Posts Tagged ‘In the Workplace’

In the Workplace: Fall 2009 Edition Round-Up

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

beyondwords recently showcased the talent of more professional writers, editors, and designers in the Fall 2009 edition of our “In the Workplace” series. Today we’ll take a look back at their answers to the question:

Do you have any tips to share with other professional writers/editors/designers?

Emily Wenstrom

Read everything. Know your grammar and style guides. Be adventurous — new experiences strengthen your writing and creativity by broadening your horizons.
Emily Wenstrom | Resident Ink Slinger; Managing Editor

Derek Moore

The biggest piece of advice I can pass along to any creative person is to never ever stop creating and never stop looking for new outlets to create in. Keep loving what you do!
Derek Moore | Web Artist and Co-Founder of Simplify Advance

Luke Capizzo

[B]e an evangelist for good writing. You do this by consistently writing well, but also by helping others to improve their writing and understand the goals of audience-focused communication. The world is growing increasingly more complex, so people who can explain it and help others explain it grow more important every day.
Luke Capizzo | Communications Specialist

Justin Parnell

Despite your experience level, you should maintain a level of anxiety. Anxiety is too often translated as unorganized and unconfident in business, but I’ve always viewed it as severe bleeding of passion. This passion will force you to remain invaluable by never saying no to projects or the smallest of tasks. It will also leave you hungry for ideas and make you want to keep learning.
Justin Parnell | Brand Marketing Designer; Freelance Graphic & Web Designer

Abbe Tykwinski - Work

Don’t think because you don’t have a “creative” job that you can’t be creative. You make your own opportunities. If you feel underutilized, look for ways to go beyond your job description and showcase your talents.
Abbe Tykwinski | Print Production Coordinator

Mark Fulton

Start building up your personal or business brand through social media and industry community websites. Give much more than you take. Sharing is much more rewarding than advertising your own work over and over. Your readers will appreciate your efforts to educate and inform them. They will also pass these resources on to their friends, extending your reach and brand exposure.
Mark Fulton | Web Developer, Domainer, Entrepreneur, Blogger

Thank you to all our featured professionals who gave us a glimpse into the work they do, from how they create and communicate in their job to how they define professional writing. For more inspiration, be sure to check out all our interviews with young professionals.

Tags:
Posted in Career | 1 Comment »

In the Workplace with Mark Fulton

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Name: Mark Fulton
Title: Web Developer, Domainer, Entrepreneur, Blogger
Website/Blog: DotSauce Magazine
Location: Jacksonville, NC

Mark Fulton with sister Rachel Fulton
Mark with sister Rachel Fulton

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
My strongest passion has always been online business, being an entrepreneur and writing my own destiny (no pun intended). I started a web hosting and design company in 1998 while a freshman in high school. It was a life-changing initiative for me. I was 15 and taking on clients like the local country club, Chamber of Commerce, musicians, small business, organizations, and more. I would later learn that tech support and updating websites for people was not so rewarding. I got into developing advertiser-supported community websites of my own — some reached thousands of members.

My second passion is writing! I wandered the campuses of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for three years, absorbing some of the various offerings that piqued my interests. I soon found that business school wasn’t for me (turns out my anti-passion is calculus), so I pursued a study of professional writing and creative writing. I had always loved writing stories, poetry, and blogging.

I nearly finished at UNCW, less than a year of credits to graduation, but a culmination of events such as failing Computer Science 201 (which I could have taught in my sleep, but did not succeed at taking the final exam in my sleep) and other misfortunes led me to take an extended hiatus to pursue my own online business interests. I have looked at going back to finish, but I’m waiting for the right time as it would only distract from my current business growth.

Tell us about your current job.
I founded DotSauce Magazine in early 2007 as a destination for those interested in domain names. Domaining is the business of buying, selling, and otherwise making money with .COM addresses. I also cater to front-end web developers (not programmers), WordPress enthusiasts, online marketers, bloggers, and online entrepreneurs.

Some of my other active projects are focused on Twitter. I’ve created a Twitter Forum and Twitter app for creating lists of friends.

I also sell domain names occasionally at AQDN.com – Affordable Quality Domain Names. (more…)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Career, Design, Web, Writing | 1 Comment »

In the Workplace with Abbe Tykwinski

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Name: Abbe Tykwinski
Title: Print Production Coordinator
Website/Blog: abbetyk.blogspot.comWeb Design by Abbe Tykwinski
Location: Chicago, IL

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated in 2006 with a B.A. in Professional Writing from Michigan State University. My track was Editing & Publishing, but I took a lot of the Digital & Technical Writing classes as well. After college I moved to Chicago and got a job re-designing the website of a writing instructor, which I enjoyed. I maintained the website until I got a job at a small publishing company that produced pages for office supply catalogs. I had a temporary job there as a proofreader and when they hired me full-time, I was given the task of re-designing their website as well as managing their image database, reporting on catalog data, and even doing some page makeup. I’ve also done a little freelance web design.

