Irwin Zucker

***** **** ******** ****** **********, CO 80015

cell: 818-***-****

home: 720-***-****

email: acy321@r.postjobfree.com

"If I owned a company and could hire only one person, this would be the guy." While I am a creative writer, I didn't make up this quote. It was actually stated by a former co-worker - an engineer - when queried as a reference by an employer looking to hire me. This engineer added that he never knew anyone who was a faster learner or with more versatility a “Business Swiss Army Knife” he called me. That employer, by the way, did hire me.

I'm an energetic self-starter, an independent worker who needs little if any supervision. I'm a detail oriented multi-tasker with first-rate communication skills, and have significant positive experience interacting with all levels of team members, vendors and contractors.

I've had a dynamic and varied career, doing everything from running a 200+ person engineering organization to designing cosmetic packaging to creating owner's manuals to taking major, complex medical devices from concept through production and distribution. And I’ve had a lot of experience teaching and developing instructional materials, as well as promoting their use. My first experience as an Instructional Designer was in the US Army, the originating force for the ADDIE model, created for the military at Florida State University. I have continued my Instructional Design practice for many years, usually as a part of a higher-level position. You see, I have a passion for the creative process and for solving complex problems by explaining them in simple language. So, even when serving as a senior manager, I voluntarily took on the roles of instructional designer, teacher, and communicator. This meant I had to immerse myself in the details of a subject and put myself into the role of the student or end user in very intimate ways. Then, once developed, I became an advocate for the wide use and continuing development of these instructional tools.

In addition to my military experience, I have developed several commercial curricula for sales and technical training. For example, I created a course in trading foreign currency, and wrote, edited and presented a course for training personnel charged with selling technology-rich products. This course covered technology concepts, product-feature-benefit information, and selling and marketing. Students completing this course received certification recognized industry-wide. I also created brand- specific commercial training curricula which were successfully employed to increase sales. Concepts included product-specific features and benefits, technology overviews, presentation skills and sales techniques. While I have held senior-level management positions in the past, I'm not looking for another senior role, but one that affords me opportunities to do what I am most passionate about: The creation of useful, easy-to-understand messages that help customers comprehend the essence of those messages quickly and artfully. Let's meet and see how I can contribute to your goals. Creative Samples: http://www.slideshare.net/IrwinZucker/documents Jan, 1998 to present

Irwin Zucker

Instructional Designer, Curriculum Developer, Trainer, Technical Writer, Editor, Copywriter, Storyteller, Creative Director, Desktop Publisher 19186 East Prentice Circle, Centennial, CO 80015 • 720-***-**** • Mobile: 818-***-**** • Skype: irwin.zucker1 • Email: acy321@r.postjobfree.com Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/irwin-zucker/30/231/ba8 • Work samples: http://www.slideshare.net/IrwinZucker/documents Professional Profile

Versatile instructional designer, curriculum developer, manager, communicator, writer, editor, analyst, and trainer.

Experienced in several industries, markets, technologies and media including but not limited to:

Medical and dental products

Data storage

Customer service

Professional and consumer audio/video products

Satellite television

Financial services

Aerospace

Consumer packaged goods and cosmetics

New business startups and turnarounds.

Skilled in adult e-learning (ADDIE & Kirkpatrick models) using AGILE methodology.

Experienced with instructor-led, web-based and blended learning methods.

Produced instructional materials for international distribution.

Strong skills in marketing and technical writing, editing and proofreading.

Proficient in AP, University of Chicago and Microsoft Technical style manuals.

Broad business and communications background including:

Instructional design and delivery

Creative leadership

Advertising and public relations

Traditional and digital marketing strategy and tactics

Product and company naming/branding

Slogan/tagline creation and development

Project management, Statements of Work (SOW)

Graphic and product design

Desktop publishing

e-mail and social media campaigns

Brochures, case studies, research, white papers, and on-line help systems.

Witty yet respected teacher, coach, member and leader of teams with common purpose.

Possesses rare talent for quickly understanding complex concepts and crafting them into easily understood expres- sions.

Proven record of working on multiple tasks simultaneously.

