Resumé

Accomplished professional journalist and Web entrepreneur with more than 12 years of experience in action-oriented project management. Offers a unique blend of editorial experience, business knowledge and Web development skills. Exceptionally organized and disciplined. Able to coordinate management, teams and contractors in execution of tasks and functions. Recognized as a savvy leader with strengths in re-engineering processes, rapid prototyping of new intiatives, prudent management of limited resources, ability to continually extinguish fires with calm efficiency and ease in operating in strategic and daily situations. Not afraid to get hands dirty.

Experience

Chief Operating Officer
MadMarinerLLC, Washington, D.C.
2009-present
Advising this new media startup entering a growth phase. Manage daily operations and product development for this media company focused on boating and the marine space. Established budgets, focused on cost containment, and helped coordinate acquisition of quarterly print magazine and attached Web site, the launch of a daily boating news aggregator, growth of the advertising network and development of new markets. Supervise subscription and customer service staff.

• Developed a plan to successfully transition company to self-sustainablity as angel-invested funds decrease
• Leading ongoing efforts for replatform and redesign of all Mariner Web properties to launch later this year.

Assistant to the Dean, Web Strategies
University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, College Park, Md.
2005-present
Serving as lead Web strategist and developer. Previously served as the director of public affairs (2005 to mid-09). Duties include strategic planning, grant writing, curricular development, project management, special events and supervision of the visual journalism program. A member of the college’s senior staff, often referred to as the “dean’s left hand.” (Went part-time in 2009)

• Lead product developer for the Merrill College website and other projects including the electronic student-portfolio site, niche sites to showcase student and faculty work. Developed new user interfaces, advised on editorial focus and managed transition from standard HTML markup to utilization of CSS best practices and implementation of content management systems on College sites.
• Co-developed new course requirements and assisted in faculty-lead curriculum change. Helped develop and lead multiple initiatives in faculty new/interactive media training.
• Primary developer and coordinator of the College’s 10-year strategic plan. Developed strategic communication and outreach plans.

Assistant News Editor
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
2002-2006
Worked with section and top editors in booking and creating the daily paper, including display fronts. Designed A1, national, foreign, metro and business pages for the news desk in addition to in-depth projects. Went part-time in fall 2005.

• Served on all positions on the desk, including Night News Editor – the editor in charge of the newsroom after business hours.
• Member of newspaper-wide readership and redesign task forces, including serving as a designer in the 2004 redesign initiative.
• Supervised weekly creation of a series of zoned pages for the Sunday Metro section and wrote a weekly Metro column on recreation in the Washington area. Worked closely with Metro section editors and served as liaison with the news desk and metro staff.
• Managed the news desk intranet site, contributed to the design stylebook and developed design guidelines for advertorials.
• Served as a deputy for weekend projects and became the desk expert on the electronic pagination system.

Adjunct Professor in Visual Journalism
University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, College Park, Md.
2003-2006
Lecturer for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism’s graphics and news design class. Taught fundamentals of design,
news play and basic graphic work to a 18-student, two-hour twice weekly class. Syllabus adopted as the standard for the course.

• Worked as an instructor for the American Association of Newspaper Editors High School Journalism Institute and as an instructor for the Maryland Scholastic Press Association fall and summer workshops. Judged the MSPA annual contest.

Editor in Chief/Vice President
The Diamondback and Maryland Media Inc., College Park, Md.
1998-2001
Managed editorial content, staffing, budgetary and production issues of the University of Maryland’s daily independent
newspaper (and nation’s 7th most read) during year-long tenure (’00-’01). Supervised staff of more than 120 editors and reporters. Previously served three semesters as Managing Editor, and held positions on the copy desk, as design chief and as a reporter.

• During editor tenure, the staff was lauded with the most regional Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence awards of any single publication — 11 awards in 14 categories, including four first-place awards.

Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Editing Intern
St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.
2001
First intern allowed to design front page. Served as lead editor for metro fronts and regional sections and copy edited on the metro desk. Also edited features copy in the Floridian section. Participated in two-week Dow Jones editing “boot camp.”

Innovations Desk Intern
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, Ga.
2000
Served as Web producer as the paper was developing and ramping up Web operations. Executed the paper’s first Flash-based project after learning the program on own time. Served on a newsroom focus group to attract younger readers.

Copy Editor/Designer/Reporter
The Item, Sumter, S.C.
1997-1999
Redesigned 23,000-circulation afternoon daily paper at age 17 while working as a staffer during high school. Edited editorial page. Edited local and wire copy. Served as interim features editor while incumbent was on maternity leave and as a GA reporter.

Education

Master of Business Administration (December 2008)
Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Focus in management and organization department with courses in venture finance/creation, digital business markets, managing change, strategic planning and leadership

Fellow: Visual Innovation and Conceptual Thinking Seminar (November 2004)
Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (May 2002)
Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Minor focus in government and politics

Awards & Professional Memberships

Scripps Howard Foundation Top 10 Scholar: a $10,000 scholarship given annually to the top 10 student journalists in the country; Gold Medal, Society for News Design, for team Iraq War coverage; Second Place for front page design in Student Society for News Design, Third Place overall design in SSND; Honorable Mention for spot news reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Maryland Media Alumni Association (president); Online News Association. former member of: Association of Young Journalists (co-founder and chairman); Society for News Design, Society of Professional Journalists.

Memberships & Skills

Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society; Eagle Scout, Boys Scouts of America. Worked in improvisational theater for 4 years.

Proficient in HTML, CSS, Drupal and WordPress CMSs, social media applications and services, CCI LayoutChamp and WordEdit, Coyote, Merlin, QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Pagemaker, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Fireworks, Microsoft Office applications and both Mac OS and Windows systems.