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Jay Schuster
Jay Schuster
Not Your Average Queer Computer Nerd
by Euan Bear
Winooski – When
you see Jay Schuster, the image that comes to mind is not "computer
nerd." There's no pocket protector, no glasses, and no white shirt
and tie. Instead, there's a black beanie that matches his full moustache
and beard, a tee shirt and rust-colored canvas Carhartts. If you catch
him in summer, there are tattoos and time spent at Faerie Camp Destiny
in southern Vermont. Between seasons, there's the leather biker jacket
to go with a love of motorcycles (he and his spouse have a Yamaha).
What you don't see is
the stereotypical buttoned-down image of a cofounder and vice president
of a computer company with more than 40 employees that specializes in
software and training to help doctors manage their practices. But that's
where images are deceiving, because that is what Jay Schuster does.
The company is Physician's Computer
Company (although it started out as "People's Computer Company"
not long after Burlington became known as the "People's Republic"),
with offices in the Mill in Winooski. Largely through Jay's influence,
the company has been a benefactor to lgbt nonprofits, among other projects
and groups.
"John Canning [the other
still-involved co-founder] and I knew each other in high school,"
Jay explained in a recent interview. "We were in Explorer Scouts
together." Schuster grew up in Essex Junction, IBM sponsored the
Explorer Post, and his dad was the scoutmaster, so it was perhaps inevitable
that he would be involved in computers early in his life.
The friends' first project was
to computerize a pediatrician's office in South Burlington in 1983. "The
lesson there was 'there's no such thing as a summer project,'" Jay
recalled. At the end of the summer, Jay went back to his senior year at
Cornell, John returned to RPI, and the two worked on vacations. "That
was when 300 baud [per second] was a fast modem, but the long distance
charges were killing us."
Undaunted, they
tackled their second physician's practice in 1984, just after Jay's graduation.
By the next year, they had three more doctor's practices as clients while
the friends finished grad school. "And it just grew from there. I've
basically been doing the same thing for 23 years," Jay grinned.
For the geeks, PCC's programming
started out with Unix and is now Linux-based. Even for clients networking
as few as three or four computers, the key is keeping that network secure.
"All it takes is skipping a security update or downloading a screensaver
from the Web, and you've got a virus or somebody in Romania is using your
computer to send porn," Jay explained.
The company took on different
programming tasks at various times to keep the venture afloat: accounts
receivable for a publisher, a radio fire alarm system for the Pine Bluff
(Arkansas) chemical weapons arsenal, inventory and accounts for a women's
clothing wholesaler. "We found out that consulting wasn't really
what we were good at or what we wanted to do, so we remarketed ourselves
as the Physician's Computer Company, and specialize in practice-management
software."
Their system covers
everything from making appointments to billing insurance companies, to
tracking the financial health of the practice, to identifying when each
patient needs to be called for another appointment. "After 23 years,
we have more experience than some doctors. We help negotiate with insurance
companies about their reimbursement rates."
Jay does programming and system
administration. He is not a people person.
"The job can be stressful –
in that clients call us when they need help or are frustrated –
so we try to create a fun work environment. And it keeps us in toys."
He laughed, and then admitted, "I'm probably the most Luddite of
anybody here. I'm the only one that's not working on a laptop."
Jay Schuster and
spouse Dan Berns were united in civil union in early August of 2000 at
Faerie Camp Destiny during the Lammas celebration. The Faeries' annual
play that year was "a very campy" A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Jay was cast as Theseus, Dan as Hippolyta. "At the end of the play
everybody gets married, and really it's the boring part of the play. They
were going to end [our version] before then. Dan and I were just going
to go off in a corner of the woods for our ceremony, but then the Faeries
found out and they segued [the play] into our handfasting."
Dan, who is HIV-positive, has
been a volunteer in working on sexuality and HIV prevention with queer
youth through Outright (see "Hometown Hero," OITM October
2004). "I met Dan at a party in Burlington the night before Christmas
Eve 11 years ago. I actually met two guys I was interested in, and one
had an email address. That was Dan."
Jay said his sexuality is not
an issue at work. "I hate coming out to people. I've had the same
job for 23 years, so I haven't had to figure out whether to come out in
a job interview.
"Some clients know, some
don't, some I wouldn't want to know. Some clients are ridiculously conservative,
like American Family Association-conservative. I have this internal debate
about how much to closet myself. When I was single it was easier. Now
that I have a partner I can’t really make small talk about my life
without saying 'we.' A bunch of clients know about Dan and his illness.
He used to take photos at our user conferences, so we'd identify him as
a 'PCC spouse.' So I guess I'm in the 'constructive engagement' approach
rather than 'in your face.'"
The company's philanthropy
began because "of all the small businesses around, we had the nicest
photocopier. So when organizations asked us, we always said, 'Sure!' But
now we ask how big the job is and beyond a certain point, we'll ask for
an invoice for the printing." Otherwise, PCC's generosity is aimed
primarily at health-oriented causes, those serving children, and arts
organizations. "We each have our pet organizations," Jay said,
"and there's a pool of money for distribution by our donation committee.
We also try to leverage our donations. We sponsor certain shows at the
Flynn, and then they can go to bigger businesses like IDX [another Burlington-based
medical-software company] and say, 'PCC is sponsoring, why aren't you?'"
On Jay's 'public' webpage
(the one that can be accessed through the PCC website, pcc.com)
you'll find out that he loves speculative fiction (known to non-initiates
as "science fiction"), especially award-winning black gay author
Samuel Delaney. His fan website on Delaney is cited with respect on many
other websites. Astronomy, weather, 19th century issues of Scientific
American, maps and geography, independent bookstores, movies, and NPR's
Car Talk, among other items, are also favored with links. Of course, the
page does note that the last time it was updated was 1997.