Comfortable with all levels of management, vendors, contractors and customers, including matrix structures.

Has held leadership positions in engineering, marketing, product development, instruction and creative services.

Effective, flexible, astute yet non-abrasive change agent. Chronology of Experience

Managing Director: Words That Work, Centennial, CO and Thousand Oaks, CA

Created hundreds of brochures, catalogs, business proposals, technical papers, PR and advertising campaigns, presentations, training programs, web content, package design, product development and brand and company identities.

Functioned as creative director, copywriter, technical writer, editor, package designer, brand developer, instructional designer, and trainer. (Communications agency for short-term projects; selected clients listed below.) Contract Technical Writer/Editor: Eaton Aerospace, Broomfield, CO

Short-term contract to revise documentation for U.S. Naval weapons fuel system components, sys- tems and processes. The fuel design team is moving from Colorado to Maryland, requiring an in- spection to assure documentation is in compliance with current standards. Many of the compo- nents were designed and documented nearly 50 years ago; standards evolved but documentation had not. Assign- ment: bring all documentation into compliance within four weeks.

Located all applicable documents in hard copy, scanned for graphics and OCR transfer.

Recreated hand-written documents into standardized format; updated graphics and OCR type to current standard. continued...

Jan, 2003 – Mar, 2014

Contract Senior Technical Writer, Editor, and Instructional Designer: Covidien/Medtronic, Boulder, CO

“Writing Coach” for medical engineering group in India using SDLC and Agile development procedures. Basic device and software documentation written by Indian engineering subsidiary for FDA/CE- regulated medical device did not reflect acceptable communications practices for western audiences. After reviewing in detail documents prepared by the Indian staff, I created and administered e-learning tools using real-world examples from their documents. These e-learning sessions provided instructional commentary on style, usage, form, design, software applications and grammar. Rather than simply providing corrections to the docu- ments, by using their document samples as the subject of training, the Indian group became increasingly capable of writing documents that do not need detailed review for acceptance by western audiences. E-learning lessons were distributed via SharePoint and WebEx, with me, as instructor, available for Q&A.

Contract extended to revise and redesign corporate Quality Management training program. Training was revised and reformatted from classroom-only to classroom or on-line e-learning, accessible from anywhere in this multina- tional firm.

Senior Instructional Designer: MoneyGram International, Lakewood, CO

Member of team that documented customer service operations and designed instructional modules for training new staff to move the entire US-based customer service department of a major financial services firm to Eastern Europe.

Replaced member of team who left three weeks from start of project.

MoneyGram’s in-house customer service department consists of five levels, each one dealing with increasingly complex problems. The four lower levels had existing training materials. Therefore, the ID team members assigned to those levels had existing platforms with which to work; those projects were essentially editing the existing mate- rials. My assignment was the top level, which consisted of seven workers, each one specializing in a separate prob- lem-solving function. The top-level workers learned their skills through on-the-job training. There were neither training materials nor documentation of this level. Consequently, I had to learn each of the seven skill sets and cre- ate training modules for each one from scratch.

Project was governed by Agile and SDLC procedures and distributed for review via SharePoint

Design included leader-led and web-based learning created in Adobe Captivate and PowerPoint with infographics.

Reduced training time substantially resulting in lost-time savings in excess of $500,000. Creative Consultant: Moraga, LLC, Stewart, FL

Researched high-end cosmetics market.

Created name, brand identity, logos, tag lines and slogans for new line of skincare products. Writer, Creative Director: 360 Systems, Westlake Village, CA

Researched professional video equipment industry.

Developed marketing strategy, graphic design, theme, copy and concepts for launch of new product line.

Created and placed advertising campaign for professional video hardware. Writer, Editor, Instructional Designer: Forex Gateway, Toronto, ON

Created business plan for marketing educational services in foreign currency trading.

Researched market, developed strategic plan and pro forma financial schedules.

Wrote, edited, and organized all training data into 100-page workbook and computer-based learn- ing modules in Adobe Captivate for on-line and classroom instruction Employers listed below

Director, Communications & Design: White Science/Innova Medical Tech, Inc., Alpharetta, GA

Created detailed business plan for dental products business, achieving over $1 million in sales during its first year.

