John Son
Director of MarketSite Technical Operations
The reason why I've been here for so long is that I just love technology, and I think technology is interwoven into our company DNA – technology touches everything that we do on a day-to-day basis.
John Son’s passion for technology led him to Nasdaq 20 years ago, and as new technologies have emerged during that time, he’s been instrumental in some of the company’s most significant technology projects.
When he joined in March of 1998 in a systems admin position, it didn’t take long for him to realize that it was a natural fit.
“During the initial three months, it was just a great experience getting exposure to a lot of technology because I majored in computer science in college,” John said.
A little more than a year later, John was part of the team that helped Nasdaq move from Wall Street to Times Square, which is now home to Nasdaq’s global headquarters. The move brought the action of Wall Street to the millions of people passing through Times Square, thanks to Nasdaq’s eight-story-high video screen, dubbed the MarketSite Tower, and the glass-enclosed broadcast studio.
“That was a huge project. We were building out a new facility with all new systems and going through all the testing and the commissioning, and working with other groups to make sure that everything was working properly because we had this major launch scheduled with the governor and the mayor of New York. It was a really huge event to be able to put all that hard work and effort into that grand opening in January of 2000,” John said.
Over the years, John’s role evolved. In 2006, he became a manager for the first time, giving him the opportunity to build a team and provide the necessary support for the team to thrive.
“There's a lot that I've learned, but as far as some of the most important, I think it’s just being able to work with people,” said John. “With any project or initiative, it's something that we need to get done collectively as a group or a team. Nothing really happens without teamwork, and one person can only do so much.”
About 14 years after the opening of MarketSite, John had the opportunity to work on another massive project – upgrading the MarketSite Tower to new technology.
“It took a lot of planning and coordination – working with a lot of vendors and a lot of internal groups to make that happen,” he said.
John now manages a team as director of MarketSite Technical Operations, but he said if he ever had the opportunity to manage multiple teams, he would welcome that challenge.
“The reason why I've been here for so long is that I just love technology, and I think technology is interwoven into our company DNA – technology touches everything that we do on a day-to-day basis,” John said. “Getting experience with all of these different technologies has been great for me, personally and professionally.”