Ted Slater
|
Overview
Simplify! That's been a passion of mine for decades — to digest the complex and present it in a way that the audience can easily and enjoyably grasp. Through the years the "audiences" I've served have been:
- single Christian adults
- users of various online banking applications
- people interacting over the phone with a voice application to make flight arrangements
- developers using our in-house tool to facilitate their application development
- tradeshow attendees visiting our booth
- potential clients clicking through our corporate website
- C-Level executives popping in an interactive CD-ROM
- a classroom of international students learning English
- indigenous teenage students deep in the mountainous jungles of Mexico
And in each case, I've enjoyed treating them with the respect they deserve, making it a snap to accomplish the goals before them, while at the same time satisfying the requirements of the client.
It's my intention that this resume and website give you a sense of who I am, and how I can become a contributing member of your team. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via email.
You can download a PDF version of my resume, or the Word version if you'd rather have that.
|
Purpose
To exploit new media to facilitate effective communication and build engaged community.
Key Technical Skills
- 16+ years designing, constructing and maintaining a variety of brand-reinforcing websites and social networks
- Proficient with new media technologies (CSS-P/CSS, XML, RSS, ColdFusion, ASP, JSP, HTML, embedded video and audio, blogs, social networks, e-commerce, content management systems, client-side and server-side scripting, TypePad, WordPress, GeekLog, Google Analytics, WebTrends, Urchin, SilverPOP, Ning, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Virb, FaceBook, ShoutLife, Tangle, Amazon, SurveyMonkey, etc.)
- Proficient with print and web publication (Photoshop, BBEdit, Word, Acrobat, Quark, InDesign, Illustrator, PageMaker, Freehand, PowerPoint, Flash, Fetch, CVS, etc.)
- Proficient with video production (Final Cut Pro, iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, Premiere, Camtasia screencam application, QuickTime, HandBrake)
- Proficient studio engineer and producer (music, voiceover work, Protools, Soundtrack, Audacity)
- Proficient with both Macintosh and Windows operating systems
Key Management/Editorial/Personal Skills
- Experience overseeing the editorial process and direction for a popular online magazine, including managing author relationships, drawing up author contracts and legal documents, editing articles consistent with AP style, marking up text with HTML and any relevant scripting, creating contests and surveys, and entering articles into our database/CMS
- Experience coordinating more than 25 regular contributing authors and a variety of one-off authors to produce over 200 articles and 800 blog posts annually
- Experience managing a $100,000 annual editorial budget over the course of several years
- Experience leading a team of website developers, as well as writing code as necessary to bring new functionality to a variety of websites
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including conversational fluency in Spanish; excellent understanding of APA and AP styles
- Experience interacting with clients throughout the States and overseas to identify business and application requirements
Employment History
Focus on the Family (2005-present); Colorado Springs, Colo. As editor of Boundless.org and BoundlessLine.org, I've been responsible for both the editorial and technical side of the online magazine and blog. This includes contracting with existing and new authors to write articles and blog posts adhering to Boundless style and messaging, editing according to AP style, creating all the artwork, enhancing our sites with new functionality and design, introducing new features such as RSS and a blog, building a mobile-friendly version of the site, and engaging constituents through social media.
Fluency/netdecisions/OOP (January 2000-October 2004); Chesapeake, Va. Through two company restructurings, my role varied from Art Director to Lead UI Developer to VUI Developer. I was laid off when management closed down the Virginia office.
Responsibilities included managing corporate internet and intranet websites, defining corporate and product branding (including logos and style guide), assisting with requirements gathering and rapid UI prototyping, designing much of the UI for the primary tool our developers used to create voice applications, creating several marketing videos, designing product brochures, and creating multi-platform CD-ROMs for tradeshows.
One particular voice application project, for example, had me heading up the Dialog Design for a flight itinerary-gathering voice application for a major U.S. credit card company. This included working with our client to ensure all requirements were met, conducting call center call analysis, documenting user-intuitive "solutions" for various steps in the application, identifying the functionality of new components necessary to implement those solutions, editing grammars in XML format, writing the "script" (including main prompts and error recovery prompts), defining the "persona," identifying and recording the voice artist, preparing the WAV files for inclusion in the application, and working with our developers to "tune" the application.
Compass Technology Management (1997-2000); Virginia Beach, Va. As an internet and new media front-end developer, I designed and maintained websites and multimedia presentations, edited video and audio, and designed miscellaneous print publications (ads, flyers, forms, etc.).
Business International Networks (1996-1997); Virginia Beach, Va. As manager of the Graphical User Interface department, I coordinated the design and development of a technologically progressive international business-related website. Responsibilities included hiring and supervising three employees.
Regent Times (1994-1997); Regent University; Virginia Beach, Va. As alumnus adviser and editor of the graduate school's student newspaper, I performed copy editing and all photo editing, design, and page layout.
Virginia Beach Adult Learning Center (1995); Virginia Beach, Va. I completed a semester-long internship teaching English as a Second Language.
Operación Bendición (1993); Bogotá, Colombia. As a volunteer desktop publishing consultant, for seven weeks I assisted the editors of the monthly Spanish-language periodical Desafío better utilize their software and understand contemporary layout design and communication theories.
Education
Master's degree in International Communication, 4.0 GPA
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA
Master's degree in Education, emphasis in English as a Second Language, 4.0 GPA
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA
Bachelor's degree in English, minor in Journalism
Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
Bachelor's degree in Spanish
Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
|
