Mission statement
FAUOwlAccess.com aims to be the top source for Florida Atlantic University athletic news.
Using journalistic principles and ethics, FAUOwlAccess.com promises to keep FAU fans informed, while also offering fair and honest commentary about one of the fastest growing athletic programs in the country.
FAUOwlAccess is an independent, privately-owned site and not affiliated in any way with FAU or the FAU Athletic department.
Our staff
Marcus Nelson, Editor
Marcus Nelson began covering Florida Atlantic for The Boca Raton News in 1998 when the football program was run out of Howard Schnellenberger’s tiny office by the FAU swimming pool and the football staff consisted of Schnellenberger and his administrative assistant.
A lot has changed since then as FAU’s athletic department has quickly moved to establishing itself on the national scene – and Nelson has been there to chronicle it.
Nelson moved to The Palm Beach Post in 2000 and became the first FAU beat writer for the paper in time for the Owls’ inaugural football game in September 2001.
Since then Nelson covered many FAU “firsts” including a trip to the NCAA basketball tournament in 2002 and the school’s move to Division I-A as well as the Owls’ first bowl victory in 2007. Nelson has dutifully traveled from Hawaii to chronicle FAU’s victory over the Warriors to Storrs, Conn. to write the game story in a press box with no heat as the Owls lost to UConn in 2002.
In late 2008 Nelson left The Post to start FAUOwlAccess.com, the first web site to cover FAU athletics on a full-time basis.
A native of Birmingham, Ala. Nelson graduated from UAB and covered the Blazers’ rise to Division I-A as Editor and Sports Editor of the school newspaper.
Chuck King, Managing Editor
Chuck King started covering Florida Atlantic in 2002 for the Boca Raton News. The Owls' football team had yet to make its jump to Division I-A, or the Football Bowl Series or whatever the NCAA decides to call it this week. Remember that frenetic I-AA playoff run?
Two years later he made the move to the Palm Beach Post, and has written for that paper as a staff member and a freelancer ever since. King served as Marcus Nelson's backup, writing stories about athletes in nearly every sport FAU offers.
King is familiar with the specific advantages and challenges associated with developing and maintaining a sports web site. His MinorLeagueDugout.com site is one of the fastest growing minor league baseball sites on the Web. In 2004 King wrote The Funniest Thing I've Ever Seen: More than 100 crazy stories from minor league baseball. He's looking forward to bringing FAU baseball some of the coverage that's been lacking in the major local media.
Not always a sports writer, King has also worked for IBM as a multimedia producer and WPEC News 12 as a weather producer.
A graduate of Spanish River High School, King received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Hartford. Prior to becoming editor of the student newspaper there, King spent a year as sports editor. Basketball was the main sport for the Hawks, and one of their biggest rivals was Boston University, then coached by a young Mike Jarvis. How's that for coming full circle?
Tony DiGregorio, Advertising Director
Tony DiGregorio is a seasoned advertising profession who has been with The New York Times, St .Pete Times and South Florida Sun-Sentinel in sales and management roles. He was sales manager of the year at Sun Sentinel for 2006, and has years of expeience helping customer get the most from their advertising. Mr. DiGregorio was part of the advertising teams that launched Career Builder nationwide, Metro Mix.com locally, and many websites for newspapers including Newscoast.com (NYT Sarasota) which is one of the most profitable web sites in the industry.
Maria Burnham Nelson has extensive knowledge and proven experience in internet marketing including SEO, SEM, website usability and online public relations. With more than 15 years of internet marketing experience, she has developed and marketed websites for a wide range of companies, including NY Times Bestselling Author Brad Meltzer, ReStockIt.com, Rodale’s Publishing, PetStyle.com and more. As a consultant, Burnham Nelson has helped more than 60 companies significantly improve their ROI through smart, measured internet marketing tactics and strategies. Prior to consulting, she was Director of Product Management for
eDiets.com, where she defined and developed more than 13 interactive diet and fitness plans. She began her online career building one of the first newspaper websites for the Scripps Howard media corporation and was part of the team that launched
The Palm Beach Post's first online presence. .
Steve Johnson, Technology Director
Steve Johnson is a seasoned technology executive with proven expertise in e-commerce, software development, information technology, infrastructure, and systems management. He has significant product development experience, has run large software development organizations and has been involved in several successful start-ups. In 2003, Steve founded Four-six Systems, an Internet technology consulting firm specializing in the design, development, and management of highly interactive web applications. In this position, he has been responsible for bringing dozens of web applications into production.
From 1996 thru 2003, Steve was the Chief Technology Officer for eDiets.com, where he led all aspects of the company's I.T. and development initiatives from inception. eDiets.com (Nasdaq: DIET) is the largest subscription-based online diet, nutrition and fitness destination. Prior to eDiets.com, Johnson held various management and hands-on technical positions in the fields of software and systems development for several companies including IBM, General Dynamics, Allied Signal / Bendix King, Sensormatic, and Advanced Promotion Technologies.
A1A Interactive - Owner and operator
A1A Interactive, Inc. is is a full service marketing agency specializing in internet marketing services, including low acquisition cost marketing campaigns, SEO and SEM, cutting edge web design and unique branding methodologies. Along with FAUOwlAccess.com, current clients include:
http://www.BradMeltzer.com
http://www.OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com
http://www.ReStockIt.com
http://www.SleekMedSpa.com
http://www.ShouldIDivorceHim.com