Bio/Resume

Chris Relaxing in TreeI am a Delaware native who is the youngest of three children (two brothers), and the son of Scott W. Rees, Jr., a retired Chief of the Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Department, and Martha Adele Rees. My father was the highest ranking officer of the DRBA Police from 1952 – 1992, with one of the longest continuous Police service records in the country.

A large void in my life was created when both my mother and father passed away (my mother in October 2003 and my father in May of 2004). Fortunately, I have an awesome wife and three amazing children that help fill that void (and overflow it at times!) After attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, with a major in Graphic Design, and subsequently graduating from Delaware Technical & Community College with a degree in Criminal Justice, I followed in my father’s footsteps, and became a New Castle County Police Officer from 1993 – 2000.

During my tenure with the NCCPD, I worked in a number of capacities, including the patrol division, crime analysis division, and Criminal Investigation Unit (Detectives). My work in CIU revolved around investigating computer-related crimes, mostly dealing with online predators, pedophiles, etc. I left the department in 2000 however, to pursue several passions which include entrepreneurship, technology, and creative arts (web design, graphic design, etc).

Having a strong computer background that stemmed from my getting involved heavily with computers around age 8, I pursued and received my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification in Windows NT 4.0, and then later in Windows 2000, along with certification as a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT).

As a trainer, I created Computer Based Training videos that sold worldwide and helped thousands of students achieve certification.  It really is a blessing to be able to teach others and pass own the knowledge you’ve been able to attain.

After teaching MCSE, A+, Network+ and various IT related courses for years, and working as a systems engineer and admin, I started my own company that creates Computer Based Training for the IT field.

I am married to a phenomenal woman, Karen, and have been truly blessed with three incredible children. They give me a reason to strive for success in everything I do, and make each day more wonderful than the last. Other hobbies of mine include martial arts (many years in Kenpo Karate and most recently dabbling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – what a change from Kenpo!), weightlifting, tennis, spending time with family and friends, art, graphic design, xbox, and of course computers.

RESUME

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Senior level executive and owner of Palaestra Training, a company that sells computer based training worldwide that help IT professionals attain Microsoft, Cisco and CompTIA certification; along with giving them real world skills.  Information technologist and instructor who holds A+, Network+, Server+, MCP+I, MCSE (NT 4.0 and 2000), MCT and Cisco CCNP certifications; also a Council on Police Training (COPT) certified police instructor and former police officer and detective with experience investigating high-tech computer-related crimes.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Palaestra Training
President & Co-Founder

01/2007 – Present

  • Co-Founded Palaestra Holdings, LLC and Palaestra Training which specializes in creating IT Certification and Training CBTs for Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA, Internet Safety for Parents, and more.
  • Created CompTIA A+ training series for the new 2006 Certification (over 30 videos and 20 hours of exceptional training!)
  • Hired several extremely talented trainers who are currently are currently producing several new training products to be released throughout the year.
  • Oversee day-to-day operations, trainer recruitment and quality assurance
  • Identify new opportunities for training
  • Liason with SEO/SEM, marketing and web development teams
  • Assist with a significant portion of website design and development, SEO/SEM
  • Product development, packaging, distribution and order fulfillment

Commerce Bank
Systems Engineer – 2003 – 2008

  • Windows server team engineer responsible for server builds, enterprise patching, web/database development for several in-house applications in large 2,000+ server environment
  • Patchlink, McAfee EPO, SMS, Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), Netware, Zenworks
  • Part of the team that created a standardized Windows XP desktop image that was deployed enterprise wide as the bank migrated from Win 9x to XP.
  • Deploy software, updates and hotfixes via Novell Zenworks

CBT Nuggets
Trainer/Author – 2001 – 2006

  • Published author responsible for managing the creation and production of several highly successful computer based training projects for A+, Network+ and Server+ certification training, all of which achieved CompTIA Authorized Quality Curriculum (CAQC) status
  • Technical writer responsible for creating test questions for several CBT Nuggets training series (several thousand questions), which reinforces the material covered in the CBT Nuggets training videos.
  • Each project was completed on-time and included not only providing all the technical training, but also creating all custom graphics for the training videos and company website.

Ameritrain
Trainer – 2001

  • Technical instructor responsible for teaching A+, Network+ and MCSE courses (non-MOC).
  • Successfully conducted several dozen training classes while maintaining superior evaluations
  • Increased customer satisfaction through the development of custom labs and improvements on existing courseware

I-Tech Training
Trainer 2000 – 2004

  • Technical instructor responsible for teaching A+, Network+ and MCSE courses (MOC) to a variety of students; classes held at various community colleges
  • First trainer in the company to achieve MCSE certification on Windows 2000
  • Received Microsoft early achiever award for being one of the first two-thousand MCSEs worldwide to be certified in Windows 2000
  • Continually maintained superior student evaluations

New Castle County Police Department
Police Officer 1993 – 2000

  • Sworn Police Officer who served in many capacities including patrol, crime analysis and detectives
    • FBI Academy – Forensic Facial Imaging training
    • Scottsdale, AZ – Forensic 2D and 3D facial imaging training
    • FLETC – Computer Investigations Training
    • Crime Analysis School – Guilford, CT
  • Detective specializing in computer-related crimes (fraud, online-predator, etc) and computer forensic investigations
    • First officer in the NCCPD and one of the first officers in the state to investigate and specialize in computer related crimes and online predator investigations
    • Numerous articles in the local news reference investigations and arrests of online predators
    • Forensic examination of suspect computers and related equipment
  • Piloted and tested the department’s in-car laptop program
  • PAL martial arts instructor

