IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
Dartmouth College
Recognizes With Deep Appreciation
The Extraordinary Achievements of
Mark Tomalonis '79
2010 Class Webmaster of the Year
The quest to become Dartmouth Webmaster of the Year sometimes starts in unusual places. For you, it was the Saturday night of your class reunion here in Hanover. You found yourself under a tent enjoying a few fine reunion beverages and joining in a rousing rendition of Springsteen's “Rosalita.” You declared, with some surety, that someday Dartmouth would name a building after you.The eager ears of your class officers perked, and you were swiftly told that your path to this dream might best start once you agreed to serve as class webmaster. Today, with this presentation from your peers, we affirm that the cornerstone to Tomalonis Hall has now been placed.
Mark, you graduated from Dartmouth with the Class of 1979 as chemistry major, a brother in SAE, and a member of the gymnastics team. Since then, you have supported Dartmouth as a Class Agent and as an enrollment interviewer, and now, with the matriculation of your daughter Erin into the Class of 2014, as a parent as well. You spent 26 years focused on your professional life as a top executive for an industrial wholesale distributor before you started your first small business website. The entrepreneurial bug worked its way into your traditional work day until two years ago you decided to leave your 100 person firm for the long commutes and rigors of the home office and the single-person payroll.
Today, even with the growth of your company, WharehouseTWO, you have found time to stargaze on Glacier Point in Yosemite, to ride your bike through the California wine country and to take frequent hikes in the Carmel Valley. But most important, you have found time to hone your webmaster skills, create an exceptional website for the Class of 1979, and to be recognized as one of Dartmouth's finest.
This year, 144 separate website reviews were made and tabulated, and five finalists were judged by six previous Webmasters of the Year. Their comments on your creativity, taste and skill are worth repeating here:
• "Mark's website is among the best I've ever seen. His website really pulls you into the page. There is lots of news and great use of photos. The site really promotes the College."
• "The '79s site proves to be an excellent content-provider, providing detailed class history notes, micro-reunion day coverage, and more to provide classmates with interesting information about their class. The site is well-put together and uses up-to-date technology and security to protect its private information."
• "Great 79th-Day coverage and prominent placement of newsletters. The 'In Memory' section carries information from several sources and tributes. Mark has made effective use of social networking with a LinkedIn group page and Facebook page with 219 members, plus a listing of classmate websites. All around good balance."
• "The 'good stuff' is right up front: 79th day photos and access to the newsletters and Green Card. Very nice class officers’ page with pictures, nicely arranged. The site went a long way toward making me, the visitor, feel like part of the family."
• "This is a stellar website and a great effort by Mark. He has done a nice job integrating Shutterfly with easy password protection and the Class history page is novel and well written. He has started with what was expected, done that perfectly, and then expanded into new areas other webmasters should take note of and emulate. This is a top notch website."
Mark, you have not only done your class and the College a great service, but we would also like to recognize here that when asked, you volunteered to help this Association with preliminary screenings of class websites for this competition, and you completed more screenings than any other volunteer. We are glad to have you as a member of the Dartmouth Class Webmaster's Association, and to welcome you to the "elite" group of Webmaster of the Year winners. Congratulations.