ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: a cuppa joe
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY
Back in the '80s, while the rest of us were watching ``thirtysomething,'' Mary Miller of Blacksburg discovered that if you give people access to computers, they will use them more than either you or they expected.
She was working for the Cooperative Extension Division at Virginia Tech, using a grant to install computer kiosks in malls and libraries.
The computers provided information on seven extension topics, such as horticulture, nutrition and household bugs. Users could touch the screen to access the information.
The goal was to see whether people would retrieve Extension information electronically and save the service a lot of paper.
``One day a Virginia Beach librarian said, `I've got a problem. Two boys have been on it for an hour and a half, learning about bugs.'''
Miller found that the youngsters had read about every insect in the system, moving methodically from page to page.
"This is a problem?" she thought.
To her, it showed that "we are learners, and we really do love to get access to material and look differently at our world."
Technology puts her in charge
In 1991, with funding cuts hitting the extension division, Miller, a former elementary school teacher with a master's degree in computer science and a doctorate in instructional technology, founded a company called Interactive Design and Development Corp. She and her 11 employees occupy ground-floor space in Tech's Corporate Research Park.
"I'm an educator who happens to be in business, doing the things I really wanted to do in education and couldn't," she says.
Interactive is a gnat competing with Microsoft to create CD-ROMs of educational and training material for schools, banks and other enterprises. But it's a gnat with a portfolio.
In 1993, Dole Food Corp. hired it to produce "Five A Day Adventures," a computer disc that uses lively music and cartoon characters to promote proper nutrition among elementary pupils.
It is used in 52 percent - or 27,000 - of the nation's nearly 52,000 public elementary schools.
In December, Miller was named one of the top 100 multimedia producers in the country by AV Video & Multimedia Producer magazine.
Providing a guide for others
If you think about it, Miller says, schoolbooks boil down information to last for just nine months.
Now computers, and especially the Internet, provide everyone with unlimited access to information. We can go as far as we want.
Miller will help us get there.
Interactive's latest project is "The Vet," produced in conjunction with the Maryland-Virginia Regional Veterinary College. Due out in March, it poses problems for veterinary students and practitioners, offers possible solutions and lets them know when they're on - or off - the mark.
It's not an easy business. For one weekend, a cash flow crisis left her "technically bankrupt." Her father, Robert Guy of Marion, bailed her out. Now he spends two days each month combing her records for financial glitches.
An adviser once told her that no one succeeds in business without hard work and "dumb luck." She has had both.
One day, she nervously flew to New York to make a personation to an international public relations agency. Just before takeoff, Martina Navratilova sat next to her.
Now or never, Miller thought. She said hello and asked for an autograph for Mandy, her daughter.
The tennis star wrote, "Work hard, but always have fun."
Miller made it her credo - and eventually, the presentation led to her project with Dole.
What's your story? Call me at 981-3256, send e-mail to joek@roanoke.com or write to P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB