Anthony Joy
Name: Anthony M. Joy
Current Job: Chief Information Officer, Cleveland Metroparks
Favorite restaurant in town? I probably have a different favorite every month, but Salted Dough in Broadview Heights is my go-to right now (honorable mentions to El Carnicero and Samoskys)
Favorite thing about Cleveland? The people, the parks (trail running is great), the sports, and the food.
Q: Anthony, thanks for joining me today. First off, how are you dealing with the quarantine? Besides some longer hair, I’m dealing fairly well, but there is some difficulty in managing various roles (father, teacher, CIO) within minutes of each other while working at home. My wife is still working part-time so she has been doing the majority of the school work with the children. It is nice to come out of a room and eat lunch with the family. I think what is helping is making sure we get out of the house every day as a family, whether taking a walk in the Metroparks or around the neighborhood. Our children were in Karate and Lacrosse respectively, so we have been practicing with them which has been enjoyable.
Q: Obviously the zoo is closed, but the tech side doesn’t stop. You also oversee 18 reservations some of which are still open. What are some things your IT department is focused on during this downturn? Our first responsibility was making sure that business operations continue to run remotely, but that they also run securely during this crisis. Fortunately, because of the way our organization is designed, we are used to working in various locations across multiple sites but some of the collaboration tools we had weren’t widely used. The IT team created a one-stop shop page on our portal for remote connectivity information. We also enrolled users into training programs for applications for which they were unfamiliar such as WebEx and Microsoft Teams. Even though our Zoo and Nature Centers are closed, the park system is certainly open so we still have many other departments that couldn’t work remotely such as our zookeepers, police, maintenance crews for the parks and the golf courses that were kept open. Therefore, another goal was ensuring that we helped to implement new protocols such as moving point of sales to minimize the interaction between golf guests and employees, creating additional electronic forms, and other activities. We also assisted with other departments as they expand our virtual streaming which can be found both on our website and the Facebook page. Lastly, we are also gearing up for the reopening of the facilities that were closed. Although there is no exact date, we do know we will operate differently so we are looking at working on creating new apps, webpages, and creating new ways to livestream events. Overall, every project and stage we’ve done involves some type of cybersecurity discussion while we all prepare for a return to a new “normal”.
Q: Many people complain about the bureaucracy of government, but as someone on the front lines of IT in a government agency, what are some of the benefits of working in government especially on the IT side? Many of the government benefits people often hear about include health benefits, retirement, work-life balance and professional development and although this is true, one of the biggest benefits is the chance to make a difference. I can’t speak for every government agency, but when I meet new people, or as I talk with others, I always get the comment “I love the Metroparks” and hearing that makes you feel good, but it also makes you want to make sure it continues. No one wants to be the one person who made the parks or the zoo worse. And part of making a difference can also mean doing a wide variety of projects. Every day working at Cleveland Metroparks is different, and that can be frightening for some, but exciting for others. We recently installed an Eagle Camera that is live on our website. The project appears simple enough, but it involved our forestry crew, building trades, marketing, and of course both our networking and web team. Not only was it enjoyable to work with all of those departments, but once it went live, so many people have thanked us both online and in e-mail. We have taken other projects, including our virtual reality to Hospice and local hospitals and bringing the joy of the outdoors has been overwhelming in making a lasting difference in people’s lives.
Q: Many of the challenges of being a CIO is that you have to step out of your comfort zone. You either are a developer moving into a management role or a business person moving into a technical role. You are probably a bit of both as someone who has a technical background, but also an MBA. How have you gotten comfortable stepping out of your comfort zone? My alma mater’s motto was “without risk, there is no gain” so I’ve always tried to integrate that into my life. The quote can be taken to extremes but to me, it is making sure I am never too comfortable. I also try to make sure that is translated to others in the IT department. In an effort to align IT services with the needs of the business, we had the IT department take ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) training in 2019. This helped some of our more technical staff realize how to better integrate with the business. Often times in IT, we are asked “what are we capable of doing” and IT staff often ask “what is it that you want to do”. It can certainly be a chicken or egg situation and those are great opportunities to listen, entertain new ideas, and think outside the box. In one of the many examples, our IT team worked alongside our nature education team and created/installed a 3d holographic exhibit of a monarch butterfly utilizing a local Cleveland companies technology while, creating animation, gathering content, and was able to receive 3D – CT scans from a research university. I have been fortunate to have great leadership and a great team and I think all of those parts help to make sure we don’t get comfortable and enable us to pivot in different directions whether in good times or bad.
Q: Many EECS (electrical engineering and computer science) students are focused on working at startups or large companies like Progressive and KeyBank. Why should more students consider government? I would have students consider government because it gives them tremendous opportunity not only to make a difference but to learn many things that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. While interviewing candidates at Cleveland Metroparks for IT positions, I tell them the good thing about our work is that they are part designer, programmer, developer, and many other positions. I then tell them the bad thing about our work is the same thing I said previously. When we get individuals that have worked in private corporations, they may have only been allowed to work on one or two systems, but in many government agencies, there are many opportunities to expand out of your regular work role. One of our Network Engineers works on switches and routers, but he has also had the opportunity to work on IoT (Internet of Things) devices that record weather, cellular counting devices that count people and cars entering into the park and many other special projects. Although I can’t say that opportunity is for every government agency, I would have students look at the leadership of their respective local governments and apply accordingly. Our board members at Cleveland Metroparks and our CEO, Brian Zimmerman have been great leaders in the community and I would say if you want to work for government sometimes the best leaders and the best opportunity are in your own backyard.
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