Technical Summary

• Dreamweaver CS3
• Microsoft Office (Mac/PC)
• Visio
• Photoshop - CS3
• InDesign - CS3
• Quark Xpress
• Numbers
• Keynote

• IBM WebSphere 5.2
• Oracle Portal 2.0 (9iAS)
• Illustrator - CS3
• Day Communique
• Vignette
• Pages
• Google Analytics/WebTrends

Marketing Specialist.
Ottawa County, Holland, MI
Marketing Specialist. Aug. 2007 - Present
Ottawa County Michigan Works!/Community Action Partnership - county non-profit business partnership and training agency combined with the county's non-profit housing authority.

Repositioning brands of both Michigan Works! and CAA; separating audiences and messaging accordingly; budgeting and long-term strategy.

Activities Specific to Michigan Works!

• Defining audiences
  
  
• Separating audiences determined by levels of service
  
  
• Redesigning messages to each audience
  
  
• Developing audience-specific look and feel
  
  
• Shifting mission of Michigan Works! from just individual job seeker to include business partner and economic development
  
  
• Internal marketing in order to gain consensus on brand shift
  
  
• Rebranding Michigan Works! through:
  
  
  • Targeted messaging to separate audiences
  • Redesigned look and feel targeted to separate audiences
  • Sponsorship of non-traditional events
  • Partnership with innovative businesses and leaders
    
    
• Quantify marketing efforts through:
  
  
  • using web stats
  • narrowing media outlets per audience
  • analyzing ROI on gray-area outlets such as radio, billboards

Activities Specific to Community Action Partnership

• Highlighting the Agency's various functions in the community
  
  
• Building marketing and network access with community businesses for future partnerships
  
  
• Fundraising - drawing donors and audience from the county of 1632 sq/mi, 266,000 residents

Activities For both Michigan Works!/CAA

• Developing legislative contacts
  
  
• Raising awareness of local agency activities at state level
  
  
• Developing media contacts
  
  
  • Television
  • Radio
  • Print
    
    
• Better utilization of web site to communicate to wider audience
  
  
• Quantify marketing efforts utilizing:
  
  
  • web stats,
  • numbers of phone calls referencing specific phone number
  • use of newly developed user tools
    
    
• Copywriting: Press releases, radio spots, brochures/literature, print advertising, annual report, correspondence to media, county employees, county citizenry
  
  
• Appearing on local access television to promote activities
  
  
• Speaking on radio spots to promote activities
  
  
• Media placement/calendar
  
  
• Collateral design and layout
  
  
• Budget projects

Business Analyst.
Select Resources, Grandville, MI
Recruiters / placement. 11/06 - 06/07

Contracting at Johnson Controls, Inc. as a Business Analyst on the Employee Portal team, leading global projects as IT Project Lead: 1) Six Sigma - Continuous Improvement, 2) Supply Chain Management

• After a project request, I develop key contacts related to requestor's department within the business (domestic and global), creating a Project Charter: identifying the core team, list of interviewees defining audience, stakeholders, scope, budget.
  
  
• I develop lists of probing questions, delivered in a conversational tone regarding audience's present situation and their desired end result. What results is series of use cases that contribute to project goal.
  
  
• Documenting user-centered tasks (use cases): watching users work and documenting results
  
  
• Writing the functional requirements for business approval
  
  
• Writing technical requirements for IT/programming consumption. Clarity is key here; business understands what is expected, and approves, IT understands site behavior and how to program for it. There is no interpretation.
  
  
• Creating site map and information architecture: organizing the information/content into logical usable navigation - using Visio or Excel
  
  
• Creating wire frames for generic layout approval - using Visio, Powerpoint or Photoshop
  
  
• Creating a Usability Plan based on questions related to the project; conducting usability testing by sampling audience members, often by role or region.
  
  
• Created portal site framework for content managers to work within - using Day Communique and Vignette
  
  
• Communication/launch plan/implementation; creating the communications surrounding a product launch and determining the best channels and the timing of communications release
  
  
• Presenting to management using Powerpoints, Visio, handouts, online demonstrations (subjects included project updates, one-on-ones, executive summaries, project overviews/reviews)
  
  
• Mediation/conflict resolution - finding common ground amongst constituents and stakeholders, and finding common goals of separate departments brought together by specific project
  
  
• Six-Sigma-CI project (global, enterprise-wide [Automotive Experience, Building Efficiency, Power Solutions]): postponed due to business resources. Got as far as wire frames.
  
  
• Supply Chain Management: three successes: 1. Launched three days early, 2. Constituent group created its own content, 3. First group to need intranet-type tool as opposed to informational site

eMarketing Specialist.
Haworth, Inc. Holland, MI
Global manufacturer of office furniture. 3/01 - 11/06.
Designed, lead the project (business-side), built and managed user-facing Extranet - Java and WebSphere-based platform - and also other like-projects of equal or lesser scope

Responsibilities include interface design, information architecture, site architecture, creating and migrating content, graphics, training. Appeared in IBM's corporate Success Story video.

