Efficient business practices require a creative systems-thinking perspective. I evaluate business systems as a whole and strategize and implement effective workflows. I specialize in utilizing technological solutions to improve efficiency of data management.

To all professional challenges, I apply the creative process:

• Research:  Learning the current process, systems, needs and expectations. This stage is all about asking the right questions.
• Incubation:  working within the system. I have to be comfortable with the day-to-day needs and activities in order to find room for improvement. At the same time, I am drawing on outside experiences for comparison: how does a coffee shop run, or a film production? Where are the needs similar?
• Design:  If I were to change the system, what would it be? How would it look, work, function, interact? What tools are needed, what considerations need to be made?
• Implementation:  Let?s do it! This is the most fulfilling part of process for me, seeing the execution and improvements. I often incorporate technological solutions in execution. Many applications and tools can effectively reduce the man hours necessary for many tasks.
• Testing:  Does it work? What elements can we tweak for a more smooth process? This feeds back into the Design and Implementation phases continuously.

I specialize in systems and efficiency management, bringing a creative edge to the analytical world.

The Push Institute
www.pushthefuture.org
Minneapolis, MN

Challenges:  Small non-profit hosting an annual 3-day futures and marketing conference directed at corporate interests. All details managed by volunteers, partners and one employee (President and Founder of the institute). Little flexibility in budget; systematic improvements are required with little or no financial investment.

Goal:  Maintain functionality of current operations while developing for growth. Create defined roles for successful integration of new volunteers, interns or partners.

Re-defined:

• Cohesive registration tracking database.
• Integrated contact management system using online services and email applications.
• Document sharing for defined users: board members, registrants, and partners/sponsors.
• E-marketing tool to manage potential leads, campaigns, marketing reports, event invitations, and client satisfaction surveys.
• Income reporting for simple book-keeping, AP and AR reconciliation, and target setting.
• Complete web-site re-development using an open-source platform allowing for in-house development with little financial or technical investment. Included improved user services, reporting tools, multi-media inclusion and functionality.

Result:  Coordinated contact management with new e-marketing tool allows for increased and remote access to organization-wide contacts, including more efficient reporting capabilities for e-marketing campaigns. New, modular-based website allows for easy-access improvements and editing, maintaining visual cohesion and adaptability, flexible for the regular changeover of admin user. Document sharing tools have increased the functional workflow for crucial activities such as sponsorship. During the correlated fiscal cycle, with the operational improvements, the Push Institute hosted the 2008 PUSH Conference ahead of production schedule, and enjoyed the smoothest execution to date. Incremental improvements anticipated over the next year.

The Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards
www.mcad.edu/msaa
Regional affiliate of the National Scholastic Art Awards: www.scholastic.com

Challenges:  State-wide High School arts competition, with 2 months for registration of all pieces and 2 weeks to receive, adjudicate, and repackage or display 1500+ individual pieces of artwork. Corresponding transition from an analog registration process to a difficult digital system, met with strong registrant resistance. Administrating large quantities of data with time consuming, manual data management procedures. Limited budget and 1.5 full-project employees.

Goal:  Take the entire system from primarily manual/analog to primarily digital and system-based. Drastically improve the workflow and labor distribution, while transitioning from salaried employees paid from external budgets to contractors paid within the existing project budget. Transition from re-active to pro-active work environment.

Re-defined:

• Access to data management system and integration with externally developed individual user-entry system, dramatically reducing the number of entry errors.
• Submission-status reconciliation (including intake and adjudication results) incorporated into data system for transition into documentation methods.
• Fee reconciliation/invoicing system to calculate expectation and result, allowing recognition and correction of discrepancies immediately.
• Excel and word templates for award and notification process, streamlining the process to create each award, letter and invitation sent to all registrants depending on award status.
• Pre-emptive troubleshooting for online registration system, including necessary detailed how-to documentation not provided by the developers.

Result:  Despite the registrant frustration with the online tool that we were not able to improve or abandon, most registrants were successful in submitting artwork to the competition. The number of registrants reached a record high, yet corresponded with an approximate 10% reduction of staff-hours necessary, with additional reductions expected in second year of system implementation. Due to access to data and procedures, process is able to sustain preemptive methods of communication, increasing quality and completeness of submissions by registrants without staff assistance.

Growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, I spent school breaks with my family in the Okanagan Valley, where I was born. When I was two, my favorite phrase was ?no?. For much of my childhood, my parents were concerned I would run away with the circus to ride horses. In ?98, I moved to Portland, Oregon, where I lived for 5 years and finished high school. My family still lives in Oregon, and don?t envy my cold Minnesota winters, while I don't miss having 300 descriptions for rain.

I graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Visualization in the winter of 2007. This unique degree has provided me with a background in systems-theory, project management, and experience in creative industries, including: film, design, print, photo and web.

Currently, I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Just in case I don't keep myself busy enough with work, I enjoy jig-saw puzzles, bon-fires, traveling by train, laughing, and Sunday brunch with my friends. I hope to eventually return to Vancouver to work at the 2010 Olympics. In my lifetime, my goal is to evenly split my time between the United States and Canada. Currently, Canada has the upper hand.