P.O. Box 2681
Bellingham, WA 98227-2681

Professional Experience

News, PR and Web Content Manager. Experienced in print and SEO communications for news, blogs, RSS, PR, customer and member education. Quality project creation, management and training in multi-media environments for diverse audiences and formats. (LinkedIn Profile)

• SPIE Professional MAGAZINE - October 2007 to present. Managing editor for quarterly member magazine (print and online) and other member-only Web content for non-profit society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science of light. Responsible for acquiring technical and general interest content for magazine for optics and photonics professionals, editing, writing and coordinating production with marketing, graphics, printer, mailer and PR. Serve as back-up for managing editor of online Newsroom.

• PRWEB - February 2005 to August 2007. Managing editor for the leading direct-to-consumer press release newswire. Responsible for hiring and training editorial and customer support staff for 24/7 service in Ferndale, Wash., and Lanham, Md.; overseeing editorial review process for hundreds of press releases distributed daily; and developing, codifying and implementing editorial policies and customer relations standards before acquisition by Vocus in 2006. Created college internship program. As a hands-on manager, also provided search engine optimization, writing and editing services.

• WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Office of University Communications (formerly the Public Information Office) - August 1996 to August 1998 and August 1999 to February 2005. Publications editor for public affairs office. Developed and maintained Web site to provide the media and the public with press releases, print-quality photos, news tips, speakers' guide and experts' list. Responsible for writing, researching, editing and desktop publishing of parents' newsletter, alumni quarterly (79,000 circulation) and other official university publications. Worked closely with other divisions on campus to develop and design online pages and tools such as scrolling headlines, all university events calendar, press release database, etc. Worked with consultants to convert publications for the Web or converted them myself. Extensive skills with page layout, Web authoring, photo processing, word processing, presentation, database and other software as well as digital camera for marketing, fund-raising, public relations, community relations and crisis communications.
  

• WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Journalism Department - 1996 to 2003. Journalism instructor for classes in newswriting, reporting, editing (print, video and Web) and online journalism. All courses have online syllabus and new media component. Adviser to student online publications, 1998-2000. Manager of journalism department's WebBoard, an online discussion board, 1998-2000. User of Blackboard courseware during 2000-2001 academic year and winter quarter 2003.

• THE BELLINGHAM HERALD - June 1994 to July 1996. Senior city reporter covering politics, the City Council, city administration and some general assignment for small-town daily. Generated own story ideas by developing and maintaining community, governmental and political sources. Researched unfamiliar subjects on a moment's notice and wrote about complex subjects in a clear, concise and creative manner. Interviewed cooperative and reluctant subjects and met daily deadlines. Also coordinated student internship program and served on newspaper's marketing committee and the Internet committee which subsequently led to an online presence for the newspaper.

• THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS - March 1982 to June 1994. General assignment and beat reporter, primarily covering labor issues, courts and city government for 200,000-circulation daily. Exclusive projects included a week-long package exposing high-level city managers who collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime compensation and several investigative stories on questionable business practices and organizing tactics by union leaders. Timely, inside reporting on contract negotiations. As neighborhoods reporter in the late 1980s, specialized in tales about off-beat community controversies such as opposition to a community vegetable garden by neighbors afraid it would depreciate their property value. Revived the paper's funky Marquis of Debris column to award-winning status with a humorous crusade against litter. Won community, labor and journalism awards.

• THE PHILADELPHIA BULLETIN - Sept. 1980 to Jan. 1982. Beat reporter covering the casino industry and courts for the all-editions Atlantic City Page of 400,000-circulation daily. Developed a weekly profile of local newsmakers and covered business developments. Reviewed restaurants for Sunday paper. Also worked as general assignment reporter and deadline rewrite in Philadelphia before the paper folded. Was summer intern, 1977.

• THE PRESS of ATLANTIC CITY - Sept. 1977 to Sept. 1980. Features editor, news reporter, business writer, features writer and copy editor for 70,000-circulation daily. Worked with a team that created a business section for the paper.

• THE BOSTON GLOBE - 1976 to 1977. Weekend general assignment reporter for 400,000-circulation metro daily. Began as editorial clerk in sports department.

• THE SHEEHAN WORLD - October 1995 to present. Editor and publisher of fun newspaper-homepage for family, friends and interested Internet readers. The page has been linked to a live Sheehan World forum, but chat rooms being what they are ....

