Vicki Brown
Content Management
Enhancing Productivity By Improving Communication
I am ...
a senior information technologist — technical writer, editor, web weaver, and script wizard — with a passion for process and quality. I excel at problem analysis and documentation, solution design and specification, tool creation and installation, web site development, technical writing, critical reading, and strategy.My skills and experience cover all aspects of the software and documentation process, from analysis and planning, through writing and editing, to review and maintenance. I'm at my best when I'm working for people who say "I need..." or "I want..." or "It would be great if we had...".
I have a rather eclectic resume (the result of an eclectic career, so far. :-). That career encompasses over 20 years of industry experience ranging from software development (Perl, shell, C) to system administration (Unix and Mac), from technical writing to web development, from QA to project management.
My current interests lie in Information Management, in the areas of communication, documentation, and web content. I am particularly interested in collaborative software solutions and in finding ways to improve and facilitate communication via the WWW.
I have specific, practiced, valuable skills in listening, writing, rewriting, editing, planning, organizing, and review. I believe that communication is critical to a company's well-being. I'm passionate about improving the web as a platform and I would love to contribute to a company that feels likewise!
My hobbies include include blogging, social computing, blogging, tinkering with web pages, installing and trying out new web-based tools, writing small filter programs or CGI scripts, learning more about PHP and CSS, and keeping up with cool open-source toolkits.
I am a programmer
I took my first programming course in 1976. My Masters thesis, a statistical analysis of the effect of sewage contamination on marine bacteria, included programs written in awk and sed (which were later converted to FORTRAN!). I have been programming professionally since 1984.
I excel at problem solving and strategy, process creation and improvement, mechanization, and automation. My specialty is data flow programming and the creation of specialized data filters and tools. My languages of choice are higher-level ("agile") interpreted languages such as Perl or PHP. My preferred venue is web development.
I am a writer
Although much of my career has been in software development, I'm as good (sometimes better) at writing text as code. I am skilled at writing anything from web content to manuals, from tutorials to books. I excel at creating new docs, reviewing existing docs, editing,, updating, and proofreading,My specialty is highly technical internal documentation where my experience in programming can come into play. I enjoy working on source code documentation, design specifications, architectural overviews, planning sessions, and process documentation and improvements. Invite me to your next brainstorming meeting; I take excellent notes.
My preferred audience is internal to the company. I'm especially qualified to write for engineers; however, I have experience writing for a less technical audience as well. I can tell your employees: "I'll write the docs so you don't have to".
I enhance productivity by improving communication
I excel at extracting information from the minds of knowledge experts and coercing that information into clear, concise, comprehensible prose. I ask questions, teasing out information, and turning what I learn into written words. I probe. I find the missing pieces.I work best when I am in a support role, making other people's jobs easier. My strengths come into play when I can talk directly to my clients, get their feedback, and provide the support that my clients need to do their work.
I apply my experience in software engineering and web technology with my skills at problem solving and technical writing to enhance productivity through improvements in communication. I facilitate the documentation process. I help other people communicate. I provide support.
How can I help you?