Established accounting and CRM systems; trained new staff members in use of systems.

Developed range of cosmetic dental products. Designed all products and packaging, managed world- wide compliance.

Created low-cost LED-based whitening and inspection light, creating new market for non-professional teeth whitening.

Led development, documentation and regulatory compliance of new medical device for cardiac and circulatory care.

Designed e-learning modules in Adobe Captivate, and Camtasia for operators, sales, assembly and installation staffs.

Documented user software to control PC-based medical device using FrameMaker, RoboHelp. Résumé of Irwin Zucker, Page 2 of 4

DMD

continued...

Jul, 1995 Feb, 1998

Mar, 1998 Aug, 2000

Jan, 1992 Jul, 1995

Mar, 1991 Jan, 1992

Jun, 1989 Feb, 1991

Sep, 1987 Jun, 1989

Apr, 1983 Aug, 1987

Chief Operating Officer: Dental-Medical Diagnostic Systems: Woodland Hills, CA

Quickly analyzed delays in production and new product programs. By personal, detailed involvement, brought pro- duction current within 60 days and brought new product re-design and launch current within 120 days.

Documented hardware and software utilizing FrameMaker and RoboHelp, including end-user instruc- tions for intra-oral cameras, high-speed curing lights and world’s first LED-based curing light.

Designed and created instructional PowerPoint courses for equipment operators, sales staff, manufac- turing, Quality Assurance and service/installation staffs for plasma-arc curing lights, LED curing lights, in- tra-oral cameras.

Led transition to new ownership including all startup operations and development of three new product lines. Acting President/CEO: HTP International and MultiDisc Technologies, Inc.

Stabilized publicly-owned manufacturing company under siege after board of directors and senior execu- tives were forced out in wake of ethics scandal. Led company with no reliable accounting history through reorganization, downsizing, and bankruptcy protection filing. Cut costs to operating break even within three months. Organized assets into freestanding businesses, selling them as going concerns. The com- pany marketed consumer electronics products under the Paramount Pictures brand (under license).

Secured equity-based financing for start-up firm creating first-of-its-kind scalable data storage system employing ro- botically-accessed optical disk drives operated via custom control software and GUI in Windows NT environment.

Directed development and documentation of software and hardware technologies in data management, robotics, sys- tem control, and graphical user interface resulting in more than 50 U.S. patent applications. Documentation tools in- cluded FrameMaker and RoboHelp.

Harman International Industries, Northridge, CA

Vice President, Engineering, JBL Professional

Managed product development and engineering for worldwide markets. Voice of the product in mar- keting strategy sessions. Set and enforced budgets, schedules and priorities. Managed multi-million dollar budget. Achieved on-time, on-budget, on-cost targets for new products supporting annual sales over $200 million.

Initiated, documented and led effort to reduce the number of parts and assemblies and reduce costs of those that remained, generating more than $1 million in cost savings the first year. Senior VP, Product Development, all consumer brands

Managed product development for eight consumer electronics brands for worldwide markets. Voice of the product in marketing strategy sessions. Set and enforced budgets, schedules and priorities. Responsible for achieving on- time, on-budget and on-cost targets for new products in support of annual sales over $300 million. Director, Product Marketing & Communications, JBL International

Increased sales in Asia and European markets by 50% and 25% respectively in first year as Director of International Marketing. Created all written support materials for international markets. Director of Marketing & Communications, Marantz Audio Products: Dynascan Corp, Aurora, IL

Published several technical white papers to explain product features and benefits.

Established in-house agency. Created successful advertising and PR campaigns for new and ongoing product lines.

Determined root cause of new product lines not meeting goal to be sales force’s lack of product knowledge and communications skills. Created training course which included product features and benefits, technol- ogy overviews, presentation and sales techniques. Sales increased over 300% six months following training. Product Manager, Audio/Video: Yamaha Electronics Corporation, USA, Buena Park, CA

Planned, developed and launched all consumer audio, video and mobile electronics products. Introduced several new analog and digital technologies to dealer network and press.

