ABC News

Voce Communications; launched August 2011

ABC News was interested in moving all of their channel-level blogs to WordPress. They needed an enterprise-grade, dependable solution to incorporate their new designs, as well as simplify their publishing process. As the political season was just heating up, it all needed a carefully choreographed late-night switchover so as to minimize the disruption. Voce worked in coordination with ABC News’ design department, sales team, support staff, and QA groups to make the migration and switchover possible.

project management, on-site client meetings & presentations

Disney Properties Newsroom Network

Voce Communications; rolling launches began June 2011

One of the loftiest and most challenging projects during my time at Voce was the task of creating a unified, simple, and powerful Newsroom platform that could be utilized and customized by all the Disney Parks news properties. The project serviced the public relations and public affairs departments for Disney Parks, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Sports, Disney Vacation Club, and Adventures by Disney.

This long-term project required collecting a set of unified requirements from numerous stakeholders and a changing team of corporate representatives. It required interfacing Disney’s legal teams, incorporating various rounds of feedback and approvals. It also demanded that we leapfrog Disney’s internal IT department, while satisfying audit requests. The Newsroom project also required designing a template-based system that could be adjusted and customized to each newsroom’s individual brands and needs. As the project neared launch, it necessitated that I create a dynamic digital set of training tutorials that could be continuously updated as we added and refined features. Ensuring that all the Disney stakeholders understood the new system and the intricacies of the custom elements we created especially for their needs, I visited the various teams on both coasts, performing presentations and training sessions. 

account management, primary client contact, project management, drafted & maintained SOWs, created product requirements documents, rough UX/design mocks, content migration, initial template & site setups, development QA, post-launch support, on-site client meetings & presentations, authored extensive tutorials, conducted on-site training

ESPN Front Row

Voce Communications; launched April 2011, upkeep through 2012

Lifting language from my announcement post on Voce’s blog:

The Voce Connect Platforms team is pleased to announce the launch of ESPNFrontRow.com, a WordPress-based corporate platform for ESPN’s communications department to offer “news about ESPN, employees at ESPN and behind-the-scenes activity at the sports media empire”, as Technorati aptly put it. Mike Soltys, ESPN’s vice president of communications, was quoted earlier in SportsBusiness Daily saying, “This is a way for us to speak directly with consumers.”

Seeing the incredible success of the work we’d done on the Disney Parks Blog, ESPN was eager and excited to finally have an official platform on which they could respond to issues, promote events, and give fans the behind-the-scenes look that they crave. We helped give them a simple and manageable set of tools to tell their tales. It also doesn’t hurt that the site is mantastically sexy.

account management, primary client contact, project management, on-site client meetings & presentations, drafted SOW, created business / product requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support

∂isney Creative Lab Voce Communications; launched Jan. 2011, ongoing support/updates throughout year The Creative Lab is an internal brainstorming and “cool sharing” site that allows cast members the opportunity to share “buzz” with the Imagineering team, executives, and peers. This could include internet memes, humorous YouTube videos, or outlandish images. Employees can then create an “idea” from a buzz by sharing a suggestion or concept as to how it could be similarly actioned or modified by the company. Fellow users can comment, vote up their favorites, and engage in discussions around ideas and concepts. Similar to sharing a link on Facebook, the system would automatically grab text and images from a link to a website or video. Ideas and buzz could be sorted by a popularity metric. Users could even be ranked against each other by an engagement metric. The Lab also featured some great editorial tools for idea generation such as a homepage carousel, blog, a moderated Brainstorm area, bookmarklet, and a live feed of activity across the site that could be monitored. It even further integrated with various systems by incorporating hooks into the company authentication system and internal share tools.  primary client contact, project management, drafted & maintained SOWs, created product & technical requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support, on-site client meetings & presentations
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∂isney Creative Lab

Voce Communications; launched Jan. 2011, ongoing support/updates throughout year

The Creative Lab is an internal brainstorming and “cool sharing” site that allows cast members the opportunity to share “buzz” with the Imagineering team, executives, and peers. This could include internet memes, humorous YouTube videos, or outlandish images. Employees can then create an “idea” from a buzz by sharing a suggestion or concept as to how it could be similarly actioned or modified by the company. Fellow users can comment, vote up their favorites, and engage in discussions around ideas and concepts.