• FREE-LANCE
  • Editing of books, newsletters, magazines. Connecting in San Francisco 1998; Connecting in Philadelphia 1994 and 2001 editions; Philly Nitelife 1997; Philadelphia NOW newsletter; Sean Humphrey House newsletter; New Age Retailer magazine
  • PhotoSynergy: Digital photography for weddings, events, business portraits, the Walrus (rock band) and various Web sites
  • Writing for The New York Times real estate section, Dockside Northwest magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday magazine, The Boston Globe, New Jersey Monthly, American Sweeper, Cambridge (Mass.) Chronicle, Corvallis (Ore.) Gazette-Times, the Associated Press

Education

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Achievements, Awards, Scholarships

• Council for Advancement and Support of Education, bronze award for development of content for WWU Alumni Association web site, 1998
• C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for distinguished investigative reporting, 2nd place, 1996
• Washington Press Association, Communicator of Excellence awards, 1996 and 1994
• Society of Professional Journalists, government reporting award, 1st place, 1995
• Best of Gannett, Freedom of Information award, 1995
• Well Done Award, Gannett Corp., November/December 1995
• Society of Professional Journalists, special citation for best news story, 1992
• Shining Example award, PhilaPride, 1991
• Special Award for outstanding contributions to PHILAPOSH and health and safety in the workplace, 1984
• Philadelphia Press Association spot news award, 1981
• Boston University scholarship, 1976-1977
• Frank E. Gannett Newspaper Foundation grant, 1976
• Massachusetts Board of Higher Education scholarship, 1973-1975

Conferences, Publications, Blogs, Leadership

• Kathy Sheehan's Blog
• Presenter, The Ins and Outs of Editing, Nov. 19, 2002, Whatcom Communications Association
• Author, Congress shall make no law ... defining who is a journalist. Paper accepted for 1999 national convention of Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, law division.
• Author, Fighting City Hall: How Bellingham opened doors in Editorially Speaking (Gannett Corp., June 1996)
• Reporter, How city employees have solid gold weekends in Local News Ideabook (Knight-Ridder Corp., May 1993).
• Panel leader, Media Perspectives: Shaping the Region's Labor-Management Image, Labor-Management Cooperation conference sponsored by the Philadelphia Area Labor-Management Committee (PALM), 1993.
• Negotiating Committee, Washington Public Employees Association, 2004
• Attended conferences on computer-assisted reporting (NICAR, 1996) and The Committee of Concerned Journalists (1998) and Poynter workshops
• Judge, annual Fairmount Park Commission student essay contest, Philadelphia, 1992-1993.
• Volunteer, Big Sisters of Philadelphia and Tall Ship Gazela. (Mentored 9-year-old girl, 1993-1994, and was tour guide and crew member of Gazela, 1990-1993.)
• Recruiter and coordinator, The Bellingham Herald internship program, 1995-1996.
• Teaching assistant, Boston University copy editing classes, 1976-1977.
• Founding member, Women's Network of South Jersey, 1981.
• Sailing instructor and trip leader, American Youth Hostels, Philadelphia, 1988-1993.
• Clerk, communications committee, Bellingham Friends Meeting

Professional Memberships (current and former)

• Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
• Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators
• American Association of University Professors
• Whatcom Communications Association, now known as Whatcom Writers and Publishers
• Whatcom MacUser Group
• National Organization for Women
• Sigma Delta Chi
• National Honor Society

Personal/Other:

• Obtained Coast-Guard captain license in 1997: Master, up to 50 tons, with sailing endorsement. Also, operator of uninspected passenger vessels (OUPV - "six-pack" captain)
• Former member-leader of Washington Public Employees Association
• Versatile with both PCs using Windows XP and earlier operating systems and Apple Macintosh operating systems (up to OSX).
• Computer proficient with Content Management Systems (CMS); Web authoring tools (BBEdit, Dreamweaver, Netscape Composer and Front Page); RSS feeds; Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint; Adobe Acrobat, PageMaker, InDesign and PhotoShop; Web browsing applications (Internet Explorer, Netscape, FireFox, Safari); e-mail programs (Eudora, Outlook, Pine); file transfer programs (Fetch, Interarchy, Telnet, SSH, FTP); iPhoto; iMovie; and others