Andrea Ames:
CLASS OF 1983
Memorial High SchoolClass of 1983
Manchester, NH
Drexel University - Graduate SchoolClass of 1990
Philadelphia, PA
Temple University - Liberal ArtsClass of 1988
Philadelphia, PA
University of MaineClass of 1985
Presque isle, ME
Southside Junior High SchoolClass of 1979
Manchester, NH
Andrea's Story
Life
It seems to most people that I don't have much of a life. I work 60+ hours per week, and when I'm not working, I'm typically teaching, presenting at a conference or professinal organization meeting, mentoring/coaching, or doing volunteer work.
But... I travel a lot for work and for my professional association, so I take every opportunity to experience the local cultures that I visit. I also scuba dive, which gives me a good excuse to visit warm, sunny places. Since 1988, I've been to the following places, many of them several times: ~35 US states (incl Hawaii), several cities in Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Finland, New Zealand, Australia, India, Singapore, Republic of China, Japan, Malaysian Borneo, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
I have no kids, but my nephew is the love of my life. I currently have 3 cats, and I had a dog (my partner's) until January 2006 when he died at 16. Once my travel schedule calms down a bit (after October 2006), we will get another dog.
I live about 30 minutes south of San Francisco, in the middle of the SF Peninsula. My house is on a flat, hillside lot, and I have a view of a small slice of the SF Bay from my dining room, master bedroom, and backyard.
Workplace
My "official" bio (rewritten in first person) for conferences, etc.
I am a Senior Technical Staff Member and Information Experience Architect and Strategist in the Information Management division of the IBM Software Group where I am responsible for driving broad initiatives to improve the total information experience. I co-lead the corporate Information Architecture workgroup, and I represent the information development community on the Software Group Architecture Board. Prior to my current assignment, I built a large, integrated demonstration infrastructure and drove a comprehensive, integrated demo strategy throughout the Information Management division as the Information Management Demo Architect. Prior to the demo assignment, I was the Information Development team lead and information architect and strategist for the WebSphere Information Integration platform.
Prior to IBM, I was an info...Expand for more
rmation experience architecture and information usability consultant, helping primarily small businesses to engineer their product development processes to design and create information in ways that:
* Provide information where and when the user needs it via assistance embedded in the product user interface
* Enhance product usability
* Decrease user learning curve
* Increase and accelerate user productivity
* Increase product adoption and customer loyalty
* Support business and marketing goals
* Most efficiently use small numbers of information developers
Prior to consulting, I worked in a variety of contract and permanent technical communication and information architecture and usability positions in academia, government, and public and private corporations. Organizations include Digital Equipment Corp, Butcher * Singer Inc, Temple University, Drexel University, Philadelphia Mayor's Office, Du Pont Co, Rational Software Corp, San Diego Supercomputer Center, Informix, MS2 Inc, and Vertical Networks.
I have nearly 25 years of experience in technical communication. I am an Associate Fellow, past President (2004-2005), and past member of the Board of Directors (1998-2006) of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), the largest international professional society for technical communicators, and I am a Senior Member of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE). I am also a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), the Information Architecture Institute (IAI), the Usability Professionals Association (UPA), and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW).
I designed, coordinate, and teach in the University of California Extension (Santa Cruz) certificate program in Technical Writing and Communication. I teach in two other northern California certificate programs, have published two award-winning technical books and more than 50 papers and articles, and speak regularly at technical, communication, and user experience conferences and professional organization meetings around the world.
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