Stephen R. Clark's Online Resume

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Stephen R. Clark, CleverSmith Writing^TM
10109 Unity Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44111-1267
Stephen@CleverSmith.com • (216) 367-2420, office

Communications • Publishing • Proposal Development • Education • Social Media • Consulting • Ministry Management

KEY SKILLS:
Professional Writing, Communications Planning and Execution, Publishing & Publications Development, Editing, Social Media Development and Management, Intranet/Web Management & Content Development, Project/Process/Event Management, Ministry Management, Branding, Public Relations.

WORK HISTORY:

COMMUNICATIONS / CONSULTING

3/10 - Present, Principal / Writing & Consulting Top
Stephen R. Clark, CleverSmith Writing^TM
Writing & Communications Services
Cleveland, Ohio www.CleverSmithWriting.com
I am currently offering freelance corporate, organizational, and individual communications management, consulting, ghostwriting, writing, social media management, accreditation document development, and related services. Recent and recent/current clients include Transformational Leadership Forum/Dr. Robert Fomer, Chancellor University, and Rev. John O. Anderson.

COMMUNICATIONS / HIGHER EDUCATION

8/09 - 3/10, Executive Director of Communications Top
Chancellor University
Cleveland, Ohio, www.ChancellorU.edu
With no budget or staff, reporting to the Provost and COO, I was responsible for brand management, social media, internal communications, collateral and publications development and management, Cleveland/N.E. Ohio public relations, website content management and refreshing, process management, and accreditation document development, as well as overseeing university and alumni relations efforts, events, and outreach. I established and managed on a daily basis the Facebook (www.facebook.com/ChancellorUniversity), Twitter (twitter.com/chancelloru), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/chancelloru)LinkedIn, and other social media accounts.

2/09 - 8/09, Director of Communications Top
SignificantFederation LLC
San Diego, CA / Cleveland, Ohio
With no budget or staff, I was responsible for internal/external communications, publications, advertising, branding, website development, e-mail newsletters, PR, and supporting accreditation document development at various schools, etc. (www.SignificantFederation.com is the investor group who owns and operates Chancellor University, as well as other schools.)

9/08 - 1/09, Director of Communications & Marketing Top
Chancellor University
Cleveland, Ohio
With no budget or staff, reporting to the Provost, I was responsible for internal/external communications, publications, advertising, re-branding, getting a completely new and expanded website up within fewer than five months, e-mail newsletters, PR, and supporting accreditation document development.

BOOK PUBLISHING

9/06 -8/08, Project Editor  Top
Wiley Publishing, Consumer Dummies
Indianapolis/Fishers, Indiana
As a Project Editor for Consumer Dummies, I provided day-to-day contact and support for authors during the writing and development of their books. I also project managed the editorial and production schedules, illustrations, proofing, reviewing, and so forth, as well as refined the Table of Contents and help shaped the overall text; All this while keeping a close eye on multiple deadlines since all PEs handled several books at once. Books I have managed include Seasonal Affective Disorder FD, Football FD 3e, U.S. Military History FD, Intermediate Spanish FD, and The Book of Revelation FD.

COMMUNICATIONS / CONSULTING

8/01 - 8/08, Principal / Consulting  Top
Stephen R. Clark, Epiphany Lane Communications^TM
Writing & Communications Services
Fishers, Indiana www.EpiphanyLane.com
I offered corporate, organizational, and individual communications management, consulting, ghostwriting, writing, and related services for creating effective communications products. My clients included Michael Clifford, The Anchor Group, Newport Creative, Sallie Mae, Alpha Books, Adams Media, Zondervan, Time Life Publishing, and others..

COMMUNICATIONS / CORPORATE

4/98 - 7/01, Corporate Communications/PR Manager  Top
Best Access Systems (now a division of Stanley Security Systems)
Indianapolis, Indiana
With no budget or staff, reporting to a VP, I was responsible for all employee and corporate communications, public relations (non-product), community affairs, and internal publications. I also regularly interacted with senior company executives. I was deeply involved in the development of our company’s Intranet (design policies, etc.) and was responsible for corporate event planning and implementation including the annual off-site Management Conference and Top Gun Sales Conference (these were held in locations such as Cancun, San Diego, and Hawaii). I also created communications policies and an evolving employee communications program where none existed previously.