• Users groups: 300 independently-owned furniture dealerships, internal Haworth members
  
  
• Stakeholders are nearly every Corporate department, and all Haworth employees not HR-related
  
  
• Conducted lead research on portal strategies - found studies (Gartner) and companies willing to have a discussion
  
  
• Conduct product reviews and lead proof of concepts projects
  
  
• Conducted role-based interviews with 35 representative dealerships - sales, customer service, design, dealer-owner, administrative - documenting user requirements - what would they want from a web site to:   a) make transacting with the company easier, b) reduce passwords, c) reduce repetitive calls to customer service (and other departments), d) finding non-public product information easier

• Gathered requirements from multiple departments within company: a) what will reduce phone calls, b) what departmental content will help a dealer, c) close a sale, d) reduce questions
  
  
• Required internal resource buy-in as continued content creator/manager
  
  
• During internal interview process I often discovered workflow and business process overlaps, which were corrected - often saving thousands of dollars
  
  
• Wrote functional requirements combining internal (corporate) / external (dealer) feedback
  
  
• Wrote technical requirements (This is what each screen should do, click here, screen refreshes, etc.) in clear, concise English to serve as direction for programmers
  
  
• Business lead for Information Architecture - created site map and created the logical flow of navigation for site and per page - using Visio
  
  
• Create wire frames for each screen, and each per-click - using Visio and Photoshop
  
  
• Designed user interface (GUI) - worked with marketing brand standards, incorporated them into portal constraints. Worked directly with graphic designer and java programmer to iron out look and feel, and site behavior issues.
  
  
• Created portal site itself using the IA structure - using WebSphere and IBM Web Content Management
  
  
• Performed user testing with external and internal audiences
  
  
• Provided these services for three Portals (html, Oracle, WebSphere)
  
  
• Provided above services for corporate global intranet - created Project Charter, chose cross-functional team, specified language-specific, personalized, de-centralized content managed, wrote functional and technical requirements, created wire frames. Project on hold due to budget restraints.
  
  
• Project-managed many other sub-projects such as user-registration, guest-services, occasional agency-related print collateral, graphic design

Highlights

• Changed the way corporate communicated: 1. Amongst departments 2. From corporate to its dealer network 3. Created one communication channel 4. Obsoleted 5-7 channels of communication
  
  
• Increased traffic to sales tools and secured financial access for dealerships
  
  
• Combined 5 essential secured sites under one password - created a true SSO scenario

• Support specific regional sales initiatives
• Plan events, create support material
• Company re-branding, re-messaging
• All Internet design & advertising
• SEO / placement
• All printed material; 2- and 4-color offset press, short-run digital press for targeted markets
• Copywriting: brochures, ads, marketing materials
• Hire agencies, agency reviews

Freelance/Creative Director.
Stock Communications, LLC, Lakeshore Family Times, other projects. Family-oriented magazine for Michigan lakeshore. 9/99 - 11/01.

• Responsible for layout of Lakeshore Family Times (Michigan lakeshore family-oriented magazine)
• Graphic design for local business

Art Director.
Cadillac Plastic. Worldwide distributor of raw material plastics. From 11/94 - 9/99.
Responsibilities included agency selection, all print, all Internet, all graphic design - branding and identity.

• Manage multiple projects in-house and through multiple agencies
• Created global branding standards for print and Internet (nascent)
• Graphic design for all marketing channels (aerospace, engineering, marine, construction)
• Developed target-marketing regional strategies short-run digital press (first in MI to use Indigo Press)
• Co-branding efforts with GE, joint marketing in local markets
• Copywriting for brochures, Internet, quarterly corporate newsletter
• Trade show graphics, large-format, varying techniques
• First industry web site & Extranet
• Hired agencies, agency reviews

Artist/Illustrator.
The Raytheon Company. Defense contractor. From 6/90 – 11/94. Given Secret clearance.

• 2-D illustrations
• Technical illustration of circuits, radars, machines and more
• Prepare presentations for government-sponsored scientists
• Awarded Secret clearance

MacTemp.
MacTemps.
Provided technical and desktop publishing support to many of Boston’s largest companies. 6/88 – 6/90.

Hightlights

• Researched portal strategies for multi–national company. Implemented two enterprise-wide secured extranets for North American dealer network
• Business Lead Information architecture
• Business Lead interface design
• Redefined company workflow of information and communication
• Create brand standards, graphic design templates
• Define communication strategies, messaging
• Create training materials
• Training large groups: content managers/content approvers and field sales groups
• Business lead in Marketing Communications/IS team
• Determine ad strategies
• Delegate assignments to internal corporate/field personnel

History

• Manage worldwide corporate identity
• Plan, budget and design company web site; hire outside programmers
• Manage full–time design staff
• Maintain design, content control of company website/extranet
• Hire agencies – manage outsourced projects