Similar to sharing a link on Facebook, the system would automatically grab text and images from a link to a website or video. Ideas and buzz could be sorted by a popularity metric. Users could even be ranked against each other by an engagement metric. The Lab also featured some great editorial tools for idea generation such as a homepage carousel, blog, a moderated Brainstorm area, bookmarklet, and a live feed of activity across the site that could be monitored. It even further integrated with various systems by incorporating hooks into the company authentication system and internal share tools. 

primary client contact, project management, drafted & maintained SOWs, created product & technical requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support, on-site client meetings & presentations

AARP Blog Voce Communications; launched Jan. 2011, ongoing support/updates throughout year AARP was looking to migrate their existing Shaarpsession blog and get on the WordPress VIP wagon. We took the opportunity to clean up the theme, organize and refine the content hierarchy, and get everything jiving with AARP’s global SSO (single sign-on) and header/footer integrations. primary client contact, project management, drafted SOW, created business / product requirements documents, development QA, post-launch retainer support
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AARP Blog

Voce Communications; launched Jan. 2011, ongoing support/updates throughout year

AARP was looking to migrate their existing Shaarpsession blog and get on the WordPress VIP wagon. We took the opportunity to clean up the theme, organize and refine the content hierarchy, and get everything jiving with AARP’s global SSO (single sign-on) and header/footer integrations.

primary client contact, project management, drafted SOW, created business / product requirements documents, development QA, post-launch retainer support

NVIDIA Blog Voce Communications; launched December 2010 NVIDIA knew the importance of maintaining an official corporate presence, but was unhappy with their previous platform. Voce was charged with the site redesign, migration of existing content, and development of custom WordPress theme and features to support NVIDIA’s editorial needs. account management, primary client contact, project management, drafted SOW, created business / product requirements documents, development QA, authored tutorials, post-launch support
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NVIDIA Blog

Voce Communications; launched December 2010

NVIDIA knew the importance of maintaining an official corporate presence, but was unhappy with their previous platform. Voce was charged with the site redesign, migration of existing content, and development of custom WordPress theme and features to support NVIDIA’s editorial needs.

account management, primary client contact, project management, drafted SOW, created business / product requirements documents, development QA, authored tutorials, post-launch support

Fujitsu ScanSnap Community Voce Communications; retainer upkeep 2010-2011 Already existing in the Voce PR network as a WordPress blog, the Platforms team was charged with iterative upkeep and feature development for the ScanSnap Community site. Major enhancements include adding internationalization language support (i18n) and support video carousel. project management
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Fujitsu ScanSnap Community

Voce Communications; retainer upkeep 2010-2011

Already existing in the Voce PR network as a WordPress blog, the Platforms team was charged with iterative upkeep and feature development for the ScanSnap Community site. Major enhancements include adding internationalization language support (i18n) and support video carousel.

project management

Popdust.com

Voce Communications; November 2010

Contracted to advise as WordPress development consultants and overhaul the design, we had a lot of fun with the Popdust music portal redesign.

project management, editorial strategic advisement

eBay Ink Blog

Voce Communications; ongoing 2010/2011

eBay Ink is the corporate mouthpiece for eBay as told through Richard Brewer-Hay. It showcases major corporate news, public appearances and presentations, featured sellers, and other various eBay-related tidbits. The site features a custom mobile presentation, heavily-integrated twitter components, and a beautifully polished design.

Originally designed and developed by Voce’s Platforms team, I was charged with maintaining feature requests, bug fixes, and support for Voce’s Social Media Marketing / PR teams.

primary client contact, project management, on-site support, development QA, rough UX mocks

National Center for Family Literacy’s Wonderopolis.org Voce Communications; launched Oct. 2010, ongoing support/updates through 2011 Voted one of Time’s 50 Best Websites of 2011, Wonderopolis — “Where the wonders never cease!” — is a site targeted at families, teachers, and children to promote reading and learning in their daily lives. Funded by Verizon Foundation and created by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), the site’s main draw is the Wonder of the Day post. Be sure to check out one of my favorite posts, featuring Emmy-winning writer and co-executive producer of The Simpsons, Michael Price: “Wonder #205: How Do You Write a TV Script?”. (The site also won awards from places of which I’ve never heard. Snazzy.) Working in collaboration with the creative geniuses (and all-around awesome people) at Brains on Fire, Voce turned the delicious design pixels and Wonderopolis concept into web reality. Launched in Fall 2010 and ongoing through my time at Voce, this project was a personal favorite and especially rewarding partnership with the wonder-full ladies at NCFL. Beyond simply bringing the site to life and supporting ongoing new features and endeavors, we spent many occasions strategizing and planning the roadmap and future of Wonderopolis. I was also involved in executive discussions and negotiations with their funder, Verizon. account management, primary client contact, strategic executive advisement, project management, drafted & maintained SOWs, created product requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support, on-site client meetings & presentations, mobile theme / iOS / Android app planning
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National Center for Family Literacy’s Wonderopolis.org

Voce Communications; launched Oct. 2010, ongoing support/updates through 2011

Voted one of Time’s 50 Best Websites of 2011, Wonderopolis — “Where the wonders never cease!” — is a site targeted at families, teachers, and children to promote reading and learning in their daily lives. Funded by Verizon Foundation and created by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), the site’s main draw is the Wonder of the Day post. Be sure to check out one of my favorite posts, featuring Emmy-winning writer and co-executive producer of The Simpsons, Michael Price: “Wonder #205: How Do You Write a TV Script?”. (The site also won awards from places of which I’ve never heard. Snazzy.)