COMMUNICATIONS / TECHNICAL SALES PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

4/97 - 4/98, Proposal Specialist Top
Rolls-Royce Corporation (formerly Allison Engine Company)
Indianapolis, Indiana
I was responsible for supporting aerospace proposal development needs for the various business units. I also helped to further the development of more consistent proposal and documentation standards, as well as helped to develop processes for archiving materials on the corporate Intranet using Documentum.

COMMUNICATIONS / CONSULTING

3/96 - 4/98, Principal / Consulting  Top
Stephen R. Clark, Writing & Communications Services
Indianapolis, Indiana
I offered corporate and organizational communications management, consulting, writing, and related services for creating effective communications efforts as well as marketing. My clients included: Business & Professional Exchange, Farm Bureau, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Aearo, Communico, Home Therapy Systems, AT&T WorldNet, Macmillan Publishing, CashFlowPLUS, Ambassador Consulting, Moody Press, Turning Point Associates, Caskey Training Systems, among others.

COMMUNICATIONS / CORPORATE
Proposal Development / Process Management / Employee Communications

1/95 - 3/96, Proposal Manager  Top
AT&T Solutions, Solutions Support Center (SSC)
Morristown, New Jersey
I provided proposal management support for telecommunications technical sales proposals, presentations, and related documentation, serving as the team leader and document project manager. These proposal teams included as few as 5 and as many as 50 or more members. Leading the team involved matrix-managing members drawn from a variety of disciplines as required by the Request for Proposal (RFP). I managed all proposal input and production activities, ensured proposals were responsive to client requirements, and supervised Technical Writers, Proposal Editors, and other support personnel. Additionally, I mentored SSC personnel and served as resident subject matter expert in the area of proposal development and document publishing.

4/94 - 1/95, Senior Technical Writer  Top
AT&T Solutions, Sales Response Center (SRC)
Bridgewater, New Jersey
I provided writing, editing, and production coordination, as well as proposal support for telecommunication sales proposals, presentations, and related documentation, supporting the Proposal Managers. I also provided proposal and process training to proposal teams, and developed document publishing standards, templates, and systems standards. I served as primary mentor for new personnel, and was one of four founding members of the SRC. I served as the primary writer and a key contributor to our proposal development quality standards and process methods and procedures and served as one of the trainers / presenters giving sessions on our process to various personnel.

11/92 - 4/94, Senior Technical Writer  Top
AT&T Business Communications Services
ACCUMASTER Management Services (AMS), Sales Support
Bridgewater, New Jersey
As the sole AMS Technical Writer, I provided writing, editing, and graphics support for telecommunications sales proposals, presentations, and related documentation. I also provided team management and logistics support for a large special project and developed documentation standards, templates, and other materials which were distributed throughout AMS.

Finally, in early 1993, I was assigned to a telecommunications outsourcing project involving Chase Manhattan Bank. I managed the documentation of data-gathering efforts, provided project management assistance, supervised two temporary employees, as well as provided writing, editing, graphics, and document publishing support. During this project I interfaced with senior AT&T and Chase executives, provided documentation support at the final negotiation/contracting sessions, organized and facilitated a week-long Chase Project win review, and then wrote the win review document. This document served as a key input into AT&T's new outsourcing business, AT&T Solutions.

4/92 - 11/92, Employee Communications Manager Top
AT&T Treasury, Quality & Organizational Effectiveness Group
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
I was responsible for managing communication channels within AT&T Treasury, which included producing a bimonthly employee newsletter, T-NOTES. Formerly a quarterly newsletter, I redesigned T-NOTES, enlisted a larger more active volunteer staff, and instituted a reader response card. I assisted with coordinating special video productions and conferences, managed a quarterly recognition program, consulted on several quality and focus groups, managed the distribution of Treasury information releases, and developed collateral materials for college recruiting.