Tell us about your current job.
I currently work at CVS Caremark through a marketing/design staffing agency called Aquent. I started working here in January 2009. I work with two other people to print and assemble proposals and presentations and also a variety of marketing collateral. We run this stuff on the four digital presses we have in house.

I’ve diverged from that job description a little bit by helping design new print request forms and revamping the department’s project tracking database. When I started this job, the database we used captured no useful data other than the names of the projects and who requested them. When the VP of Marketing started to request actual reports, it was obvious we needed to change our system. Our workload had lightened substantially and we had hired a third production coordinator, so I used my downtime to build a new database in Filemaker. I’d never used Filemaker before so it was a real learning experience. I’m happy to say that today we have a functional database that captures all the cost, supply usage, and workload information that we need. (more…)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Career, Design, Web, Writing | 1 Comment »

In the Workplace with Justin Parnell

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Name: Justin Parnell
Title: Brand Marketing Designer; Freelance Graphic & Web Designer
Location: Denver, CO

Justin Parnell

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications at Regis University here in Denver in 2006. My entire life I wanted to be a writer, so my primary focus throughout college was journalism and public relations. My sophomore year I took up an internship with Exclusive Resorts (ER) as a copywriter developing member and employee communication materials. Around the same time, I became editor-in-chief for the university’s newspaper, which kick-started my initial passion for design.

Despite having no technical training and education in graphic design, I jumped at an opportunity to become an in-house designer with Exclusive Resorts after graduating. Working in such a rapid-paced, young, and enthusiastic work environment, I actually doubted my decision for several months. One of my personal peeves is lacking tools and knowledge to do something, especially in a field I feel so passionate about. With the patience and critique of my two former design teammates, literature, blogs, and reverse engineering every ounce of creative I could get my hands on, I was quickly able to gain confidence in becoming a well-established designer.

Tell us about your current job.
I hardly consider what I do a job . . . or work, for that matter. Design really has become my hobby and just an extension of who I really am. I’m very fortunate to be one of two designers at Exclusive Resorts, working alongside a team of writers, managers, and strategists.

As an in-house designer at ER, I’d like to say I make a living from removing excessive spaces after a period. Aside from this mischief, I assist or lead the concept, design, and production of all prospect marketing, member communication, and employee communication. Much of this includes print and online advertising, sales collateral, product collateral, direct mail, e-mail marketing, and monthly newsletters.

When my fingers are not typesetting, coding, color correcting, or drawing in Adobe Creative Suite, they are leading the art direction on architectural photo shoots. The obvious gem of my company is the product itself—stunning luxury homes in some of the world’s greatest destinations. I’ve had the great honor of directing shoots at The Arrabelle in Vail, Colorado, the Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, California, Ho’olei in Wailea, Maui, and The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences in Kapalua Bay, Maui alongside truly remarkable photographers, Eric Jamison of Studio J and Tony Novak-Clifford. (more…)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Career, Design, Web | Comments Off

In the Workplace with Luke Capizzo

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Name: Luke Capizzo
Title: Communications Specialist
Website: twitter.com/capizzol, www.mcul.org
Location: Lansing, MI
Luke Capizzo

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated from Michigan State University in ’07 with a dual B.A. in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy (PTCD, that’s one) and Professional Writing (PW). I really enjoyed studying the leading writers in Western political thought, but I’m employed because of the writing skills, design processes, and use of the serial comma that I learned in Professional Writing. I spent a year at a small PR firm (with varying degrees of success) before taking my current job.

Tell us about your current job.
I’m a communications specialist with the Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL), the state trade association for credit unions. I’m in a department of four people that takes care of media relations, publications, multimedia, web writing (and a little bit of design), social media outreach, and member communications. I handle about half of the media relations load including writing press releases and op-eds, contacting reporters and pitching stories, and general strategizing for media outreach. We get to dabble in the political advocacy side of media communications as well, which I enjoy tremendously.

I also write for four different MCUL publications and am the editor/designer for one of them. We oversee the website content, so I get to do regular updates to the public affairs pages and work with other departments to improve the information architecture, usability, and writing in their areas as well. Our department does video work, generally for web use, so I get to write, shoot, and edit the occasional short video. My boss (the director of public affairs) is a former TV news guy, so I’ve learned a lot about basic video production from working with him. I also tweet occasionally on the company account. (more…)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Career, Design, Editing, Web, Writing | Comments Off

In the Workplace with Derek Moore

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Name: Derek Moore
Title: Web Artist and Co-Founder of Simplify Advance
Website: http://dereksmoore.com
Location: Chicago, IL

Derek Moore

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I am self-taught. When I was 16-years-old, I created my first website. I continued to make a few more, coding everything by hand. Eventually I started to get paid for the work I was doing. Now I get paid for all of my work or at least I’d like to think that’s the case.