Working in collaboration with the creative geniuses (and all-around awesome people) at Brains on Fire, Voce turned the delicious design pixels and Wonderopolis concept into web reality. Launched in Fall 2010 and ongoing through my time at Voce, this project was a personal favorite and especially rewarding partnership with the wonder-full ladies at NCFL. Beyond simply bringing the site to life and supporting ongoing new features and endeavors, we spent many occasions strategizing and planning the roadmap and future of Wonderopolis. I was also involved in executive discussions and negotiations with their funder, Verizon.

account management, primary client contact, strategic executive advisement, project management, drafted & maintained SOWs, created product requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support, on-site client meetings & presentations, mobile theme / iOS / Android app planning

L’Oreal’s Makeup.com Voce Communications; ongoing 2010 Makeup.com is a site dedicated to showcasing the latest beauty products, tips, and trends. Visitors can learn about L’Oreal products, the latest make-up application tricks, as well as peruse the colors of the season. Structured as ongoing retainer support, we helped L’Oreal adapt and scale their existing WordPress theme to changing needs and services, as well as provided publishing guidance and tutorials. primary client contact, project management, on-site support, development QA, rough UX mocks
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L’Oreal’s Makeup.com

Voce Communications; ongoing 2010

Makeup.com is a site dedicated to showcasing the latest beauty products, tips, and trends. Visitors can learn about L’Oreal products, the latest make-up application tricks, as well as peruse the colors of the season. Structured as ongoing retainer support, we helped L’Oreal adapt and scale their existing WordPress theme to changing needs and services, as well as provided publishing guidance and tutorials.

primary client contact, project management, on-site support, development QA, rough UX mocks

The Pioneer Woman Voce Communications; site redesign launched July 2010, updates through year end One of my favorite examples of a self-made blogger (empire?), The Pioneer Woman blog — arguably better titled a ‘portal’ — showcases Ree Drummond’s life on the ranch. Her incredibly regular reporting spans the gamut from her personal life, cooking, photography, home & garden, and even tales of homeschooling her kids. She has a rabid avid fan base, where any one of her weekly KitchenAid Mixer or iPad giveaways will garner tens of thousands of comments, often in the course of a few minutes. (It’s a constant headache for our SysAdmin to keep her giveaways from melting servers or imploding WordPress.) As one of the team’s hands-down favorite and most consistent clients over the years, we’ve been incredibly proud to watch Ree’s self-made success grow into her second (sure to be) best-selling cookbook and an amazing new show on The Food Network. (Yes, she really is as genuine and sweet as she seems.) Just read a few of her posts. Go ahead, I’ll wait. You’ll be back (well, after about 40 minutes disappear into thin air). The 2010 major redesign was one of my first projects when I officially joined the Voce team. The design was (mostly) approved and it needed to be executed. As Ree was a seasoned blogger and WordPress extraordinaire, we took the opportunity to leverage the automated and hierarchical goodies that WP has to offer, creating some simple automated “super widgets” that automatically display content from different areas, categories, time periods, or tags. We made the archives and category pages easier to browse. Her luscious photos are now featured even bigger (and more automated for her Flickr process). Check out Ree’s “new blog” announcement post for more information (she even thanks us all by name halfway through). project management, created requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support, authored tutorials
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The Pioneer Woman

Voce Communications; site redesign launched July 2010, updates through year end

One of my favorite examples of a self-made blogger (empire?), The Pioneer Woman blog — arguably better titled a ‘portal’ — showcases Ree Drummond’s life on the ranch. Her incredibly regular reporting spans the gamut from her personal life, cooking, photography, home & garden, and even tales of homeschooling her kids. She has a rabid avid fan base, where any one of her weekly KitchenAid Mixer or iPad giveaways will garner tens of thousands of comments, often in the course of a few minutes. (It’s a constant headache for our SysAdmin to keep her giveaways from melting servers or imploding WordPress.)

As one of the team’s hands-down favorite and most consistent clients over the years, we’ve been incredibly proud to watch Ree’s self-made success grow into her second (sure to be) best-selling cookbook and an amazing new show on The Food Network. (Yes, she really is as genuine and sweet as she seems.) Just read a few of her posts. Go ahead, I’ll wait. You’ll be back (well, after about 40 minutes disappear into thin air).

The 2010 major redesign was one of my first projects when I officially joined the Voce team. The design was (mostly) approved and it needed to be executed. As Ree was a seasoned blogger and WordPress extraordinaire, we took the opportunity to leverage the automated and hierarchical goodies that WP has to offer, creating some simple automated “super widgets” that automatically display content from different areas, categories, time periods, or tags. We made the archives and category pages easier to browse. Her luscious photos are now featured even bigger (and more automated for her Flickr process). Check out Ree’s “new blog” announcement post for more information (she even thanks us all by name halfway through).

project management, created requirements documents, development QA, post-launch support, authored tutorials