Professional Profile

My role has evolved from a journalist covering technology trends to a hands-on technical writer deeply embedded in low-level software and hardware, then into strategic documentation for major architectural shifts, and finally into a versatile expert in modern cloud-based, agile, and user-centric content strategy across diverse, rapidly evolving software and platform industries. My ability to collaborate with subject matter experts, understand complex technical concepts, and explain complex information clearly and concisely for various audiences is the thread throughout this evolution.

Electronic Design (1985-1988): I began as a West Coast Technical Editor, focusing on researching and writing articles that provided insightful analysis of industry trends in computer hardware, software, and networking for professional engineers. This role established my ability to understand and communicate broad technical trends.

Siemens Digital Industries Software (1988-1990) & Wind River (1990-1992): I transitioned into core technical documentation, working with embedded applications, providing tutorials with extensive C and assembly language examples for developers to debug more efficiently, and documenting source-level debuggers for different microprocessor families. At Wind River, I continued to focus on embedded applications and operating systems like VRTX, leveraging developers' knowledge of UNIX API libraries. This period solidified my strong technical background in low-level programming and hardware-software interaction.

Apple (1992-1994): I played a crucial role during Apple's significant CPU transition from Motorola 68000 to IBM PowerPC. I created tutorials describing the PowerPC instruction set to help developers rewrite applications for better performance and updated assembler manuals to make developers more efficient in porting platform APIs and application SDKs. This experience with high-stakes architectural shifts, including understanding processor instruction sets and emulation layers, is directly comparable in principle to the later x86 to Apple M-series transition.

Dell EMC (1994-1996): I expanded my technical scope to information capture applications, creating SDK documentation by interviewing developers and reading C++ source code to support scanners in imaging applications. This reinforced my ability to deeply understand and document software development kits.

Novell (1996-2001): My role evolved to include networking services like Web proxy and remote user authentication/authorization. I was involved in testing pre-release versions and planning and implementing Ethernet TCP/IP configurations for test environments used by writers for document validation. This demonstrated my hands-on approach to ensuring documentation accuracy.

Sun Microsystems (2003-2009): I moved into the Java ecosystem, focusing on reducing technical support calls by consistently updating product documentation for the Sun Java System Portal Server. I incorporated user and task analysis and started creating content strategies for new formats like blog articles and screencasts to evangelize OpenSocial networking features for administrators and third-party developers. This phase shows a shift towards user experience, business impact, and modern content formats.

Azul (2009-2010): This was a pivotal period where I deepened my expertise in Java programming concepts and deploying Java applications in private clouds using VMware vSphere and Linux KVM hypervisors. I was instrumental in creating troubleshooting documents and documenting Ethernet TCP/IP configuration for Java application deployment. I led a transition from traditional manuals to topic-oriented articles to support agile releases, created a single-source content strategy for multiple outputs (PDF, HTML online help), and integrated authoring tools with wiki software and document revision control with Perforce. This marked a significant adoption of modern documentation tools and methodologies.

Ivanti (2011): I developed content strategies for the administration and developer tasks related to IT services (on-premise or cloud-based Microsoft SQL Server), including installing and configuring software builds on VMware vSphere for task analysis and document testing. This continued my focus on IT service management and rigorous content validation.

Yahoo (2012-2015): I worked on a cloud-based ad serving platform that provided real-time decision-making for targeted messaging. I collaborated with UX designers on user and task analysis and planned content strategy for monthly documentation updates localized into nine languages. My time at Yahoo coincided with the company's aggressive push into mobile and video advertising and the launch of platforms like Yahoo Gemini.

GE Digital (2015-2018): I focused on RESTful API programming concepts, creating tutorials with detailed code samples for full-stack developers building and deploying applications to the cloud. I collaborated closely with UX designers on user and task analysis for user interface design and human factors design for web usability, and I was involved with the Predix Design System. This period honed my skills in API documentation, industrial IoT, and collaboration within a design-focused environment.

Freelance: Versatility, Strategic Content, and Continuous Adaptability (2018-Present)

As a freelance technical writer, I continue to leverage my extensive experience. I work with product and engineering teams to plan and deliver documentation using agile development practices, collaborating across multiple locations.
I develop content strategies using a variety of formats including white papers, knowledge base articles, online help, blogs, websites, and wikis, specifically tailored to the goals, needs, and interests of diverse audiences.
I write content from background research, technical specifications, and subject matter expert interviews,
I am proficient with a wide array of authoring tools (DITA, XML, SGML, Microsoft Word, FrameMaker, RoboHelp) and content management systems (Liferay, Confluence, MediaWiki, Drupal, Astoria)