Tell us about your current job.
Currently I am running my own shop called Simplify Advance. We make custom web applications for people with great ideas. We also make our own ideas come to life. You can check out http://beanvsleaf.com and http://makeapeep.com, two fun foundation apps that instigated the birth of Simplify Advance. (more…)

Tags: ,
Posted in Career, Design, Web | 1 Comment »

In the Workplace with Emily Wenstrom

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Name: Emily Wenstrom
Titles: Resident ink slinger, Motion Marketing & Media; Managing editor, Capital Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine
Websites: www.m3group.biz, www.cawlm.com
Location: Lansing, MI

Emily Wenstrom

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated from Calvin College with double majors in English and mass media. I worked as a copy editor and later a section editor for the student newspaper there, and held an editorial internship where I wrote for two city magazines before I graduated. I actually got my first taste of marketing through an administrative assistant position – the company put my creativity and writing skills to work by putting me on projects for an internal newsletter, some promotional materials, event planning and Web site writing. I loved that, but the administrative part of my job was unfulfilling and I honestly wasn’t that good at it…so I moved on to full-time freelancing. Now I am Motion Marketing & Media’s (M3) resident ink slinger and managing editor of Capital Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine (CAWLM).

Tell us about your current job.
As M3′s resident ink slinger, I do a lot of copywriting for a broad variety of materials, from proposals to newsletters to websites to press releases and more. I also pitch a lot of stories and interviews about our clients to newspapers, television, and radio. I’m the primary proofreader for all materials that come out of the M3 office and I also manage social media for various campaigns. I work with the rest of the team on branding, communications plans, and events.

As managing editor of CAWLM, I coordinate the many pieces that must come together to bring the magazine to fruition each month. This includes conceptualizing story ideas, managing freelance writers and photographers, writing articles, editing articles, and working with the rest of our in-house team to keep tabs on ad revenues and layout design. I also oversee our reader outreach, including radio ads, the website, and the Facebook Fan page.

I wear a lot of different hats. It helps me stay creative and on top of my game. I love it. (more…)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Career, Editing, Web, Writing | 2 Comments »

In the Workplace, Fall 2009 Edition

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

I’m excited to announce that beyondwords will be showcasing the talent of more professional writers, editors, and designers in the Fall 2009 edition of our “In the Workplace” series.

Our featured professionals will give us a glimpse into the work they do, from how they create and communicate in their job to how they define professional writing.

The Fall series will kick off on October 5. Until then, get inspired by browsing our past interviews with young professionals.

Tags:
Posted in Career, Design, Editing, Writing | Comments Off

In the Workplace with Lisa Eldred

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Name: Lisa Eldred
Title: Editorial Assistant; Freelance Editor
Website: http://wasabijane.com
Location: Lansing, MI

Lisa Eldred

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I have a B.A. in English from Grand Valley State University and recently completed an M.A. in Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing at Michigan State University, with a certificate in Serious Game Design.

Work-wise, I have been at MSU Outreach and Engagement since October 2004, though only recently as a full-time employee. I also do freelance editing for Joe Darden, Professor of Geography at MSU, and helped develop the Beginning Farmers website for Taylor Reid in Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies.

Tell us about your current job.
Outreach and Engagement’s mission is to promote and support outreach work and scholarship across the entire university. My unit works mostly on content development and distribution–so reports, websites, brochures, conference support, ad infinitum. I help maintain three websites, write stories for our annual magazine, and, most frequently, design and edit scholarly reports. Thus far, my freelance work has been of a similar nature.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in Career, Design, Editing, Web, Writing | Comments Off

In the Workplace with Kathryn Houghton

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Name: Kathryn Houghton
Titles: Web Designer and Technical Writer for Eastern Washington University; Web Editor for Willow Springs
Websites: http://kathrynhoughton.com
Location: Spokane, WA

Kathryn Houghton

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated with a degree in professional writing from MSU in 2008. While at State I worked as a writing and digital consultant at the Writing Center and as an editorial assistant for Fourth Genre, MSU’s literary magazine of nonfiction. Currently I am a graduate student at Eastern Washington University (EWU) studying fiction writing.

Tell us about your current job.
I hold two different positions right now. I work as a web designer and technical writer for Online Learning at EWU. Online Learning basically encompasses all of the online courses and the resources required to maintain them, and so I spend a lot of time working in Blackboard LMS or making updates to the various websites that fall under the umbrella of my division.

My other position is web editor for Willow Springs, EWU’s literary magazine of poetry, prose, and interviews. I am responsible for updating and maintaining the Willow Springs website, which can mean anything from fixing typos and updating staff lists to creating new graphics and contacting authors for featured content. Since this position is also part of the management team, I also get to work in some other areas such as manuscript screening and copyediting.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in Career, Editing, Web, Writing | 1 Comment »