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In-Depth Guide: ‘Expanding Community Networks in Michigan’

Eight-month project to update and rebuild a previous 100-plus page document on how to build a municipal fiber-optic broadband network, geared towards rural and small-town areas of Michigan. The client was Merit Network, a Michigan ISP for universities and other public entities that manages a 4,000-mile fiber-optic network of its own.

This involved intensive editing, rewriting and new writing, while reorganizing and boiling the content down to a more manageable 63 pages. I wrote roughly the first half from scratch, adding new information to report on the state of the digital divide in Michigan, through interviews with subject-matter experts and community leaders as well as long hours of reviewing related materials.

I also found the graphic designer for this project and led the painstaking coordination of putting the final piece together. This occurred through about a dozen revisions, in addition to changes based on reviews from various staff members on the client side.

To be clear, I’m no broadband expert, just as I’m no IPv6 expert. I had only consumer-level knowledge of this topic before beginning this project. Using tried-and-true interviewing techniques, I’m able to go from zero to expert-level article in two days. I’ve done this for arcane legal, engineering, healthcare, financial, and technology subject matter. I have been exercising these skills since I was a teenager: first as a copywriter and proofreader, then as a business journalist, then as a broadcast news producer, and then full circle back to copywriting again.

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Copywriting: 2-Pager, Landing Page, Email for DDoS Protection Service

Example of recent copywriting work I’ve done on behalf of clients. In this project, we are marketing a service for defending against DDoS attacks, with a two-sheet PDF (sell sheet), web page, and promotional emails.

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Copywriting: Software Sales Documents

I wrote the copy for these white papers on behalf of Visual Components, a Finnish manufacturing simulation software firm, via MCCI, a PR and marketing firm in Detroit, in fall of 2021. These documents supplement standard brochure-type materials by taking a deeper look at features of the company’s software and service.

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Content Marketing and Copy Writing: Phishing Blog and Email Push

This sample represents a mix of copy editing, copy writing, and blogging/content marketing skills. A colleague wrote the piece, I edited it and added copywriting flourishes. I wrote the copy for the related email push.

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White Paper: ‘Addressing the Issue’ — In-Depth IPv6 Report

Report written for Merit Network, a nonprofit that serves as the ISP for Michigan public universities (and whose roots in “internet” technology date back to before the word existed).

This project took about seven months in 2021, calling for a deep dive into the second-generation internet protocol IPv6 and how it relates to higher education institutions. Project involved close work with networking engineers across the U.S. and the boiling of complex, arcane information into a succinct, digestible form for high-level university administrators. A very challenging but satisfying piece of work.

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Press Release: Vistage Indianapolis Launch

Quick press release project done for the launch of Vistage Indianapolis. Project acquired through Upwork, summer 2021.

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Content Marketing: Networking Automation Tips

Report offering tips and insights about automating network management tasks; written for Merit Network and its Michigan Moonshot broadband initiative in spring 2021, based on presentations given at a seminar on the subject.

Full report can be accessed at Merit’s site.

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DTE EnergySmarts Spring 2021

Work done for Michigan utility company DTE Energy’s B2B custom publication EnergySmarts, Spring 2021 issue. (Two PDFs, one for each of three articles written)

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Clean Cultivation: CANNABIS PIONEER PLANNING NET-ZERO GROW WITH THE LATEST IN GREEN DESIGN

Article written for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association’s magazine, 2021 second issue. (PDF)

Anyone who’s ever been tempted by a project to go all the way on it, expense be damned, will appreciate what Dori Edwards is doing.

She’s going “all in” on her vision of creating a net-zero grow facility. Her plan is to build a super-clean pharmaceutical-grade grow facility that demonstrates sustainability in every one of its 25,000 square feet, from the heating and cooling system to the materials that make up the building itself.

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Still in charge: Whiskey businesses directly invest in wind and solar through MIGreenPower

Article for DTE Energy’s EnergySmarts publication, winter 2021

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Content Marketing: Article for Cannabis Industry Publication

Article written for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association’s magazine, 2021 first issue. (PDF)

It could be fairly said that without technology, the cannabis industry may never have gotten off the ground.