I frequently interacted with senior AT&T executives and established an employee "Sound-Off!" channel where feedback could be provided via e-mail, fax, company mail, U.S. mail, phone mail, or in person. This allowed employees to share concerns, issues, complaints, questions, and other comments, anonymously if desired. Prior to my leaving Treasury, at least three very sensitive issues which required the involvement of senior management were satisfactorily resolved. I also established a Treasury news fax system which allowed important announcements to be distributed simultaneously to hundreds of sites across the country.

1/91 - 4/92, B&P Quality & Process Manager  Top
AT&T Network Systems (now Lucent Technologies)
International Bid & Proposal Operations,
Quality & Process Management Group
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
I was responsible for developing and documenting various telecommunication B&P processes, communicating process changes and improvements to the organization, and developing and implementing related training. I also helped develop scripts and overheads for executive presentations given by our Director and our Vice President; wrote, edited, and published the first B&P Procedures Manual, and facilitated several quality teams to baseline and benchmark processes to clarify customer-supplier relationships and requirements.

4/88 - 1/91, Proposal Integrator  Top
AT&T Network Systems (now Lucent Technologies)
International Sales Operations,
Bids & Proposals Development Group
Basking Ridge / Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
I was responsible for coordinating all aspects of the writing, editing, and publishing of telecommunications sales proposals. I wrote and rewrote Executive Summaries, cover letters, and other marketing sections and was the Proposal Integrator for several major proposals, including the Korea $29M cellular and the Telmex $150M fiber optic wins. I also developed standard sales proposal preparation procedures, initiated the use of standard publishing/editing practices, organized the document retention and tracking system, and led the effort to move from UNIX terminals to PCs and desktop publishing methods.

I organized and ran several organization-wide meetings and events at the Director and VP level including, at the direction of our VP, the 1989 organization-wide Help For A Troubled World! Project to address improving areas such as communication, training, morale, recognition, standardizing processes, etc. The project spanned more than a year, involved dozens of individuals (including upper management to the VP level) working in several small teams, and was included as part of our division's Malcolm Baldrige Award application. Subsequently, I was awarded a Silver Award in 1989, along with others in Network Systems who were deemed to have made significant contributions to the business during the previous year.

BOOK PUBLISHING

8/86 - 4/88, Managing Editor  Top
Bridge Publishing, Inc. (now Bridge-Logos Publishing)
South Plainfield, New Jersey
I was the primary person responsible for acquiring, editing, and rewriting manuscripts; working with freelancers and authors; marketing; and coordinating all book production. I also edited and developed 23 titles and was involved in all phases of the company's operations. I helped coordinate our involvement in the CBA trade shows and handled publicity and marketing, writing promotional, catalog, and ad copy, placing ads, and so on. I trimmed our large backlist to a manageable size, completely rewrote the catalog, initiating cover redesigns on our bestsellers, and acquired significant new titles that were well-received in the marketplace.

COMMUNICATIONS / CONSULTING

7/84 - 8/86, Principal / Consulting Top
Stephen R. Clark, Writing & Communications Services
Findlay, Ohio
I offered writing, ghostwriting (books, articles), editing, publicity writing, graphic design, newsletters, marketing, and consulting. Some of my clients included Harper & Row, Here's Life Publishers, Kuss Corporation, WTLW-TV 44, James Peter Associates, Prentice-Hall, Findlay Area Arts Council, and others.

COMMUNICATIONS / HIGHER EDUCATION

7/83 - 7/84, Director of Public Information & Publications  Top
Bluffton College (now Bluffton University)
Bluffton, Ohio
I was responsible for supervising a volunteer staff of up to 10 students; covering all aspects of college news and sports activities; writing, editing, and designing all college publications; developing print ads, radio spots, and TV commercials; and working with area media; marketing the college. I also assisted with alumni fundraising efforts through developing materials and organizing events, and served as an advisor to several student publications. Additionally, I redesigned all of the college publications giving them a fresher, more contemporary and unified look.

