Nick Russi, a Swiss orienteering champ as a teen-ager, is getting oriented as WMA’s new webmaster.

Internet interview: WMA’s Nicolas Russi

By Ken Stone

Nicolas “Nick” Russi, the first professional webmaster for World Masters Athletics, lives in Brittnau, Switzerland, between Berne and Zurich -- part of the Aargau canton. Born November 3, 1960, he is married (wife is Edith) but has no children.

“I was originally a teacher but never worked in this job,” Russi wrote in January 2002. “I started in the early 1980s as a journalist at different newspapers and worked starting in 1989 at the Swiss Sports News Agency. I left the editorial staff in 1998 to build an Internet department. Besides that, I worked until the end of last year as media officer for the Swiss Athletics Federation.”

Outside of work (which he says often takes up “more than 100 percent” of his time), he takes part in “theater and comedy.”

“I am mostly the writer in our group, which performs sometimes on special occasions and every year in November,” Russi says.

He speaks German, French, Italian and English. The interview was conducted in mid-January 2002, not long after he was named WMA webmaster:

Masterstrack.com: You wear many hats (as manifested by the selection of e-mail addresses I found). How will the WMA job fit into your busy schedule?

Nick Russi: You’re right. I wear many hats. But I am not alone. I’ve built a small
company named mediasprint gmbh that has 2.5 people (me, a Web designer and a part-time database programmer). And as fast as the business grows, I am thinking about additional staff. Secondly my main job is during the construction of the site. Then my assistant and WMA people directly through news section software are mostly involved in the updates.

How did you learn of the WMA webmaster opening? Were you recruited for the job (and by whom?) or did you note the opening on the wava.org Web site and apply on your own?

The WMA treasurer informed me about this job. Then I contacted Torsten Carlius and we had two talks in Moscow (IOC Congress) and Monte Carlo (IAAF Gala).

How did the interview process go? Did you have high hopes of getting the job?

I explained to the WMA representatives why and how this work fits in our business. And that we can provide a lot of athletics knowledge.

WMA has said it would pay the new WMA webmaster a maximum of $500 a month, yet it set out an ambitious set of goals and duties that would require much more time than the part-time pay suggests. Will you be paid more than WMA first suggested, or will you prioritize your duties (and not try to accomplish them all)?

Frankly always when you work for federations not all of your work is totally paid. But we agreed on the proposed amount and we will see how it works.

Will Web designers at Mediasprint be involved in Web design of the new WMA site? Will you have help producing content for the new WMA Web site?

We are currently in the process of creating a new WMA logo. Mediasprint did some proposals. When we have a decision, it will be the starting point for the design. For the content, we will take the existing WAVA content as bases.

Is the EAA media/Internet job your main career, or is it with Mediasprint GMBH?

WMA is a part of the work in mediasprint. we run about 25 Web sites. The main job is media and Internet in the EAA.

What is your familiarity with masters athletics? Have you been to a masters meet -- or competed in one?

As an athlete, I did orienteering (1978 Swiss youth champ). But that was all. I did a few track races in this time but orienteering was always my main sport. More and more I came in athletics as a journalist and for 10 years I weas responsable for athletics in the Swiss news agency. I haven’t competed in any track races in recent years. I do more road races (a few) but mainly just jog for my health without competition. But of course I have to take care to learn more what’s going on in the masters family.

What are your main goals for the WMA Web site?

To build a good Web site and to satisfy all interested people.

Will you need help in producing content for the site?

When we have produced the general structure and discussed all content details, then I can answer this question.

Has a new domain name been chosen for the WMA Web site? (If yes, what is it? If not, when do you expect this to be done?)

The new address will be www.world-masters-athletics.org