Wrote and presented technical white papers to international engineering societies. Director of Marketing and Product Development: Sherwood Electronics: Cerritos, CA

Managed all phases of product development and marketing. Developed vendor base and negotiated all specifications, features and prices with suppliers in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and USA. Developed MRP program for coordination of procurement activities.

In less than four years introduced over 100 new products, resulting in more than ten-fold increase in sales to nearly

$40 million. Annual pre-tax income grew from million-dollar loss to nearly $5 million profit.

Established and directed in-house advertising agency. Performed demographic and media analyses. Supported com- pany sales goals while saving $100,000 in commissions and fees. Developed and presented sales training. Résumé of Irwin Zucker, Page 3 of 4

Sep, 2000 – Dec, 2002

Education

MA, Communications (all but thesis): California State University, Fullerton

BA, Business Administration Marketing Concentration: California State University, Fullerton

AA, Business Administration: Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, California

Seminar: Management of New Product Development (SDLC training): UCLA Graduate School of Management

Seminar: Robust Design and Total Quality Management (Agile methodology): Cal Tech Extension, Pasadena, CA

Advanced Electronics Technology (equivalent to technical portion of BSEE):USATC, Ft. Huachuca, AZ

Instructional Design: USATC, Ft. Huachuca, AZ

Digital Skills

Microsoft: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio, Project, SharePoint, Skype

Adobe: Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, FrameMaker, Captivate, RoboHelp

Intuit: QuickBooks Premier

TechSmith: Snagit, Camtasia

Other: Audacity, WebEx, Articulate Studio, Lectora

PC and MAC hardware; extensive experience with audio/video systems and equipment

Style manuals: AP, Chicago, Microsoft

Award-winning photographer with on-site studio

Publications

"Emerging Innovations and Their Applications to Expandable Network Servers"

"Reproducing Architectural Acoustical Effects Using Digital Soundfield Processing" Presented to Audio Engineering Society

"Digital Audio Signal Processing in Automotive Applications" Presented to Society of Automotive Engineers

"Class DX One-Bit Digital-To-Analog Conversion"

"Microphone Impedance Matching" Published in Sound Arts Journal Industry Leadership

Electronics Industries Association (EIA): Chairman, Audio Systems Committee, 4 years

National Association of Broadcasters (NAB): Co-Chair, Radio Systems Committee, 3 years

Society of Audio/Video Consultants: Author, Editor, Lecturer, Instructor, 12 years

Audio Engineering Society: Member 20+ years

Military Service

Decorated Veteran: US Army

Honorable Discharge

Security Clearance: DOD Secret (inactive)

Certified Military Instructor

U.S. Citizen

Expertise

Adult Learning Techniques: E-training, WIKIs, Blogs, ADDIE model, SCORM, in-classroom teaching

Advertising & Public Relations

AGILE and SDLC experience, collaborative environments

B2B and B2C Market Experience

Budget Setting and Achievement

Collateral Marketing Material/Web Content

Content Management (WordPress, HTML)

Cost/Price Target Setting & Achievement

Cost Reduction & Process Improvement

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Design & Process Documentation

Digital Marketing: SEO, web, emails, blogs, social media

Engineering Management

Graphic Design

Human Resources: Hiring, Firing, Counseling

IFU (Instructions For Use)

In-House Agency Creation & Management

Instructional Design: Course structure, learning goals and objec- tives, testing, course evaluation and improvement

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Market Research, Focus Groups

FDA GMP Compliance: 21 CFR, 210, 211

Procurement/Vendor Management

Production Planning

Product, Logo & Packaging Design & Development

Product Naming, Brand Development

Project Management

Public Company & Regulatory Compliance

Request for Proposal/Request for Quotation

Sales Forecasting

Sales and Marketing Management

Shipley Proposal Method

Statements of Work (SOW)

Startups and Turnarounds

Storyboards, Audio/Video Production, Infographics

Strategic Planning

Technical Documents/White Papers

Trade Show Management

Virtual Classroom: WebEx, SharePoint

Résumé of Irwin Zucker, Page 4 of 4

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