Communication is at the heart of every relationship, and it offers solutions to every problem. When confronted with a communications issue, the first two questions you must ask are: “Who is my audience?” and “What is my purpose?” Every other decision follows from there.

Professional Awards

• Renaissance Award – Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Corporate – Annual Report with a budget of less than $20,000 - FHLBank Pittsburgh Affordable Housing and Community Investment Annual Report: The Bank in Your Back Yard – 2002

• Golden Triangle Award of Excellence – International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) – FHLBank Pittsburgh Affordable Housing and Community Investment Annual Report: All Together Now – 2003

• More than 10 Golden Triangle Awards of Honor – Writing, Websites and Publications – International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) – FHLBank Pittsburgh Communications Projects – 1997-2012

Professional Experience

• Freelance Editor/Writer/Communications Specialist
  July 2012 to Present

Edit, write and manage various communications, marketing and public relations projects including website copy, blogs, white papers, annual reports, brochures, press releases, journal articles and advertising copy. Edit and develop book and ebook manuscripts for publication. Execute crisis communications and speechwriting for C-level professionals. Conduct products and services branding and naming sessions. Manage multimedia projects, including videos and slideshows.

• Writer/Editor/Project Manager

  
  Public Relations Specialist
  Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh
  April 1997 to July 2012

Wrote, edited and managed various communications, marketing and public relations projects including annual reports, brochures, press releases, journal articles and advertising copy. Developed theme ideas for publications and events, invented product names and coordinated audio/video presentations. Conducted training workshops for employees.

• Automated Litigation Support Project Coordinator
  Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Pittsburgh, PA
  May 1994 to April 1997

Trained paralegals and clerks and demonstrated software and hardware to attorneys/clients. Managed cutting-edge office automation and document imaging and coding projects. Set budgets and processed invoices for more than $1 million annually in client accounts.

• Litigation Information Management Consultant
  Self-employed, Pittsburgh, PA
  September 1991 to April 1994

Teamed with attorneys and corporate legal departments to administrate legal projects. Established office in Benedum-Trees Building.

• Personnel & Facility Manager
  Harvey B. Feinman Associates, Tucson, AZ
  June 1988 to August 1991

Trial preparation through research and document discovery. Managed all aspects of office including supervision of more than 100 document analysts and project leaders.

Other Professional Activities

• Editor. Brandt Street Press
  2005 to present

• Copy Editor. Three Rivers on Two Wheels (2002) and Millhunks & Renegades: a portrait of a Pittsburgh neighborhood (2003)

• Editor-in-Chief. Kalliope, The Penn State Literary Magazine
  September 1984 to May 1985

University Teaching Experience

• Instructor of "Publishing for Writers" Course (Osher Program)
  Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
  May-June 2015 and 2016

  Developed and taught a five-week course helping writers at all levels to get their work into publication. Topics included manuscript preparation and submission, finding a publisher, getting an agent, today's technology, and the pros and cons of self-publishing.

• Co-organizer (with Shelley Kronzek) of “Writing for Publication” Workshop
  Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA
  May 2007

Co-organized a one-day credited workshop that included lectures on topics helping authors to publish their work, an agent pitch workshop with guest editors, and an evening panel discussion featuring writers from a number of genres – fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children's literature.

• Instructor of Creative Writing, Composition, and Literary Analysis
  The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
  September 1985 to May 1988

Organized, planned and taught courses in Fiction Writing (four sections), Composition (four sections) and Literary Analysis (five sections). Participated in workshops and seminars for teachers of rhetoric and composition and of English as a Second Language.

• Instructor of English
  The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
  September 1983 to May 1985

Planned and taught seven course sections in essay writing and critical thought. Took part in mentor program for teachers of composition.

Professional Preparation

• M.A. in English (May 1985)
  The Pennsylvania State University
  Graduate Creative Project: A Question of Balance and Other Stories

• M.F.A. in Creative Writing (May 1988)
  The University of Arizona
  Graduate Thesis: Something Wild and Other Stories

• Organized and participated in various independent writing groups in State College, Tucson and Pittsburgh.

© 2014-2018 by Scott Bradley Smith