Alice C. Dames
8504 Bryan Avenue,
St. Louis, Missouri, 63117-1309,
[Send email to request phone number] 77-0658 OR [Send email to request phone number] 25-5335,
[Send email using form at bottom]
Professional Summary
• Extensive experience in staff and project management, business analysis and
communications, instructional design, technical writing and training, teaching
and employee development, and social networking media.
• Possess strong knowledge of learning techniques and strategies, financial
services, marketing, health care and violence prevention, economics, information
technology, Internet and telco-related topics.
• Proficient in many software packages including (but not limited to) MS Office,
MS Project, WordPerfect, PageMaker, Visio, FrameMaker, Adobe, HTML, Dreamweaver,
RoboHelp, SnagIt, Camtasia and Captivate.
• Studied PRINCE2™ project management methodology, knowledgeable about
ISO-9001:2000 compliance.
Skills Summary
General Skills: Project and staff management, business analysis, data analysis,
requirements gathering and analysis, writing and editing print publications,
editing and designing web pages, interviewing, technical training, employee
development, instructional design, writing videos/multimedia presentations,
coordinating business and “town hall” meetings.
Project Management/Business Analysis: Requirements gathering and reporting;
test-plan creation and execution; trouble-ticket creation, assignment and
resolution; data analysis, auditing, cleansing and testing; ISO-9001:2000
auditing and compliance.
Business Documents/Publications: Benefit materials, business plans,
business-continuity plans, employee manuals, marketing brochures, online forms,
policies and procedures, presentation materials, press releases, print and online
newsletters, product literature, proposals, research publications, script
writing, service level agreements, web pages.
Training, Learning and Development: Course facilitation, coaching and
counseling, employee development, web and computer-based training (WBT/CBT),
instructional objectives, instructor guides, needs analysis, design documents,
step-by-step instructions, student workbooks, job aids, training scripts,
tutorials, training videos.
System Documentation: General/detail design, functional specifications,
programming specifications, requirements definition, run books, production
information architecture (PIA) documents, test plans/scripts.
User Documentation: Cross references, indexes, installation guides, online help,
run books, policies and procedures, reference guides, end-user manuals.
Professional Experience
Banyan Communications, Inc.
Project Manager/Instructional Designer – April 2008 to present
• General Responsibilities: Responsible for creating and managing project
budgets; hiring and managing freelance writers, editors and instructional
designers; leading documentation and instructional design projects, and ISO
9001-2000 compliance for various clients including, but not limited to: The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and
Her Majesty’s Prison Service (United Kingdom).
• Centers for Disease Control: Served as lead instructional designer (ID),
researcher and writer for Power of Prevention and Teen Dating Violence Prevention
blended learning courses. Duties include: performing needs analysis; creating ID
templates and all documentation; gathering/organizing research; finding and
interviewing subject matter experts; leading efforts with creative, software
development and production staff; writing all content and learning activities.
• U.S. Treasury: Served as lead writer and project manager for the “Borrow
Smart! Don’t Be a Victim” financial literacy campaign. Managed all graphic
design and marketing communications personnel; took the lead in all client
relationships, and oversaw budgets and all deliverables, including: creating a
two-color, marketing insert for all mailed 2008 tax-return checks; promoting the
MyMoney.gov web site; researching, writing, editing and organizing the web copy
for the MyMoney.gov web site, http://www.mymoney.gov/borrow-smart.shtml; writing,
organizing and editing the copy for the text-messaging campaign; reviewing
content for the public service announcement; managing Spanish translation efforts
for all deliverables; and interfacing with the technical, social-networking
vendor.
• Her Majesty’s Prison Service: Served as lead instructional designer for
several facilitator-led courses for prison guard (governor) staff. Performed
needs and content analysis and oversaw the work of all ID and writing staff.
