As part of our blog series to highlight our Depiction Preferred Consultants (DPCs), this week we introduce Russell Deffner.

With a strong love of the outdoors and technology, Russell graduated from Colorado State University with a minor in Spatial Information Management Systems to accompany a Bachelor of Science in Forestry – Concentrated in Forest Fire Science.  That concentration happened to take him in a different direction after graduation, to the fire-line, and into the world of emergency/disaster management.  Wildland firefighting, being seasonal, led him to looking for another ‘hobby’ as a Red Cross Volunteer.
Russell is highly involved with the America Red Cross- MIle High Chapter, headquartered in Denver, Co. and is a strong advocate for the chapter to run volunteer disaster management planning with Depiction software. He often hosts free seminars at the Mile High RC HQ to teach volunteers about the expanding possibilities with Depiction. In September, he spoke at the 2011 State of the Map conference, OpenStreetMap’s annual international conference. Russell is also our Depiction University Instructor, keeping material fresh, fun and inspiring.
Since being introduced to Depiction, he has been helping organizations use the software in various applications including emergency services, land-stewardship and land-use planning, asset management, and for a visual component in journalism.
“The concept of Depiction being a platform has also led to an off-shoot of my business; software customization.  I have already released a few Add-ons which bring additional icons, elements and interactions into Depiction and more ideas are in the works.” comments Russell. He goes on to say, “It has been amazing to see Depiction grow over just the last year and I’m excited to be a part of it!  I am happy to talk with anyone exploring GIS to see if Depiction could be the solution they are after.  Also for those currently using or thinking of using the software, but need additional functionality, I welcome you to contact me so we can explore how that functionality might be added.”
You can learn more about Russell’s consulting solutions at his website, RussellDeffnerConsulting.com.
Next week, we’ll introduce Steve Sprague.