Resume

Web Content Web Design • Content Creation • Copy Editor Digital content expert with experience as a freelance writer covering many topics through articles and blog (dempsbiz.com). As a sports writer, I covered major events that include the Super Bowl and the World Series. My writing experience also covers news stories and editorials. I have a background in building full-stack web applications from scratch across multiple programming languages. An award-winning designer with unique storytelling experience. Eager to leverage strong writing and technical skills to build impactful software solutions.

Core Competencies

Professional Experience

Caregiver
Sabbatical to be a stay-at-home parent 2021-present
Caregiver for parent with dementia. Responsibilities include scheduling medical appointments and in-home care, financial custodianship, estate legal coordination, daily indoor and outdoor tasks, and daily errands outside of the home.

AppGrooves • San Jose, CA • 2019 – 2020
Head of Content • 2019 – 2020

At AppGrooves, I provided users with entertaining content from a variety of sources. The content followed the company motto of finding solutions to problems by using apps and I maintained that strategy. I operated the company’s Content Management System to maximize our SEO potential with, among other things, the use of finding the right keywords and using backlinks for our copy to reach other websites.

Among the many duties I performed:
• Created the subject and assigned short content spotlighting apps as well as expanded articles talking to experts in many fields.
• Supervised video team that produced entertaining videos showing users how different apps work in real-time.
• Utilized decades of editing experience to bring the highest level of quality to articles.
• Monitored the company’s progress by utilizing KPI (Key Performance Indicator) reports and spreadsheets covering different areas of the operation.
• Worked with apps to ensure they were compatible with iOS and Android.
• Managed 20-plus writers from around the globe and a video team from our content side.
• Led content strategy meetings.
• Worked with the company product team to perform site redesign and recommended system upgrades.
• Produced a weekly newsletter to help users find app-related solutions to their problems.

Bay Area News Group • San Jose, CA • 1998 – 2018
Web Content Manager • 2009 – 2018
Online Producer • 2009 – 2018
Copy Editor • 1998 – 2018

Promoted multiple times to positions of increased authority and responsibility. Oversaw main sites, opinion page sites, web and digital projects, and web applications for the San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times, staying up to the minute in busy news cycles. Chose videos, photos, graphics, and illustrations to enhance articles, and used Google Analytics, Parse.ly, and Chartbeat to gauge audience numbers. Hosted numerous live video chats and served as a video producer and editor, ensuring streamlined content. Performed copy editing, writing, and page design duties.

• Utilized news expertise coupled with top-level SEO content strategies to increase audience numbers by 30%.
• Demonstrated a wide range of writing skills, including sports, features, editorials, and news.
• Implemented changes to the CMS and email marketing systems.
•  Used AP style knowledge with strong editing skills to create clean and concise copy for online and print production on a daily basis.
• Crafted web and other digital and social media content and assisted in collecting and producing photo, video, and multimedia collections, driving new users to the site weekly.
• Utilized HTML skills to make fixes and enhance web copy.
• Developed and launched web and social media policies and procedures to ensure best practices regarding branding, web and social media content and style, and accessibility.
• Sourced new opportunities and alternative keywords, increasing marketing penetration.
• Innovated new strategies to boost social media presence, increasing cross-platform followers.
• Gathered material, edited and published daily PM Report newsletter.
• Adept with live streaming video and attaching Scribble Live live chat to boost more involvement from viewers and draw additional traffic across multiple platforms.

Granite Media • San Francisco, CA • 2018 – 2019; 2021
Freelance writer

Contributed fun-type articles for Granite Media’s Stadium Talk online site. Articles covered topics such as “Baseball’s Unbeatable Records,” “21 Events You Should Put on Your Sports Bucket List“, and “The 25 Toughest Golf Courses“. Conducted thorough research for each article. Readers have well received each article.

Additional Experience:

Vacaville Reporter | Vacaville, CA | Assistant Sports Editor
Woodland Daily Democrat | Woodland, CA | Assistant Sports Editor

Education

Coding Dojo – Bellevue, Wash.
Certificate – Web Development
Intensive 24-week coding boot camp. Pair programming, testing, full stack development, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Django, Python

Ratatype
Typing Certiciate – 60 wpm, 97.5% accuracy

Diablo Valley College – Pleasant Hill, CA
Studied Computer Information Systems
Completed courses
Microsoft Word Comprehensive
Microsoft Excel Comprehensive
Microsoft Access Comprehensive
Microsoft PowerPoint Comprehensive

Saddleback College – Mission Viejo, CA
Studied Journalism & Political Science

Alison studies
Certificate – Google Analytics

Additional Credentials

Skills
Freelance writer / Web Design  / HTML / CSS / JavaScript / Python / MySQL / Django / Algorithms / Visual Studio Code / Sublime Text/terminal / GitHub / WordPress / iMovie / Content Management Systems (CMS) / Keywords / Search Engine Optimization (SEO) / backlinks/content creation / copy editor/newsletters / typist (60 wpm) / Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) /  Adobe InDesign / Zoom / Adobe Acrobat Reader  / Google Docs /  Google Drive / Google Calendar

Honors & Awards
• Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for breaking news as part of a team reporting on the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland
• State award in sports writing on Craig Breedlove’s quest to break the land speed record. 
• State awards in sports page design

Interests
Building websites, writing, working out, keeping up with news and sports events, golf, family time, food, shopping, reading, social media