Business Communications Consultant
Business Analyst, Instructional Designer, Technical Writer, Editor and Trainer –
October 2005 to March 2008
• Evolve24, (October 2007 to March 2008). Documented/analyzed requirements for
“The Mirror,” Evolve24’s web-based risk and reputation-management software, and
the “WorkBench,” a database for internal research and development staff. Tracked
and prioritized software enhancements for releases. Created Boolean and Lucene
searches. Audited and cleansed data — created spreadsheets to examine existing
data reports, compared them to the customer’s requirements, and then made
necessary updates to the relevant data libraries. Reported and assigned trouble
tickets and enhancement requests in Bugzilla. Created and executed test plans —
worked with developers to track system enhancements and updates, and then tested
the new functionality in the test database to ensure proper functionality. Wrote
release notes, highlighting the changes and enhancements made. Developed,
facilitated and managed all communication and training projects for Evolve24’s
primary customer (MasterCard), and created jobs aid. Also delivered in-person
training for MasterCard’s local staff and delivered webinars to MasterCard’s
regional offices in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Served as a communication
and customer-relationship liaison between internal development staff and research
analysts.
• Anheuser-Busch, (January to October 2007). Led documentation, web
communication and market research projects for A-B wholesalers and internal
staff; wrote and updated on-line help files; created and produced internal
videos; documented/analyzed business requirements for independent software
vendors.
• MasterCard Worldwide, (October to December 2006). Led documentation effort for
myProvider and Enhanced Data, two components of the Smart Data™ product suite.
• Verso Technologies, (August 2006 to January 2007). Updated application server
documentation.
• Elsevier, (October 2005 to November 2006). Designed, wrote, and edited two WBT
courses and seven training videos for nursing students completing their
bachelor’s degrees. Topics included: nursing issues and trends, communication
skills, cross-cultural awareness, legal and ethical topics, and confidentiality
(HIPAA). Managed and mentored other staff, and led cross-functional team
meetings. Note: One video was bilingual: Spanish/English. In addition to
writing the English version, also located a linguistic resource to translate the
text into Latin American Spanish.
• AAA Missouri, (January to April 2006). Conducted a needs analysis and
developed detailed design documents for two blended learning courses.
• Reuters, (October 2005 to January 2006). Led international effort to
document/edit all materials (product information architecture and operations run
books) for the Reuters.com web product.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Senior Editor, Public Affairs – August 1998 to September 2005
• Worked with end-users, content owners and IT staff (programmers and database
architects) to create content for the Bank’s public web site, www.stlouisfed.org.
Managed all content creation and posting of interactive features, such as:
online polls, surveys, and registration forms. Monitored usage with WebTrends.
Awarded “Best Corporate Site” and received second place for “Best Web Content,”
St. Louis Chapter of the International Webmasters Association, 2002.
• Served on Bank-wide Business Continuity committee — created procedures and
documentation for staff members to follow in case of a business interruption.
Also took part in off-site business-continuity exercises.
• Managing Editor for Central Banker, a quarterly publication for Eighth
District bank CEOs, (2001- 2005).
• Managing Editor for Review, a bi-monthly economics research journal,
(1998-2000).
• Additional duties included writing and editing contributing articles for
Eighth Note, a bimonthly employee magazine, writing online news stories, and
editing various print and online materials for various departments within the
bank.
Washington University in St. Louis
Lecturer, Technical Writing – Jan 2000 to May 2002
• Taught technical communication to upper-division students in WUSTL’s School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Business Communications Consultant
Instructional Designer/Technical Writer and Trainer – 1991 to 1998
• American Express Teleconferencing Center – Managed staff, developed and
delivered facilitator-led classes for sales and services reps. Built training
program from ground up. Topics: customer service skills, new products and
services, effective communications and active listening techniques, change
management theories and techniques, total quality management, order entry and
systems training. Researched, designed, wrote, edited and produced the “American
Express Teleconferencing System User’s Guide” for employees.
• Consolidated Communications Systems and Services – Designed, wrote and
facilitated training courses and developed related end-user documentation.
• Technology Applications, Inc. – Revamped failing training program into a
successful profit center. Hired/mentored staff, designed, wrote and facilitated
training courses and developed end-user training and documentation. Also wrote
proposal documents and other related marketing materials, and assisted with the
design and writing for partner-marketing web page.
