Susan L. Connell
E-mail: sconnell2@mac.com

Summary of Qualifications

San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
2005
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Responsible for assisting professor and coaching students for graduate level multimedia development courses - on campus and online.

• Developed and managed Macromedia Breeze presentations, meetings and archives.
• Monitored and responded to course Listserve postings.
• Created PowerPoint presentations for various course modules.
• Assisted professor with course website and database updates.
• Developed content-specific tutorials and job aids.
• Assisted students on campus and online with technical and conceptual aspects of course assignments.

Marketing Communications Consulting
1998-2000 and 2002-Present
Responsible for development and launch of communications plans primarily for high-tech clients specializing in power and energy-related products.

• Defined messaging needs and worked with clients to develop cost-effective PR and communications programs.
• Created marketing communications programs using a variety of media including print, online, video and other multimedia components.
• Researched and wrote numerous technical articles and case studies about client products and technologies for publication and internal use.
• Established relationships with numerous editors in technology trade press and local media to facilitate press coverage for client firms such as ABB, Emerson, Ballard Power, Elgar, Hewlett-Packard, Power Measurement Ltd. and Trace Engineering.

Metallic Power; Carlsbad, CA: 2000-2002
Marketing Communications Manager
Lead strategic and tactical implementation of communications programs for alternative energy start-up company.

• Created complete literature kits for potential customers and investors that could be easily and inexpensively modified to accommodate changing corporate goals.
• Developed mail response package that reduced cost of lead response by 80% and enabled enhanced lead qualification.
• Designed, wrote and implemented corporate Intranet to facilitate internal communication and camaraderie.
• Directed public relations campaign that generated extensive coverage in national trade, technical and general press as well as local broadcast media - even though the company was years away from product launch.
• Produced (including scripting, staging, directing, shooting and editing) 11 short documentary and training videos using in house resources to save more than $100,000 compared to outsourcing.

Deltec/Exide Electronics (now Invensys Powerware), San Diego, CA: 1982-1997
Vice President of Marketing/Corporate Communications (1994-1997)
Oversaw complete marketing and corporate communications operations for $130M UPS manufacturing company including management of as many as 25 employees and budgets up to $2.5M. Developed and implemented annual marketing plans comprising public relations, press tours, advertising, product training, collateral, video productions, web content, trade shows, sales incentives, product management, competitive analysis, lead fulfillment and technical documentation.

• Contributed to winning corporate efforts for Deltec Electronics that increased worldwide sales from $20M to $130M, while increasing the company's value from $30M to $200M at the time of its sale to Exide Electronics.  
• Demonstrated notable success in creating name recognition for both products and company - validated by numerous industry awards (including PC Magazine Editor's Choice Awards), independent market studies and coverage in trade publications as well as local and national media. .
• Created and consulted on comprehensive communications and training programs for OEM customers such as Compaq, NCR (ATT), Unisys, HP, IBM and others.
• Received 100% positive ratings from my staff in corporation-wide anonymous employee satisfaction surveys.

Director of Marketing (1991-1994)
Managed four- to eight-person marketing and technical publications departments and budgets up to $1.2M.

• Transformed marketing endeavors to successfully launch company's shift from large industrial products to distributed network-support products, contributing to sales growth from $0 to $20M in the first year for the new product lines. Became the #2 supplier in the industry within three years.
• Attained significant cost savings and expedited time-to-market through intelligent use of existing resources, in-house talent, integration of computer systems, and advanced desktop publishing combined with judicious use of consultants in specialized areas such as media relations and industrial design.

Product Marketing Manager (1987-1991)
Managed product marketing and technical publications functions in four-person department.

• Involved in the development and launch of hardware, software and service products - including participation in product specification, research, appearance, competitive analysis, internal communication, training and promotion.
• Worked closely with Engineering Department to define and develop specifications for products that best met customer needs. Provided engineering and marketing documentation of those specifications for development activities and customer proposals.

Technical Publications Supervisor (1985-1987)
Supervised and participated in the creation of technical manuals and other written and graphic support material.

• Employed strong technical skills and in-depth interviews with Engineering staff to generate all levels of hardware and software documentation as well as product specifications and technical proposals for power management product line.
• Supervised and mentored small entry-level staff to meet growing documentation needs.

Senior Technical Writer (1982-1985)
Created technical manuals, user handbooks and data sheets for power electronics products.

• Established corporate style guide to assure consistent look and feel of product documentation that had previously been created in a piecemeal fashion.
• Wrote justification for and completed implementation of company's first word processing system to decrease time to create product documentation by as much as 50%.

Education

San Diego State University - Master of Arts in Educational Technology, in Progress projected completion December 2005

University of California at San Diego - Community College Instructor Certificate and California Adult Education Designated Subjects Credential

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Certificate in Technical Communications  

University of California at San Diego - Bachelor of Arts, Communications (with coursework in visual design)

University of California at Berkeley - Attended, English Major (extensive technical coursework)

Technical Skills

Awards

Society for Technical Communications - Award of Excellence for Product Literature: 1993

Society for Technical Communications - Award of Merit for User Handbook: 1988

Friends of the UCSD Library Writing Contest - First Prize: 1980

National Merit Scholarship - Semifinalist: 1973