COMMUNICATIONS / CONSULTING

11/82 - 7/83, Principal / Consulting Top
Stephen R. Clark, Writing & Communications Services
Findlay, Ohio
I offered writing, ghostwriting (books, articles), editing, publicity writing, graphic design, newsletters, and consulting. Some of my clients included Harper & Row, Here's Life Publishers, Kuss Corporation, WTLW-TV 44, James Peter Associates, Prentice-Hall, Findlay Area Arts Council, and others.

MAGAZINE PUBLISHING

8/80 - 11/82, Senior Editor   Top
Christian Bookseller magazine, Christian Life, Inc. (now Christian Retailing)
Wheaton, Illinois
Reporting to the Publisher/President, I was responsible for all editorial, design, production, and marketing for this controlled circulation trade magazine with a monthly circulation of 10,000. I initiated a complete redesign of the magazine (bringing it out of the 50s into the 80s) and expanded editorial coverage. I also created an expanded book review section which included brief reviews of every Christian / religious book published each month (that we were aware of). This involved utilizing a group of up to 25-30 volunteer reviewers, most of them located in the Chicago area. I also coordinated our involvement in the CBA trade show.

My other responsibilities included editorial work for Christian Life magazine, interviewing prominent Christian personalities, doing editing and writing cover copy for Creation House Books, working as an instructor for Christian Writers Institute, writing fundraising letters for Christian Life Missions, and writing and designing ads and direct mail for all divisions of Christian Life, Inc. After being at the magazine only six months, Bob Walker, the Publisher, came into my office and handed me a letter saying, "This is really for you." The letter was from Ken Taylor, president of Tyndale House Publishers and author of The Living Bible. In the letter Mr. Taylor stated that he was thoroughly impressed with the changes and improvements that had occurred in Christian Bookseller over the previous few months..

INDUSTRIES/MARKETS IN WHICH I'M EXPERIENCED:   Top
Security, Aerospace, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Consulting, Book Publishing, Magazine Publishing, Education, Sales, Retail, Construction, Education, Church, and more.

EDUCATION:  Top
Evangel University, Springfield, MO (B.A. in English [with writing emphasis]
& Biblical Studies, with a Psychology Minor)
Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION: Top
Ministry:
2010 Basics Conference: A Conference for Pastors on Preaching, www.ParksideChurch.com/Basics

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC):
> President of Cleveland IABC Chapter, 2011-2012
> Cleveland IABC, Nonprofit Communication in a Digital Age Work, workshop, March 2010.
> IABC Heritage Conference, attended several social media and communication related workshops, November 2009.

IUPUI courses (HR Certificate Program):
(June, 1997) Introduction to Human Resources Management,
Recruitment Interviewing & Selection, Train the Trainer;
(Fall, 1997) Developing Effective Training Programs,
Employee & Labor Relations; (Spring, 1998) Compensation.

Selected courses, AT&T School of Business (1988-1996):
Contracting for Project Managers, Direct Marketing Techniques,
Introduction to Marketing, Introduction to Project Management,
Leadership for the Future, Managing & Improving Processes
with Quality, Managing Organizational Conflict, Managing
People & Performance, Mini-MBA, Project Management Essentials,
Team Leader Training.

MEMBERSHIPS:  Top
Evangelical Press Association (EPA)
International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) -- currently President of the Cleveland chapter (www.iabccleveland.com).

VOLUNTEERING:
I am currently an active member of MetroAlliance Church in Cleveland where I am involved in leading communications efforts and providing adult teaching and preaching support, as well as participating in other ministries and community outreach. With our communications team, I established the church’s Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/MetroAllianceChurch).

