[EXPERIENCE:]

•  Web Designer/Developer, Hop Studios Internet Consultants
Pasadena, California and Vancouver, Canada (1996 to present)

Hop Studios offers Web design, Macromedia Flash, HTML, audio, video and all manner of Web production on a freelance and project basis.

My partner and I generally work with small businesses or individuals; people who want a custom look. Typically these jobs take anywhere from a week to 2-3 months, depending on how quickly the site needs to be created or updated.

Hop Studios is a one-stop shop – site planning, design, production, animation, video, audio, programming, writing, training, and training. We are veterans of site "redesigns," where a company has a Web site that was done several years ago and needs an overhaul, or needs some user testing or user interface analysis.

For a look at some of our design and programming work, please visit http://www.hopstudios.com/.

•  Author, Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies ,
March 2005 (Book blog at http://www.buzzmarketingwithblogs.com/)

•  Author, Teach Yourself Visually Dreamweaver MX 2004,
February 2004

•  Author, Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Dummies,
November 2003

•  Lecturer, Annenberg School for Communication Online Program, University of Southern California
Los Angeles (1997-2003)

Journalism Lecturer: Provide specialized expertise for the development, implementation and teaching of online curriculum, including finding new faculty.

I teach online and multimedia journalism courses for undergraduate and graduate students. Students produce journalistically sound, well-designed, stylish and interesting Web sites by the end of the term. They enter the classes with varying levels of experience and leave with knowledge of frames, tables, cross-browser compatibility, site architecture and forms /CGIs, as well as an excellent portfolio Web site. Students who take the multimedia journalism classes explore audio, video, streaming, image manipulation and animation – all in the context of Web storytelling.

•  Curriculum Consultant
Los Angeles (January '01 to November '03)

USC's online journalism classes are widely regarded within academic circles to be outstanding and ahead of the curve. I have consulted for local community colleges attempting to add online classes to their journalism curricula and spoken at conferences like that of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, and have served on the Santa Monica College Media Advisory Board. Currently, I am working as part of a team at the University of Southern California to add a converged curriculum of print, broadcast and online journalism classes to the School of Journalism's sophomore-level and graduate coursework.

•  Research Director, Annenberg School for Communication Online Program, University of Southern California
Los Angeles (August '99 to November '02)

I wore several hats at USC. They were:

Research Director: Supervised and developed program research projects and opportunities, directed research assistants assigned to the program.

Technical Director:Supervised laboratory newsroom of program, including software/hardware acquisition, installation, and support.

OJR Senior Editor: Assisted in the planning, organization and delivery of design material and writing on the Online Journalism Review.

My projects ranged from organizing a wireless technology conference to advising the Annenberg school on its Web site redesign. I researched dynamic storytelling through databases and use of 360-degree digital video equipment for news.

In addition, I ran the research lab and newsroom of the Online Journalism Review. I did everything from plan new construction, order software and construct a remote Webcasting unit.

•  Multimedia Director, Los Angeles Times Web Site
Los Angeles (June '97 - August '98)

Multimedia responsibilities included obtaining, processing or creating any and all types of multimedia from video to animation. Worked with Flash, Director, RealAudio, RealVideo, Avid and more. Set up and equipped a multimedia lab that included Mac and PC workstations for sound, scanning and video editing. Responsible for training staff in use and creation of multimedia; partnerships with outside television and wire services.

In addition, I edited a section of the site called MetaHollywood, an entertainment zine aimed at industry professionals. The section was updated weekly and included original stories, industry magazine articles and Los Angeles Times content. An early Digital Coast Reporter.

•  Electronic Editor, Los Angeles Times Web Site
Los Angeles (September '95 - June '97)

Content producer. Duties included completing breaking news packages and long-term reports and projects, from conception through publication. Package development means research, information architecture, design, HTML, graphics, textual content, interactive forms, surveys and Shockwave. I was responsible for Southern California, Destination L.A., Help (including customer service), Life & Style, Travel, Food, Crosswords, Science and Learning sections. Other significant responsibilities were: contracting with outside content providers; site contests; customer service; updating home page.

•  Electronic Editor, Los Angeles Times TimesLink (Prodigy)
Los Angeles (March '95 - September '95)

This was The Times' first online venture. As an editor, I coded and uploaded content to the TimesLink subscriber service located on the Prodigy network; organized, designed and produced special projects; bulletin board administrator; wrote headlines and keydecks; wrote and coded online surveys; determined play and value of breaking news. Worked rotating shift as Evening News Editor. Work was done primarily on proprietary systems and included writing complex macros in order to translate content across internal and external networks. Use of these macros in the newsroom improved staff workflow, speed and efficiency significantly.

 

[SKILLS:]

I am expert the listed applications, and have taught most of them to corporate clients or undergraduate and graduate students at USC.

• Web site creation: HTML, Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Homesite, BBedit, ColdFusion Studio
• Blogs: Movable Type, pMachine Pro, Expression Engine, Blogger
• Graphics and animation: Adobe Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator, Macromedia Fireworks, Flash, Director
• Database applications: Microsoft Access, Filemaker Pro
• Scripting: Javascript, DHTML, PHP
• Audio editing: Sonic Foundry SoundForge
• Video editing: Adobe Premiere, Avid, Cleaner, RealVideo, Webstreaming
• Word processing: Accurate, readable writing, strong copy editing
• Operating systems: Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Macintosh OS 8 and higher
• All Microsoft Office applications