Cheryl Schneider’s love affair with Mac has created new life By DEBBIE KWIATOSKI

ROSENDALE—For nearly a decade computer consultant Cheryl Schneider has gone where few have dared to tread: she has actually embraced the Macintosh computer and provided a much needed technical support system for other Mac users who share her love for that system. “I met the Mac in 1986,” Schneider explained. She was working with NYPIRG in New York City, in charge of their burgeoning in—house publishing operation, and realizing that the quality of work she could get from the Mac was simply superior to anything that could be done on the office PCs. “There was no ‘what you see is what you get’ on the lBMs—that was before Windows, of course—the Mac could do typography and graphics—it was an incredible machine. Basically, I started my business for the love of Mac as a platform.” Only another Mac user would understand. Like all machines, however, it also broke down from time to time and repairs were just too costly for the non-profits. Schneider, a born tinkerer who also describes herself as being “just a little too curious”, was already coming in on nights and weekends to really learn the software programs, began to turn her attention to fixing things when they broke down “You have to remember, that was before there was any such thing as a Mac consultant—there were no training programs, no magazines, no seminars,” she explained, adding that she mainly learned by doing. Realizing that she couldn’t afford to stay at NYPIRG forever, given the non-profit’s salary structure, her next move was to go to work for a company called Baseline, one of the ground-breaking on-line companies of the 80s, that built a business by supplying the suits in the entertainment industry with up-to-date, instant information on everything from who owned the rights to a given project to who was working on what film to the credit lists for every film from Edison to MGM’s latest production. “It was good, basic data, the kind of information that the executives needed to know when they were looking at a resume or evaluating a project. Variety and other trade magazines published that information, but it was never as instant and up to date as Baseline, and you didn’t have to spend time finding a specific issue in some archive. It was right there for you,” said Schneider. The experience gave Schneider the opportunity to work with other aspects of the computer field than she’d had at NYPIRG and to have even better access to better platforms. “But my goal was to have my own Mac and to do my own productions,” she said. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and that’s what I wanted to do for myself.” The best thing about the Mac platform, she explained, was that it was so very logical. “I found that I was able to figure out anything I needed to do simply by applying logic.” Eventually she outgrew her job as Communications Production Manager at Baseline and, with no clear career path with that company in view, she left and went out on her own “I was happy to be out on my own,” she said, “it was also when Wall Street downsized.” That was a factor that actually was to her advantage, since companies that had just fired their in-house support staff became more reliant than ever on freelancers, like the one she had just become. “I had lots of work”, she said, “Mostly working as a consultant on projects using Power Point, Mac—Draw Pro, Delta Graph and eventually Quark. When I finally walked into freelancing, I knew what I needed to know.” The Mac Works was started in Manhattan in 1990. From the beginning, it has been a Mac-centric company that has specialized in network design, integration and support for Macintosh computers, including Mac/PC, Mac mainframe, Mac/Internet and Mac-only systems. “We work one on one with our clients and help them realize their goals with their computer environments,” said Schneider. We also conduct company-specific seminars that can improve a staff’s proficiency. She prides herself in being able to bridge the communications gap that often separates techies from real people who just need to know how to use a computer to do what they need to do. “We simplify systems a lot for companies and basically work on a one on one basis,” she said. Nearly two years ago, The Mac Works relocated to Rosendale. “I always wanted to live up here,” said Schneider. “I love this area and decided that what I really wanted was a house in the country. That was what I wanted my lifestyle to be. I got a lot of discouragement from people I worked with in the city, and even from people here who were having a hard time. But my desire to live here was just greater than my fear of not being able to build a business in the region.” She has spent the past two years weaning herself gradually from her city customer base as she builds a regional one. An Apple Solutions Expert, she has also been actively working with Mac support generally to make this happen. “I still go to the city every few weeks to work with a few customers, but I have also been building strong networking relationships here and in the city as well.” Whatever the future holds, says Schneider, it will hold it for her in the Hudson Valley.