My roots in content and documentation are deep and my experience varied, as the scope of this section testifies. 

I began my career in IT trade publishing, covering integrated enterprise technologies and solutions. That foundation segued into a variety of other content work over the years: more magazine writing, technical documentation, technical copywriting, and translation, among others.

Today I most often focus on documentation as a component of product work.

portfolio sample links

• confluence - various

• TECH docs - optical networking

• TECh docs - multi-factor authentication

• TECH docs - public key infrastructure

• infrastructure and compliance - gre

• i18n, t10n, l9n, a11y - security software

• i18n, t10n, l9n - ecommerce website

• t10n, l9n - calling card

• TECHNICAL copywriting - various

• white papers - various

• feature articles - various

• CASE STUDIEs - various

• EDITORIAls - various

confluence
VARIOUS PROJECTS

Since 2008 I have used Confluence on more projects than I can count. Beyond its ease of use, the power of Confluence is its flexibility. I have used it for external user technical documentation, internal design and engineering documentation, knowledge bases, and asset repositories, among other purposes. It can be especially powerful when properly integrated with JIRA. I am an expert in both Confluence and JIRA, and have implemented, configured, and administered it in at least 6 different projects where I was a lead. I have employed it as a user on even more project.

technical documentation
OPTICAL NETWORKING

I developed this doc set (administrator's guide, command reference guide, and release notes) for XKL's Darkstar flagship product line of optical networking hardware and software. My primary publishing tool was Structured FrameMaker.

related case study

documentation set (pdf)

technical documentation
MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

I supported and maintained this extensive documentation set for the the Symantec VIP suite of software products. It comprises roughly 15 user guides, UI tool tips, a Help system, and a knowledge base. The core user documentation was developed and maintained for years in Unstructured FrameMaker. Later content was migrated to a proprietary implementation of Vasont CMS.

related case study

documentation set (PDF)

technical documentation
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE

This is the mother of all documentation sets, a 2600-page behemoth spread across more than 20 different books and developed over 16 years. To make matters more complicated, the product was supposed to have been sunsetted several times, but just kept getting reprieves. Then Symantec acquired Verisign and I had to rebrand the entire set, which also included migrating all documentation from Untructured FrameMaker to a customized version of Vasont CMS.

Additionally, the documentation was single-sourced, as there were enterprise and government-defense versions of the software. Furthermore, public key infrastructure is a an extraordinarily complicated technology. These examples are VeriSign-branded and pre-date the Symantec acquisition, but the vintage look does not diminish the breadth and depth of technical complexity or sheer volume of documentation. 

documentation set (PDF)

infrastructure and compliance documentation
enterprise it

This gallery showcases enterprise infrastructure documentation for networking and storage architecture, which were two major pieces of the larger documentation set I developed for Great River Energy. This documentation was in turn used as the impetus to create related NERC regulatory-compliance documentation for backup and disaster recovery. I produced all the content and technical diagrams.

related case study

internationalization, translation, localization, and accessibility
security SOFTWARE

Symantec has more than 600 software products and many of them are translated into more than 30 languages, making internationalization and localization a huge part of all work . When designing software, we would employ strategies such as neutral-language writing style and  placing all UI strings in centralized text files. All documentation authoring and tools also used similar, advanced strategies to facilitate translation. 

related case study - product 1

related case study - product 2

internationalization, translation, and localization
ecommerce TELECOM

My work in translation and internationalization began in earnest when I founded a telecom startup and managed its operations from the Dominican Republic. The company's key, niche demographic were residents and expatriates from the island of Hispaniola, home to both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. As such, I was entrenched in constant translation and localization work in four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole. Actually, you could not so jokingly also add a fifth language, Dominican Spanish, which in its own right is a dialect of standard Castilian Spanish. 

related case study

translation and localization
CALLING CARD

This is one of my most unusual translation and localization projects: a calling card in Haitian Creole. A Tap Tap is a colorful public-transportation bus in Haiti, a universal symbol immediately identifiable to any Haitian and synonymous with country and culture. Perhaps even more unusual for me, the base language for the translation was Dominican Spanish, which is essentially a dialect of Castilian Spanish.

related case study

technical copywriting
various clients

I wrote 100% of the content for this corporate technical marketing magazine, The Retailer. The book provides a series of industry articles, feature stories, and case studies highlighting STS System's retail and hospitality technology in action with high-profile clients. Don't hold me responsible for the visual design. 

magazine (pdf)

WHITE PAPERs
VARIOUS CLIENTS

This white paper details a specific piece of a large enterprise IT migration, a transition from an analog to an integrated, fiber-optic IP network. I produced all the content and visual design. I have written many white papers covering a wide range of information technologies and products.

related case study

feature articles
VARIOUS MAGAZINES

Early in my career I did a lot of feature writing for IT trade magazines and publishers. All of these tear sheets are from my tenure as a full-time editor and analyst for two enterprise-technology trade publications. After I left this publishing role, I continued to write features as a consultant, producing hundreds of articles for magazines and corporate clients. It is hard to articulate just how powerful this experience was to my education and knowledge of information technology. I most often directly interviewed C-level and senior executives for feature pieces, gaining incredible access and insight.

case studies
VARIOUS publications / CLIENTS

Early in my career I did a wide range of writing for trade magazines, websites, corporate clients, and other publications. All of these case-study tear sheets are from my tenure as a full-time editor and analyst for two enterprise-technology trade publications. After I left this publishing role, I continued to write case studies as a consultant, producing hundreds of pieces. Case studies were also uniquely and powerfully education for me, as their problem-solution-benefits and the many technologies I covered lent to a comprehesive understanding of technology in all types of business activities and industries. 

editorials
VARIOUS publications

Early in my career I did a wide range of writing for trade magazines, websites, corporate clients, and other publications. All of these tear sheets are from my tenure as a full-time editor and analyst for two enterprise-technology trade publications. You cannot write good editorials unless you have strong, informed opinions, and the education I describe in my other feature and case-study entries helped inform my editorial pieces.