Talented Technical Writer
03.377.P.06
A versatile technical writer who has created 320 user manuals, videos, CDs and marketing collateral materials for leading manufacturers, data centers and biotechnology companies.
Expertise includes outstanding skills in writing, illustrating, graphics, marketing and management of creative user publication functions.
EXPERIENCE
Zebra Technologies, Inc., Camarillo, California 1999-2006
Publications Specialist
Created and produced 54 training documents, 106 videos, 40 animations and 6 CD interfaces for new products and user procedures for the replacement of spare parts and product updates for a specialty printer manufacturer with annual sales of $700 million.
- Prepared complete training multi-media presentations for 16 individual printer models. Used video hardware and software to produce finished instructional videos in three languages.
- Introduced the use of wordless graphic-based, quick-start guides that saved $20,000 in translation fees. This format was used for all subsequent instruction guides. Additional savings were achieved through the elimination of separate language documents.
- Upgraded the user CD for the company's line of 12 desktop printers. This included consolidating engineering content that was formerly on two CDs into one CD.
- Prepared a new replacement procedure that combined common steps for each machine into a single instruction.
- Implemented procedures that focused quality assurance reviews of the entire multi-media package to those areas specific for product release. This expedited getting new products to market.
- Created shortcuts in producing art work, instructional videos and CDs.
Advanced Matrix Technology, Inc., Camarillo, California 1992-1999
Technical Writer
Hired as the company's first in-house technical writer for a specialty printer manufacturer. Created five user manuals, one field service guide for six new models and marketing collateral for these products. This entailed writing, creating graphics and contracting for photographs and media-ready files.
- Created isometric projection drawings of hundreds of printer parts and assemblies. Wrote service and maintenance procedures.
- Conducted market research on competitive products along with feature comparisons and provided suggestions for future models.
- Redesigned the marketing product guide, making it more user-friendly.
- Saved $60,000 in development costs for a product that would not fit in the company's catalog.
Freelancing 1991-1992
Wrote, edited and illustrated manuals, brochures, marketing kits, company literature and advertising for six companies in the Ventura County area.
- Published a product catalog and a monthly newsletter that were instrumental in doubling sales for a startup biotechnology firm.
- As acting sales manager, worked with the company's sales staff in California, D.C. and France to assure that sales leads were processed in a timely manner.
Unisys, Inc., Micro Products Group, Camarillo, California 1987-1991
Product Information Analyst
As part of a 30-member documentation team, wrote and illustrated user guides for office word processing, graphics applications, printer networks, batch processing programs and database applications.
- Worked with quality assurance to create a formalized process requiring a review of all documents prior to publication. This resulted in a significant reduction of errors.
- Suggested changes to programmers concerning task descriptions, reducing programming processing time by 45%.
Data Line Service Company, Covina, California 1983-1987
Technical Writer
Wrote user guides for a company providing data processing services to financial institutions.
- Created a user-group committee that assisted in the design of new user documentation, resulting in increased customer satisfaction.
- Designed and implemented a scheduling process that controlled 21 projects over an 18-month period. This process improved productivity by 30%.
- Established new lines of communications with key customers concerning changes to their applications. This accelerated update implementation reduced errors and improved customer satisfaction.
EDUCATION
California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California
Bachelor of Arts, English; Minor in Technical Writing, 1984
Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, California
Associate of Arts, 1980
SOFTWARE
Corel Ventura Publisher, FrameMaker, PageMaker, Acrobat, Macromedia Dreamweaver & Authorware, CorelDraw, Illustrator, Photoshop, PCT Pro/Engineer, Flash, Premiere, Sony SoundForge, MS Office, and BAAN Parts & Inventory Program
AFFILIATION
Vermont Volunteers Historical Association (California non-profit), Vice President - Board of Directors
- Increased fundraising by 230%.
AWARDS
Xyvision Creative Services Award, OFIS Paint User Documentation