• U.S. Veterans’ Administration – Designed and wrote several CBT courses for the
administration’s medical care cost recovery unit.
• Conoco Retail Stores – Designed and wrote “Management and Leadership” and
“Loss Prevention” CBT modules.
• Georgia Pacific– Designed and wrote two instructor-led courses regarding new
systems, policies and procedures.
• IBM – Designed and wrote CBT modules designed for third-party repair
technicians.
• President Riverboats Casinos, Inc. – Edited and programmed CBT mastery courses
for general employees.
• Bridge Information Systems – Designed and wrote all training materials and
user’s guides for the Computer Operations division. Also wrote and published
various end-user guides, a glossary for stock market and financial terms, and a
training video titled “Introduction to DBSys Window.”
• Sears – Transformed more than 150 procedural flow charts into an outline for
written procedure manuals.
• Brooks Fiber Communications, Inc. – Designed, wrote and managed training
documentation project for sales force.
• Ameritech Cellular Centers – Designed, wrote and facilitated multiple
application-selling courses for the sales force.
• GTE Wireless – Designed and wrote several CBT courses for sales and service
reps.
• Ameritech Small Business Service Centers – Designed and wrote product
literature, sales brochures, basic telephony courses and an operations plan for
employee seminars.
• Digital Equipment Corporation – Developed the creative theme and assisted with
the planning for 3rd quarter 1994 International Sales Meeting. Also wrote 4th
quarter 1993, 1st and 2nd quarter 1994 sales announcements and
application-selling brochures for the same audience within Digital.
• Citicorp/Diners Club – Conducted surveys and initial content research for
sales training programs for sales reps.
• Monsanto Chemical Group – Designed and wrote instructional materials for
“Problem Solving and Team Building” course. Conducted needs analysis/survey for
technical training program for Monsanto Chemical Group’s Acrilan Plant.
MCI Telecommunications, Inc.
Systems Trainer – 1989 to 1991. Developed and facilitated customer service,
computer order-entry/systems navigation, and new product training for national,
major and general-business account representatives in MCI’s five-state Southwest
division. Designed, developed, reviewed and edited all training materials, job
aids, tests and evaluation tools for both (locally and nationally delivered)
facilitator-led and CBT courses.
Team Leader/Customer Service Representative – 1987 to 1989. Identified and
resolved MCI Network service troubles. Entered trouble tickets into
trouble-management system and escalated unresolved trouble tickets to 2nd, 3rd,
and 4th-level Network Operations management. Calculated department payroll and
acted as department supervisor in his/her absence. Led the Day Later Cancel/Save
Program: Contacted all small commercial accounts that requested disconnection
and converted them back to MCI services. (Won back 35% of these lost customers.)
Compiled automated and manual reports, identifying repeat trouble patterns and
circuit-performance analysis. Handled monthly or quarterly account contacts,
account maintenance, revenue enhancement, and sold new services.
Education and Professional Development
UM-St. Louis – Completed 3 hours towards a Masters of Education – Adult
Education.
Northeastern Illinois State University, Chicago – Completed 15 hours towards a
Masters of Education degree – Adult and Counselor Education.
St. Louis University – Bachelor of Arts.
Continuing Education and Professional Certifications
• PRINCE2™ Certification: 2008
• Ragan Communications, Inc.: Completed various seminars: (1) Advanced Writing
and Editing for Corporate Communicators and (2) Effective Employee
Communications.
• Dale Carnegie Course, St. Louis. Completed 12-week course, Dec. 2002.
Received two human relations awards.
• UM-St. Louis Micro-Computer Program: Completed continuing education courses in
HTML and Dreamweaver.
• American Management Association: Completed “Train the Trainer” certification
program in August, 1990.
• Creative Training Techniques: Completed several seminars during 1989 and
1990.
• Completed various seminars by Career Track, Inc., and National Seminars, Inc.
(a division of Rockhurst College).
Previous Memberships and Affiliations
• American Society of Training and Development and American Society for
Technical Communication
Citizenship
• United States of America
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