SOFTWARE:  Top
I am very proficient with Word and other word processing software. I regularly use PhotoShop, FileZilla FTP, MS FrontPage, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Acrobat, Spybot, and more. I am familiar with CorelDraw, DreamWeaver, Illustrator, WordPerfect Office, InDesign, Corel Video Studio, Audacity, and many more. I am also familiar with DOS, UNIX, and HTML.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS SUMMARIES BY CATEGORY:   Top
MINISTRY – Have delivered sermons on short-term missions trips to Mexico and served as a leader on those trips; organized small groups and small group training; facilitated small group study; served as Sunday school superintendent and teacher; organized volunteers and schedules for nursery and other support services; managed communications efforts for churches, including news releases, publications development, email newsletters, web site management, and social media; served on church growth committee; facilitated workshops; coordinated special all-church studies which included handling communications and small group leader training; currently help with preaching and teaching duties as well as communications efforts.

BOOK PUBLISHING - Oversaw the consolidation of backlist; acquired several new titles; built and maintained relationships with every author; reviewed all manuscripts; supervised production staff and freelance editorial support; developed 23 titles in two years; developed and placed ads; coordinated all marketing efforts; served on the corporate executive management team and helped set strategy and planning for the company. Top

BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT - Initiated and led a business-unit wide project, coordinating a dozen+ sub-teams, to address improving areas such as internal communication, training, morale, cross-group interaction, recognition, process, and more / the year long effort involved VPs and executive level managers / won a Sliver Award / many of changes implemented are still in place; have served as primary writer for three proposal process manuals. Top

CORPORATE & EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS - Developed multiple channels to provide critical and timely communication to employees scattered over the US and several global locations; established employee "Sound Off!" channel allowing employees to share concerns, issues, complaints anonymously with executive leadership; facilitated improved open and honest communications between executive leadership and staff; mediated the process of addressing sensitive issues; promoted diversity awareness; assisted in coordinating training opportunities; developed executive level presentations; organized and facilitated events for and involving VPs and other executive level corporate managers; developed college recruiting materials; developed sales support material aimed at external (global and Fortune 500) clients; developed internal communications and community relations plans in support of strategic objectives. Top

EVENT PLANNING - Coordinated off-site team meetings and conferences in a variety of locations for groups of 12 - 100+; selected and booked sites; specified event requirements; oversaw all details of events from meeting needs to banquets; coordinated arrangements with event services vendor; held vendors accountable to budget. Top

MAGAZINE PUBLISHING - Coordinated redesign of national trade magazine; developed ads, direct mail, and other marketing materials; supervised production staff; maintained editorial calendars; reviewed incoming manuscripts; significantly expanded the book review section using dozens of volunteer reviewers; obtained all new columnists; served on the corporate executive management team and helped set strategy and planning for the company; received kudos for improvements from publishing industry leaders. Top

PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT - Coordinated proposal teams of 5 to 50+ people; developed technical sales proposals from a few pages in length to as many as 40 volumes; provided proposal development to teams, support providers, executives, and others; developed proposal style guides and process manuals; built proposals in a virtual environment working with globally deployed resources; managed full range of resources and support services such as graphics services, word processing, printing, etc.; trained proposal teams in professional sales proposal writing techniques. Top

PUBLICATIONS MANAGEMENT - Developed monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly publications, brochures, news releases, catalog, viewbook, and all other publications for college; coordinated large and small print orders with book and other printers; coordinated use of outside vendors (graphics, typesetting, editors, writers, etc.). Top

PUBLIC RELATIONS - Coordinated all PR efforts of companies, college, magazine, and book publishing company; have handled media and community relations for a variety of groups. Top

TRAINING - Developed and conducted organization wide skills assessment evaluation; issued reports to each individual and supervisors; developed proposed training plan for each individual to address skill gaps; coordinated the development and delivery of Negotiations Training and Proposal Training; have conducted brief informal training sessions / seminars on various topics. Top

WRITING - Have written on a wide variety of topics, both technical and non-technical, aimed at diverse audiences; articles, collateral materials, news releases, scripts, ad copy, software manuals, etc.; ghostwritten books; developed print communications materials for churches and organizations; gathering information and reporting on individuals and projects for news items; have done research using the Internet to gather information for articles; can write about almost anything in almost any style required. Top