Jean Gazis Copywriting & Content Strategy

I've been working on promotions for Event Horizons, an Internet Week event hosted by Box of Rain (aka my other half) that happens tomorrow at Webster Hall. My role was to do a slew of website updates (including pulling together content such as speaker bios that were needed, setting up a webcast player, and just tweaking things in general), do some promotion such as online event listings, write a press release, and create this postcard graphic for an email blast.

I'm psyched to try out some of the new stuff that the conference speakers & panelists are developing, especially Zeitbyte and Mobify.

Here are some of the firms and organizations with which I've worked:

Clients

• Webster Hall Digital
• Better Indeed
• Urban Organic
• Box of Rain LLC
• Business Base Network
• Steven Katz Solutions-Oriented Psychotherapy
• L&D Computer Consulting Corp.
• WebHostNY LLC
• Hunki’s Pizza
• Brooklyn Business Base
• Doubleday Select
• Registered@
• Gower/Mosby Medical Publishing
• Current Science

Volunteer

• New Alternatives for Children (through Taproot Foundation)
• Cub Pack 187, Brooklyn
• The Feminist Press at CUNY (through Taproot Foundation)
• Kids Play Tunes
• Cub Pack/Scout Troop 14, Brooklyn
• Binding Together, Inc. (through Taproot Foundation)
• A Networking Event Made in Heaven
• PS 261 PTA
• Independent Computer Consultants Association – NYC Chapter
• Empire Kerry Blue Terrier Club

Employers

• Royal Media Group
• Caminus LLC
• US News & World Report
• Ziff-Davis
• Technical Database Services
• Delmar Publishers
• Gower Medical Publishing
• John Wiley & Sons
• Prentice-Hall Media
• Kelly Services
• The Johns Hopkins University Press
• The Reader's Digest Association

The new, improved Urban Organic website launched over the weekend (December 8-9). I built the site in Drupal, based on the "Golden Hour" theme, using some gorgeous fruit and vegetable images from freedigitalphotos.net. I think it looks nice - I hope you agree.

Using Drupal will enable the Urban Organic staff to update the site more easily and quickly than their old static HTML site, as well as provide the option to add more features later.

And by the way, it's good quality produce!

Overview

Strong, versatile writer with management experience in all aspects of business-to-business marketing.

Consulting & Freelance Experience

Selected Clients
Urban Organic, Box of Rain, LLC, L&D Computer Consulting, WebHostNY, Hunki’s Pizza/Ackerstein Caterers, Brooklyn Business Base, Doubleday Select, US News & World Report, Independent Computer Consultants Association – NYC Chapter, Registered@, Delmar Publishers, Gower/Mosby Medical Publishing, Current Science

Selected Projects, 1992-Present

• Box of Rain, LLC – Website development, marketing guidance, print advertising for consulting firm
• L&D Computer Consulting Corp. – Customer newsletter, marketing, HR materials, website, company blog
• WebHostNY LLC – Website, customer communications, advertising, and blog setup for customers
• US News & World Report – Custom print and online merchandising proposals for national news magazine advertisers
• Doubleday Select – Direct mail copy for computer and history book clubs
• Registered @ – Market research and strategy for prospective e-commerce start-up
• Gower/Mosby Medical Publishing, Current Science – Marketing guides and strategic advice for publishers
• Brooklyn Business Base – Website content and event promotion for business networking group, manage Meetup.com presence

Volunteer Experience

Taproot Foundation (2005-Present)

• New Alternatives for Children: Copy Director on Advanced Website Grant team charged with creating a more effective web presence for a specialized child welfare agency.
• The Feminist Press: Marketing Manager on Advanced Website Grant team charged with creating a more effective web presence for a nonprofit university press by implementing the Joomla CMS.
• Binding Together: as Marketing Manager on Brochure Grant team, developed innovative system of "modular" brochures to engage diverse target audiences for a nonprofit job training organization.

A Networking Event Made in Heaven (2006-Present)

• Website development: create all site content, implement design, maintain and update as needed
• Event promotion: email blasts, listings in local media

Cub Pack/Scout Troop 14 (2007-2008)

• Website development: move entire site into Drupal CMS, maintain and update as needed

Corporate Experience

Marketing Manager, Royal Media Group (2003-2004)

Marketed newsletter subscriptions, conferences, and research reports to financial executives.

• Planned and executed all direct mail, forced free trials, and email blasts.
• Hired and supervised customer service specialist, telemarketers, designers, and vendors.
• Significantly increased conference attendance, exhibit space sales, and related advertising revenue.
• Researched markets and created marketing plan for potential acquisition.
• Generated RFP for website overhaul, contributed site content.
• Developed new trade show exhibit; managed company presence at industry events.

Marketing Communications Specialist, Caminus LLC (2000-2002)

Marketed energy trading software applications and strategic consulting services.

• Created software product brochures and sales collateral, managed ad agency.
• Edited and produced company newsletter.
• Wrote website content, managed online event calendar and document library.
• Developed corporate and executive profiles, edited senior executives’ articles for publication.
• 10 business days turnaround for new product brochure from assignment to delivery of printed pieces.

