American Psychological Association ( APA.org/membership)

In 2016, I helped the American Psychological Association create a website specifically for its 120k+ members. The goal: post content specifically and exclusively for members. Membership had been in a steady decline for almost a decade. Emphasis on catering to and serving the needs of the public left little to intice member registrations/engagement.

My job/role: bring value/importance back to being a member of APA.

My strategy: develop content centered on topics that matter to psychologists, help members advance in their careers and honor their unique experiences and achievements.

The first iteration of a member site was built on the Word Press platform to allow for fast production timelines. In the summer of 2018, the entire site and its content migrated over to the main APA.org website to position it as a key piece of real estate and to allow for the locking (paywall) of selected content.

As a result of my efforts, APA membership has seen growth year-over-year.

Key contributions:

  • 80% of content produced by myself and a staff of freelance writers that I supervise/direct
  • 20% of content I curate from other departments within APA.org
  • The content is a mix of editorial articles, webinar presentations, PDF ebooklets, resources (special programs, products and tools) and benefits/discount offers for members of the association
  • Responsible for content placement across all member pages
  

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS MemberCentral)

In 2010, I was hired by AAAS to help them build a digital member content program. Like many associations, AAAS had been experiencing a decline in membership over the past decade, due to generational shifts and placing more resources behind promoting their flagship publication, the journal Science. In an odd twist, the journal Science had eclipsed AAAS in brand recognition.

My role/task: create content specifically for members.

My strategy: carve out a distinct area on AAAS.org just for members. Cater to their career needs and research interests. Showcase the impressive breadth and depth of the membership with exclusive interviews and live lectures.

To expedite the member program, a website separate from the main site was launched. Built on the Drupal platform and launched in the summer of 2011, AAAS MemberCentral became the new home for members of AAAS. For over 5 years I maintained AAAS MemberCentral mostly on my own. In 2016, AAAS MemberCentral migrated over to the main AAAS.org site (which had recently migrated over to Drupal -- based on our successful use of the platform). My efforts were seen as key to making AAAS a member-facing organization again and AAASMemberCentral needed homepage placement. Today, AAAS MemberCentral is a paywall protected area accessible from the AAAS.org homepage.

As a result of my efforts, membership grew year-over year and AAASMemberCentral received over 1.5 million visitors during my time at AAAS. AAASMemberCentral and the content I created for it, received awards of excellence from the marketing and communications industries.

Key contributions:

  • 90% of the content (articles, videos, podcasts and webinars) I produced myself along with a staff of freelance writers that I supervised/directed
  • 10% of the content (articles, white papers/reports) was curated from other areas of AAAS.org
  • The content is a mix of member profiles, topical articles, webinar presentations, white papers/reports, live presentation recordings and benefits/discount offers for members of the association
  • Responsible for content placement across all member pages
  

Awards:

  • 2011 Web Marketing Association’s 15th Annual WebAward: Outstanding Website Award for AAAS MemberCentral
  • 2011 Interactive Media Award (IMA): AAAS MemberCentral — Outstanding Achievement Award in the Association Category
  • 2011 Communicator Award: AAAS MemberCentral — Silver Award of Distinction (Websites – Associations)

Cork Hounds

This is a passion project of mine. I am a co-founder and the chief of content. Cork Hounds is a search site/mobile app for locating dog-friendly vineyards and wineries across the U.S.

Key contributions:

  • Collection of vineyard/winery data
  • Hiring and managing freelancers for data collection
  • Writing blogs, interviewing vineyard owners and staff
  • Interacting with vineyard owners, customers and responding to feedback
  • Social media promotion
  • Merch store management
  • Affiliate partner advertising selection and management
  • Media outreach and inquires
  

The Monk Seal Project

This long-form story and multimedia presentation is my Master's thesis project for Columbia Journalism school. This indepth report looks at the human-wildlife conflicts surrounding the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

Key contributions:

  • Spent 4 days in Hawaii (Oahu and Kauai) conducting interviews and shooting video/photos
  • Wrote 10,000 word indepth story
  • Shot and edited 6 videos
  • Produced 6 photo galleries
  • Built website on WordPress platform/template to host all content originally
  • Recently migrated this content to a new Ghost blog to preserve my work