Michael H. Friedman

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General Background:

Freelance Technical Writer, Marketing Writer, Grant Writer, Desktop Publisher and Telecommunications Consultant Editor and author of over fifty manuals, software user guides and tutorials, corporate grants, proposals and how-to books consisting of over 1,000 pages. Developed over a dozen online help systems and supplied marketing content for several e-commerce web sites.

 

Vetronix Corporation is a leading developer of electronic testing equipment for the automotive industry. Among it's customers are Toyota, Suzuki, GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Companies.

 

Manage a department of four technical writers plus a production specialist. Schedule projects for department and create budgets. Purchase hardware and software. Hire staff and write performance reviews. Write and edit technical publications in cooperation with engineering staff. Concept, write and design online help systems for our e-commerce applications. Designed an Access-based database application to track changes to our fifty-plus technical publications. Test and troubleshoot software.

 

Created marketing content for a variety of web sites, plus dozens of print media ads, flyers and brochures. Most recent project involves supplying e-commerce marketing materials for several web sites belonging to a Santa Barbara-based wholesale florist chain. Please feel free to visit www.floristbusiness.com for samples.

 

 2/99-10/99: Contract Marketing Writer for Retail Profit Management, Los Angeles, CA.

Retail Profit Management (RPM) is a Los Angeles-based consultancy founded by corporate planners and MIS specialists to help businesses and organizations serve their communities effectively and profitably. Help concept and create demographic surveys for RPM's clients. Develop a variety of content for Rpm's corporate web site.

 

Please feel free to visit Rpm's web site to view or download samples.

Software.com is a leading developer of Internet-standards electronic messaging systems for ISPs and large telecommunications companies. Wrote and edited manuals and reference guides for systems administrators. Tools used: Microsoft Word, Visio Professional, Home Site web authoring software.

Pulse Point Communications Corporation is a leading supplier of high-capacity network-based message processing systems. Wrote and edited software and hardware configuration manuals targeted mostly at network administrators. Work closely with Engineering and Field Service staffs to create hard copy and electronic documents for in-house and customer use. Tools used: FrameMaker, MS Word for Windows, RoboHelp, Adobe Acrobat, PhotoShop and Illustrator, HTML coding, plus Front Page and other web authoring tools.

One of three technical writers hired to create the user manual for NetworkVUE, a wide area network modeling and simulation program that allows systems designers to create new networks, or optimize existing networks to improve performance parameters and reduce costs. NetworkVUE, which runs under UNIX, has the ability to simulate network traffic and recommend a variety of enhancements that will upgrade the network to meet the designer's stated objectives. Duties include software testing, writing several chapters from first draft through final edit, indexing and publication design using FrameMaker 5.0 on MS Windows platform.

 

Wrote software manual for Final Effects, an add-on module for Adobe Systems' After Effects studio animation software. This product runs on high-end Macintosh work stations. Software used: Microsoft Word.

Part of three writer team that authored documentation for Critical Link, an Internet client-server software/hardware bundle. Duties included interviewing software developers to verify product specifications, writing and editing of two manuals, plus layout and basic graphics using MS Word for Windows and FrameMaker 5. I was also responsible for creating an HTML, online version of the manual using Quadralay's Web Publisher.

Wrote a TIIAP Grant for The Visiting Nurse Association of Santa Barbara, seeking NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) funding for an Internet patient services support program. Wrote winning grant for Santa Barbara United Way for funding to defray costs of severe flood damage resulting from winter storms. Software used: Microsoft Word and CorelDRAW.

Wrote instructional manual for software developers contributing their products to Softbank's multimedia, CD ROM software catalog. The manual explains how to prepare software demos for inclusion in the catalog. Softbank America is a subsidiary of Softbank Japan, owner of the Comdex Computer Shows. Software used: Microsoft Word and CorelDRAW.

Technical Documentation, Software Testing, and Support: Acted as liaison between 700 users and development staff of a software package used to track worker's compensation claims. Duties included client support, marketing documentation, product testing and preparation of tutorials, writing and editing of quarterly user newsletter, software testing and trouble shooting, preparing solutions and workarounds for individual user's special needs, structuring training sessions for users at our local facility, and supporting efforts of our in-house sales staff. Work with development staff to plan future software enhancements. Act as liaison between Benefit Software and OSHA on both federal and state levels for all 50 states. Monitor changes in federal Workers' Compensation regulations, plus changes in federal and state forms.

Technical Writing and Support: Wrote and edited 19 supplemental software documents, which reduced technical support calls by over 30 percent. Handled phone support for over 3,500 users of Arc Tangent's three direct mail management software products. Solved both hardware and software problems, taking 40-50 support calls per day. Helped design customer call-tracking procedures, reducing departmental response time from an average of 90 minutes to an average of 15 minutes per call back. Tested and evaluated other software products for compatibility with Arc Tangent products. Participated in pilot sales incentive program for technical support reps and sold over $20,000 in product upgrades for the month of August. Responsible for daily network back-up of customer data base.

 

Continuing Education: City College Adult Ed.: Computer Science, DOS, Windows, Macintosh

Brooklyn College, CUNY Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing/Journalism, Honors.

Brooklyn College, CUNY BA in English Literature, Honors. Minor in Geology.

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