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About

Ryan BootsHaving gone through a couple of online starter homes, this will be my long-term residence (albeit in a more or less ongoing state of renovation). Promise.

I was born and raised in the Houston area, and attended a collection of schools in the Houston metro area until my graduation from high school in 1993.

From 1994 – 1996 I served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among the Hispanic communities of central California. I remain a devout, practicing LDS Christian, and I still speak fluent Spanish, along with passable Brazilian Portuguese.

In 1997 I married, and took two years off from college so that my wife could finish her aerospace degree1 at Texas A&M University2. In 1999 I went back to school full-time and bounced around a few different schools and courses of study until I graduated from Arizona State University in 2004 with a B.A. in journalism and mass communications.

While in school I blogged for fun and experience, but like any semi-rational person I never thought it would translate into anything serious. Imagine my surprise, then, when after an ill-considered and abortive attempt at a meaningful career in broadcast news, I landed at the Alliance for School Choice in 2006 as a website editor (read: full-time blogger). In April of that year we launched Edspresso, the organization’s official blog. In January 2007, it got a mention in the Washington Post as being a notable education-related blog3.

Since leaving the Alliance I have moved deeper into online communications on a full-time4 and freelance basis, with a specialty in search engine optimization, content development and web communications/marketing strategy.  I carry Individual Qualifications in both and Google Analytics and Google AdWords.

house-dividedIn 2013, I was accepted to the Executive MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin as a member of the Class of 2015.  Yes, that’s right – I married an Aggie and ended up becoming a Longhorn. I’m sure I’ll go into detail on that little adventure at some point.

Personal interests: all over the place. In no particular order: religion, cars, music, drum corps, current events, the Houston Rockets, politics, economics, gadgets, and education policy.

Thanks for visiting.  Contact me here.

  1. Yes, she’s fairly good at calculus.
  2. Yes, she bleeds maroon. They check before handing out the diplomas.
  3. Obligatory disclaimer: after my departure from the Alliance in April 2007 the site was turned over to the Center for Education Reform.
  4. Second obligatory disclaimer: the opinions shared on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of either my full-time or freelance employers.