EDUCATION/TRAINING
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer Training
Microsoft Certified Trainer

Windows NT 4.0

  • Administering Windows NT Course # 803
  • Windows NT Core Technologies Course # 922
  • Implementing and Supporting NT Server 4.0 in the Enterprise Course # 689
  • Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on NT 4.0 Course # 688
  • Networking Essentials Course # 658
  • Creating & Configuring a Web Server with IIS 4.0 Course # 936

Windows 2000

  • Windows 2000 Network and Operating System Essentials Course # 2151
  • Implementing Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and Server Course # 2152
  • Implementing & Admin. a Windows 2000 Networking Services Infrastructure Course # 2153
  • Implementing & Admin. a Windows 2000 Directory Services Infrastructure Course # 2154
  • Updating Support Skills from NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 Course # 1560
  • Designing a Windows 2000 Directory Services Infrastructure Course # 1561
  • Designing a Windows 2000 Networking Services Infrastructure Course # 1562
  • Designing a Windows 2000 Migration Strategy Course # 2010

New Castle County Police Department
Certified Police Instructor’s Course NCCPD – New Castle, DE

  • One week course certifying me as a Council of Police Training (COPT) instructor.
  • Once certified, am I authorized to instruct in any COPT accredited police academy.

Composite Artist School Scottsdale, AZ

  • Two week course dealing with composite sketches from victim description, including interviewing techniques.

Designing Professional Web Pages Philadelphia, PA

  • HTML programming, content development and overall professional design concepts

Adobe PageMaker 6.5 – Beginner and Advanced Course Wilmington, DE

  • Two one-day PageMaker courses held at Executrain’s Wilmington office. Course covered basic PageMaker concepts through advanced publication techniques

Computer Investigations Course Glynco, GA

  • Two-week course entitled “Criminal Investigations in an Automated Environment” held at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center featuring instruction on investigating computer related crimes.

Crime Analysis School Guilford, CT

  • One-week course held by a nationally recognized authority on crime analysis, Steve Gottlieb. Course covered recognizing crime patterns and trends

Forensic Facial Imaging School Quantico, VA

  • Three-week course held at the FBI Academy in dealing with advanced interviewing and investigation techniques, primarily pertaining to 2D and 3D facial reconstruction

Wilmington College New Castle, DE

  • Bachelor’s of Science Degree – Criminal Justice
    • Magna Cum Laude
    • Delta Epsilon Rho Honor Society
  • Masters Degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) w/ concentration in management
    • Graduated with honors

Savannah College of Art & Design Savannah, GA

  • Dean’s list all 9 trimesters, including entry into the National Dean’s List
  • Completed 3 years of education and training in computer Graphic Design

Delaware Technical & Community College Stanton, DE

  • Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice
  • Dean’s list each semester

WEB DESIGN EXPERIENCE

www.palaestratraining.com
Palaestra Training corporate website. I designed the majority of the graphics, formatting and overall look and feel of the website.

www.medfordnj.com
Medford, New Jersey community website featuring news, local events, real estate updates, local forums and more.

ww.dtoa.org
Delaware Tactical Officers Association

www.karenrees.com
Exquisite Hand-Crafted Jewelry – A must see!

www.partyking.net
Awesome BBQ/Catering Service for the New Jersey/Tri-State area

www.handsonhealthde.com
Physical therapist in Wilmington, Delaware

www.jnjautorestoration.com
Custom Auto body and Paint Restoration Company

SOFTWARE/PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE

  • Windows 2000/2003
  • VMWare ESX Server
  • Active Directory
  • Enterprise Patching (McAfee, EPO and Patchlink)
  • Server/Desktop Builds
  • Web Design, HTML, CSS
  • PHP/MySQL
  • Graphic Design (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks)
  • Computer Forensics (EnCase, SafeBack, iLook)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS/HIGHLIGHTS

04/2007

  • Master’s Degree (with honors) – Management of Information Systems

01/2007

  • Created Palaestra Training and released first products to market

02/01/06

  • Book published – Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety for Children

06/04

  • Birth of my baby boy!

06/02

  • Bachelor’s Degree – Magna Cum Laude

12/00

  • Birth of my beautiful daughter!

10/15/00

  • One of the first 2000 MCSE’s to be certified in Windows 2000, thus being presented with Microsoft’s “Early Achiever” award

04/20/00

  • Guest speaker at DuPont regarding Internet Safety and computer security

01/21/00

  • Front page feature article in the Delaware Route 40 Flyer regarding several arrests I made dealing with online predators going after children on the Internet

01/14/00

  • Featured article in the Delaware News Journal regarding several arrests I made dealing with online predators who were targeting children on the Internet; this brought my department a high level of positive press and notoriety.

01/16/00

  • Featured article in the Delaware News Journal detailing several additional arrests regarding online predator activity

09/29/98

  • Guest speaker at DuPont regarding Internet Safety

07/98

  • Birth of my incredible baby boy!

12/97

  • Married my lovely wife Karen

12/93