Inevitably tight regulations make running a cannabis business touchier than selling office supplies or even whiskey. Cannabis businesses must track every gram of the product from “seed to sale.” This includes even when cannabinoid oil is divvied into many products for many customers. Businesses and regulators must be able to identify  where the products of a given plant are at any time.

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DTE EnergySmarts Fall 2020

Work done for Michigan utility company DTE Energy’s B2B custom publication EnergySmarts, Fall 2020 issue. (Four PDFs, one for each of three articles written)

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Content Marketing: Articles for Power Utility Publication

Work done for Michigan utility company DTE Energy’s B2B custom publication EnergySmarts, Summer 2020 issue. (Three PDFs, one for each of three articles written)

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DTE EnergySmarts Spring 2020

Work done for Michigan utility company DTE Energy’s B2B custom publication EnergySmarts, Spring 2020 issue. (Three PDFs, one for each of three articles written)

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Content Marketing: Article for County Census Count Effort

A widely used rule of thumb says that each person counted in the U.S. Census represents $1,800 a year in federal funding. Oakland County has an estimated 211,507 people who are at risk of being undercounted, according to the Michigan Department of State. That would come to more than $380 million a year, or more than $3.8 billion over the course of a decade, in potentially lost revenue. For reference, Oakland County’s 2020 budget is $922 million.

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Interview with Mona Hanna-Attisha, M.D. (Flint water crisis whistleblower)

Profile for the 100 Influential Women recognition program, Crain’s Detroit Business, 2016

Mona Hanna-Attisha, M.D.

Director of the pediatric residency program, Hurley Medical Center; assistant professor of pediatrics and human development, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

 

Big win: Hanna-Attisha’s campaign brought the Flint lead issue to national and international attention. She has been honored about a dozen times, including Time magazine’s 2016 list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

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Crain’s Detroit Business ’40 Under 40′ Awards

2015 40 Under 40 Section CoverI was the lead editor and project manager for the 2015 edition of the newspaper’s flagship awards program. My job was to evaluate hundreds of submissions, narrow them down, vet them, recommend winners, and produce an editorial package of the 40 selected honorees. For the vetting, I either interviewed candidates personally or someone from my team of writers did and reported back. After a painstaking review process involving the newspaper’s top leadership, the honorees were selected, and then my team produced the final editorial package. I edited all profiles and managed the scheduling of all the associated photography. I was also deeply involved in the marketing of the awards program and the event that went with it.

“Every year since 1991, Crain’s Detroit Business has honored 40 professionals in Southeast Michigan who have made their marks before age 40. This year’s winners launched successful companies, grew established firms, took on high-pressure projects and gave a hand to those in the community.” — Full coverage at crainsdetroit.com

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Meet the CFO who shepherded the DIA through the worst financial crisis in its 120-year history

Robert Bowen
CFO Awards 2015
Winner, nonprofit

In the long history of the Detroit Institute of Arts, it would be hard to find a period any shakier than the one it just went through.

The museum found itself at the center of Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy, its storied art collection used as a poker chip during the negotiations of 2013 and 2014.

Just a year before that began, the DIA pulled itself out of budgetary quicksand by pushing through a 10-year tri-county millage that gives it about $23 million annually.

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Retooling Globalization Strategies for Auto Suppliers

The automotive industry team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) spends its days fine-tuning and funding the strategic plans of middle-market parts suppliers. What do these companies say are their most pressing concerns as the new year begins? Globalization and capacity.

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Fundamentals of Investment: Michigan’s venture capital history

Michigan VC History -- Accelerate Michigan Advertorial(One of three promotional articles done for the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition’s 5-Year Anniversary)

The existence of a competition like Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is proof of sorts that Michigan’s venture capital community has come of age.

Any thriving regional venture scene is going to have a respected competition in its mix of offerings and assets, investors say.

Besides drawing publicity, the competitions also play a crucial role in the venture funding spectrum by offering very early-stage companies a chance to get capital. … (Full Ganglecom articles here – PDF)