About this site

Welcome to Not Just a Web Guy — a blog that's equal parts professional insight, hard-won lessons, and the occasional tech rant that probably could've been an email but absolutely needed to be a blog post instead.

I'm Marcus Townsend, Solutions Architect for a municipality in, North Carolina, where I've been making technology work for government for over twenty years. Yes, government. Yes, really. No, I don't know how either.

By day, I'm the person who gets called in when someone says "we need a solution" — which, in government IT, usually means "we have a problem we've been ignoring for six years and need it fixed by Tuesday." I hold a Certified Government Digital Service Professional (CGDSP) certification, which is a very long way of saying I jumped through enough hoops that they gave me letters to put after my name. In 2019, the Fayetteville Observer named me one of their 40 Under 40 honorees for my community work, which I've been quietly proud of ever since.

Passionate about technology and accessibility — because the internet should be for everyone, not just people with fiber connections and perfect eyesight — I joined the NAGW board in 2020 as East Regional Director. Because apparently I didn't have enough meetings on my calendar.

Before all of this, I was a kid who earned his Eagle Scout in 1999, which taught me that if something needs doing, you figure out how to do it. A philosophy that has served me extremely well in government IT. I'm also a proud member of the Loyal Order of Moose and a supporter of their charitable causes, because community service isn't just a bullet point on a resume — it's a way of life.

When I'm not solving technology problems or attending meetings about future meetings, you'll likely find me under the hood of my Mustang (which, unlike most enterprise software, I actually understand) or running a rack at the pool table in a game of 9 ball.

Here on the blog you'll find things I write for newsletters, things I've learned (sometimes the hard way), things that genuinely interest me, and the occasional rant about tech decisions that make absolutely no sense — because somebody has to say it out loud.

Thanks for stopping by. Grab a seat. Mind the opinions — they're strong, and they're mine.