Marketing Manager, US News & World Report (1999-2000)

Generated value-added merchandising proposals to gain advertising business for national news magazine.

• Developed merchandising ideas, wrote proposals, and managed fulfillment of accepted proposals.
• Created new web and email value-added ideas to enhance print advertising.
• Developed sales collateral and support materials.

Promotion Manager, Central Advertising Sales, Ziff-Davis (1995-1998)

Created media kits, direct mail, advertising, sales collateral, fax broadcasts, and website supporting over $40MM in annual ad sales for several leading technology publications.

• Developed and managed Central Ad Sales area of corporate website on tight launch deadline.
• Wrote sales letters and managed database, migrated sales letter library to Lotus Notes, trained sales reps.
• Managed extensive advertiser testimonial series, interviewed senior customer executives.
• Completely revamped direct mail program to achieve better timing and greater impact.
• Developed media kits for all publications with sections sold by Central Ad Sales.

Marketing Manager, Technical Database Services (1993-1994)

Marketed chemical and environmental software and database services.

• Managed lead generation and qualified leads for phone salesperson.
• Launched new products and upgrades, promoted increased usage to database customers.
• Revised and significantly improved user manuals for key products
• Produced customer newsletter and direct mail.

Marketing Assistant/Manager/Director, Gower Medical Publishing (1988-1992)

Marketed specialized publications to physicians in 15 specialties.

• Developed all marketing communications including direct mail, newsletter, and catalog.
• Created annual marketing plans, budgets, and sales forecasts.
• Managed all aspects of trade show program, including pre- and post-show marketing.
• Successfully launched new titles in new markets.
• More than doubled annual sales to over $1MM and exceeded goals every year.
• Promoted twice.

Education

The Johns Hopkins University

Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, minor in French, Dean’s List

Continuing Education

Courses in Advertising Copywriting, Fiction Writing, and Copy Editing at NYU, Gotham Writers' Workshop, and MediaBistro

National Merit Scholar

I have extensive knowledge working in and marketing to small businesses. Startups and small businesses I have worked with include:

• L&D Computer Consulting Corp.
• Box of Rain, LLC
• Urban Organic
• Royal Media Group
• Ripple Software
• C-Track LLC
• Hunki's Pizza - Ackerstein Caterers
• Technical Database Services
• VYVOA COnsulting

I started my first Drupal site around mid-January (its first archive item is dated 1/15), and now I have about half a dozen sites in the works. Some of them are even fairly complete – not that I couldn't think of future bells and whistles to add. I've learned a lot about Drupal in a pretty short time, and a fair amount of CSS and general web structure stuff as well.

And I've been enjoying it!

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Addendum: someone pointed out that the above sounds as if I just got started in online development, period. While it's true that the only formal computer training I've ever had was two half days of Introduction to Lotus 1-2-3 in the mid-1980s, as you can see from my portfolio, I have a great deal of hands-on experience with all kinds of online and offline applications. I have been involved in corporate web-related work since the early 1990s, including promoting online advertising, developing web pages, and more. I have also been an active member of various online communities since the late '90s. So I should have said, a fair amount of stuff - beyond what I already knew. I tend to think of myself as a generalist who "gets" tech, rather than a techie geek, but as a matter of fact, I've always been the one colleagues come to for help getting things done on computers.

But enough about me. It's really a great strength of Drupal that it is possible to ramp up one's skills so fast - it should be very easy for the end-user of a Drupal site to update the site's content once the structure has been laid down by someone more knowledgeable.

I have extensive experience in website copy and content development, and offer expertise in email copy, website copy, planning and organizing sites, HTML and CSS, hosting considerations, design specifications, proofreading and testing, custom features, content management systems, and user training.

Client Websites

I developed and/or maintain sites for these organizations:

• Cub Pack & Scout Troop 14

  I converted this site from static HTML to an online community powered by Drupal.

I have experience marketing professional information and publications to physicians in the following specialties:

Allergy & Immunology

Cardiology

Dermatology

General Surgery

Hematology

Infectious Diseases

Nephrology

Neurology

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Oncology

Ophthalmology

Orthopedic Surgery

Pathology

Pediatrics

Plastic Surgery

Pulmonology

Radiology

I have extensive knowledge of publishing for professional audiences ranging from physicians, to IT staff, to business executives.

My past employers and freelance clients include:

Royal Media Group

US News & World Report

Doubleday Select (Bookspan)

Ziff-Davis, Inc.

Delmar Publishers

Gower/Mosby Medical Publishing

Current Science

Raven Press

Gower Medical Publishing (division of J.B. Lippincott)

John Wiley & Sons

Prentice-Hall Media

Website Development

I manage a variety of small business, personal, and non-profit organization websites, including creating all site content. I have also been involved in content development and planning for several large corporate sites. I'm familiar with HTML, CSS, and Drupal.

Small Business