jonathan-peterson.com — Site Charter

personal

Purpose

A combined professional portfolio, personal blog, project showcase, and DJ presence for Jonathan Peterson. The site serves three distinct audiences who self-segregate on entry, and presents a complete picture of a person who is simultaneously a senior product leader, a technologist who builds things, and a dance music DJ.

Audiences

AudienceWhat they wantPrimary entry point
Recruiters / employersSenior PM credentials, domain depth, leadership track record/work, /expertise, /hire
Fractional / consulting clientsProof of fast orientation, specific domain expertise, prior fractional experience/hire, /work
Collaborators / peers / friendsWriting, projects, personality, shared interests/writing, /projects, home page
DJ / music communityJonny Spins presence, genre, mixes, links/dj

Tone and Voice

  • Warm authority — experienced without being self-congratulatory
  • Experiential and mentoring — lean into stories and what was learned, not just what was done
  • Opinionated — has a point of view on technology, culture, and product craft
  • Full human — the DJ, the builder, the family man, and the PM are all the same person
  • Not corporate — no third-person bios, no buzzword stacks, no “passionate product leader” language

Guiding tagline: “Product leader in Media, AdTech, and MarTech, who thrives leading diverse teams creating righteous solutions for wicked problems — and maybe make the world a little better. Enthusiastic dance music DJ for the afterparty.”

Homepage tagline: “Thirty years building things that matter. Still taking requests.”

Information Architecture

Three-path home page routes visitors to their section without requiring navigation decisions. Each section is self-contained but cross-linked.

Sections

  • Professional/about, /work, /expertise, /hire
  • Writing & Projects/writing (blog), /projects
  • DJ/dj

Content Principles

  1. Short About, long Work — the About page is a person, the Work page is the career
  2. Expertise page as reference layer — tech stack depth lives at /expertise, linked from Work chapters
  3. Writing is opinionated, not safe — posts should have a point of view
  4. Projects page grows with work — stub cards now, fuller treatment as projects mature
  5. DJ section is minimal by design — owns its tagline, links out, doesn’t overstate
  6. Internet History series — flagship long-form content; tells the story of the early web from someone who was there. Phase 2 priority.

Scope Boundaries

In scope (v1): Professional portfolio, personal blog, project stubs, DJ placeholder, hire/contact page

Deferred to later phases:

  • Internet History memoir series (beyond the first post)
  • Ghost theme visual customization beyond CSS injection
  • Resume PDF (download link is placeholder)
  • SoundCloud embed on DJ page (pending active mix)
  • jonnyspins.com redirect to /dj
  • Member/subscription features
  • Open Decks 404 content (hiatus likely permanent)

Success Criteria

The site is working when:

  • A recruiter can understand Jonathan’s domain depth and career arc without reading a resume
  • A fractional client can find a direct path to contact
  • A peer can find the writing and projects and want to come back
  • Jonathan can add new posts and projects without needing developer help