Client: Milwaukee School of Engineering
Project: Website
Faced with a looming deadline for a new website launch, MSOE asked me to rewrite dozens of high-level web pages to make them more complete, engaging and persuasive for prospective students and other website visitors. Some of the pages I worked on included the Admissions, Academics, Campus Experience, and MSOE Advantage sections.
Client: Children’s Wisconsin
Project: Feature story
In the cardiac community, it’s well known that Children’s Wisconsin played a pivotal role in transforming survival rates for kids with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, one of the most severe heart defects. But the hospital had never captured and shared the full, behind-the-scenes story of its pioneering cardiac research for a lay audience, and the hospital’s leadership wanted a narrative feature to commemorate this important part of its history. The story was shared online and distributed as a booklet at an event that celebrated the Herma Heart Institute’s new name and the conclusion of a successful fundraising campaign. As the mom of a child with heart defects, I found this project especially meaningful, and it was a true gift to be able to tell this important story. See the PDF.
Client: Alverno College Admissions
Project: Undergraduate viewbook
Alverno was looking for a fresh perspective on its viewbook, which previously had a more institutional tone that didn’t reflect the warm, friendly vibe of its campus. I rewrote the copy to make it snappier and more inspiring, with lots of small copy blocks and bolded phrases to pull in teens and parents with short attention spans. See the PDF.
Client: Alverno College Admissions
Project: Two-sided fact sheets about each of the majors
As a former reporter, I can get interested in almost any subject, and I especially love learning about people’s work and passions. So I’ve had a lot of fun spending the past year interviewing Alverno faculty and alumnae from a variety of disciplines, ranging from business to chemistry to art therapy, for a series of fact sheets aimed at prospective students. Read a sample.
Client: The Medical College of Wisconsin
Project: 2015 annual report
The challenge: Report and write seven stories — requiring interviews with nearly 20 extremely busy doctors and medical students — in a little more than two weeks. Despite the tighter-than-usual timeline, I got it done (I did begin my career as a daily newspaper reporter, after all), and the client was thrilled with the result. See the PDF.
Client: Children’s Wisconsin
Project: Content for redesigned website
Facing a major website redesign, Children’s Wisconsin asked for my help revamping the research section of its site. I analyzed more than 100 existing web pages and recommended which ones should be deleted, moved to the intranet, rewritten or reorganized to better serve the website’s key audiences — families, medical professionals and prospective donors. I rewrote the research landing page and created other new pages, and I interviewed some of the hospital’s top researchers for a series of profiles that showcased the fascinating research happening in pediatric cancer, heart care, diabetes and other areas. I also revised existing content to improve readability and search engine optimization. It was an interesting and rewarding project, and I was proud to help tell the story of one of the nation’s top-ranked children’s hospitals.
Client: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Project: Full suite of new admissions materials for Fall 2013
I’ve always loved admissions writing, and I had a lot of fun working closely with UWM’s admissions and marketing teams to create a slew of new, targeted recruitment pieces for out-of-state students, parents of prospective students, adult/nontraditional students, and military veterans. I helped develop the marketing plan and messaging for those audiences and served as lead writer on a number of new viewbooks and other admissions-related brochures — this picture shows just a sampling of the print pieces involved. I also rewrote existing letters, postcards, and e-communications directed at prospective and admitted students. The campaign was well received, and it recently won a gold award in the Educational Advertising Awards in the “Total Recruitment” category. See PDFs of:
Client: On Wisconsin magazine/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Project: Cover story, June ’13
One of my favorite magazine stories was this profile of a freelance astrobiologist and astronomer who has dedicated her career to advancing the search for extraterrestrial life. Read the story online.
Client: Marquette University Office of Marketing and Communication
Project: Brochure
Marquette was searching for a way to reach the so-called “stealth visitor,” the prospective student who isn’t on the mailing list and doesn’t want to take the official tour — but who does drop by campus to wander through on his or her own. Paired with an eye-catching display, this piece captures the essentials of Marquette, from academic bragging points to student organizations to application info, plus a fun illustrated map to ensure visitors hit the highlights of campus and beyond. See the PDF.
Client: Marquette University’s Office of the Provost
Project: Marketing collateral on research and scholarship
After I took over as editor of this publication, I worked closely with a designer to transform it from a report with bland profile photography to a magazine-style piece with eye-catching illustrations and photos that reflected the research topics. The result was DISCOVER: Marquette University Research and Scholarship, which won a gold award in the Jesuit Advancement Administrators competition and a silver award in the 2008 Pride of CASE V Awards. The CASE judges said: “This annual publication telling the ‘research story’ at Marquette is nicely presented and well written. Writing is crisp and sound, and the science is explained well for the lay reader.” See more of the research stories (not all were written by me, but I edited all of the stories from 2007-2013).
