors, and led the redesign of club’s website before ducking out to have son #2.

Turning into an athlete has been the biggest surprise of my adult life so far.

I’m all over the place and now I’m here. Pleased to meet you.

(Additional: I finally started a Life List.)