Joe Tynes has spent the past 28 years as a school and public librarian with a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Since installing a school's first lab in 1980 using Radio Shack computers, he has seen technology grow into the current integrated networks environment. For 20 years Joe was in the dual role of library director and IT manager. The demands on his time as director and limited budgets of Mississippi's multi-county library systems required that he find the most efficient and cost effective technology. Joe discovered that the products provided by Veicon Technology were an answer to his search.

For several years Joe was chairman of the exhibits committee for the Mississippi Library Association. He also served on the Database Selection Committee of the MAGNOLIA consortium, a million dollar statewide project funded by the legislature. In those roles Tynes met hundreds of vendors and learned to recognize and appreciate those with innovative products and a dedication to their customers. He was impressed with Veicon Technology's customer support and it's donation of Internet cafes to conferences. Upon retirement at the age of 51, Joe began seeking a challenging venture that would make the best use of his time and talents. Having been invited by the Bill and Melinda Gates Library Foundation to do a presentation on thin client technology at a pre-conference workshop at PLA 2004, Tynes had an opportunity to meet Dr. Change Lee at Veicon's exhibit booth. This has led to his new position as Mid-South Representative and as National Manager for VELP, Veicon's Extended Life Program for Gates library computer networks.