Posts

Tech Exec Networks, Inc (T.E.N.)

Concept:

From July 2018 to November 2021, I worked for T.E.N. as their Senior Cybersecurity Content Editor to develop multiple assets. This included working alongside the Communications and Sales teams to craft social media posts, email campaigns, CEO presentations and speaking notes, and all content for T.E.N.’s live in-person and digital events: ISE® Executive Programs, ISE® Private Dinners, ISE® Cocktails & Conversations, ISE® Fireside Webinars, etc.

Project Goals:

T.E.N.’s clients are cybersecurity solution providers located across the U.S. I collaborated with SMEs from Cicso, McAfee, Qualys, FireEye, Chronicle, and many more to write moderator and panelist guides detailing topical cybersecurity talking points while capturing each client’s unique approach and brand voice. These high-level guides were shared with cybersecurity executives to prepare them to present these talking points to other industry peers. The end goals of each guide and event was to 1) help solution providers network and build business relationships with cybersecurity executives, 2) educate industry professionals on current problems and their potential solutions, and 3) retain and gain new T.E.N. clients and audience members.

Process:

To fulfill my role and project goals, I:

  • Started with the client’s ideas or a company whitepaper to craft suggested topics.
  • Researched and studied the cybersecurity topic, terms, and technology by diving deeper into the client’s website, marketing collateral, and blog posts.
  • Wrote a topic abstract to be approved by the client and used to promote their event.
  • Brainstormed 2-3 major talking points with the client’s SME over the phone or by email with which to build out the moderator or panel guide.
  • Wrote a rough draft of each guide featuring the talking points and compelling questions the client preferred executives to be asked, all subjected to client approval.
  • Sent out the final guide to the respective executive moderator and/or panelists and assisted the Event Planning and Communications teams in event preparations as needed.

Outcomes:

T.E.N.’s 2021 Audience Survey of Satisfaction With ISE® Fireside Webinar Content

T.E.N.’s clients were often happy with the content I produced for them based on their products and solutions. My relevant content helped T.E.N. gain an influx in both new and returning clients, booking 110 events in 2020 and 104 events in 2021, averaging a 34% increase of events compared to 80 events booked in 2019.

I enjoyed the fast-paced nature of cybersecurity combined with event planning, which helped me learn how to prioritize, develop, and coordinate multiple projects at once. I also learned in greater depth how to represent different clients by maintaining their branding and voice. I took pride in producing error-free work that clients could trust to represent them and coworkers could rely upon as they used my abstracts and email copy to gain audiences for each event.

To learn more about my work with T.E.N., please email me at mrboggs4@gmail.com to ask for work samples. For legal reasons, I am not permitted to share branded guides openly at this time.

T.E.N.’s 2021 Audience Survey of Satisfaction With ISE® Cocktails & Conversations Content

Where the Words Take Me Blog

I’ve finally done it, the one thing I’d never thought I’d do as a writer.

I’ve started a blog.

But not just any blog. A book review blog!

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God, I know. I’m so original. Honestly, though, I’m not sorry. I love books; I love what they teach me when I’m not writing, and I love the places they take me. Books are the one form of media that is a constant in my life no matter what, taking me to places I’ve never dreamed of going and inspiring my creativity in ways I’d never have fathomed on my own.

Plus, I have so much to say about them. Get ready.

I update the blog weekly, and many of my most current writing samples can be found there: https://wherethewordstakemeblog.wordpress.com/

 

Opinion: Why Self-Indulgence Can Be a Good Thing for Your Writing

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I was delighted when Elisa Doucette at Craft Your Content allowed me to write this piece, and I’ve been so thankful for the positive feedback I’ve gotten since from it. It turns out many writers believe in self-indulgence in their writing, too, and are tired of all this bizarre push-back against writing for…

Well, writing for yourself.

After all, writers are selfish creatures. We want to write the books and the content we wish to see in the world. We keep our audience in mind, true, but the passion and fulfillment that comes with enjoying writing is there for us and only us. It’s why we do what we do.

I approached this topic not only from a writer’s standpoint but also from being an avid reader and consumer of media, aka nerd culture.

So sit back, relax, and–dare I say–indulge: https://www.craftyourcontent.com/self-indulgence-good-for-writing/

Why Does It Take So Damn Long for My Editor to Edit My Article?

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When Elisa Doucette had this topic ready to go at Craft Your Content, I knew I had to be the one to take it on and pin it for the WWE World Heavy Weight Championship–YEEEEAAAAHHH!

Or you know, write about it and write it well.

After becoming an editor, I realized how much of a specialized skill it is to be able to get completely immersed in a text, know it backwards and forwards, and visibly detect ways to improve it in broad and narrow strokes. The task isn’t easy, and the eye for detail and revision one must have is extreme.

Too many people, however, think it takes a snap of the editor’s fingers and it’s done. That mindset couldn’t be further from the truth, so I wrote this post–with Elisa’s wonderful title intact–to demonstrate a writer’s impatient mindset and detail how time-consuming editing truly is.

You can read the post in full here: https://www.craftyourcontent.com/take-damn-long-editor-edit-article/

Learn Technique from a Greek: Where Modes of Persuasion Meet Content Creation

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As content writers, we’re always trying to figure out new ways to make our brands unique and gain more customers, whether it’s by assisting them with an answer to their problem or entertaining them with a story.

Did you know Aristotle has rhetorical techniques ready to go to help you with that? You’re probably using some now, and you don’t even realize it.

You can read all about which technique works best for you in my Craft Your Content post: https://www.craftyourcontent.com/modes-of-persuasion/

Aren’t you glad I paid attention in English class?

Content Writing: How To Edit a Friend’s Writing

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As a Content Writer at Craft Your Content, I was responsible for making monthly posts to CYC’s blog alongside our team of editors.

This post was an idea I had that Elisa Doucette approved and deals with the inevitable question an editor gets asked by their friends: will you edit my article/resume/book for me?

How do you answer this question? The better question might be should you edit their work? Is it worth the potential loss of friendship? Ultimately, the answer lies in what type of person your friend is. That alone will determine how you can help them, if it’s even possible.

If you’re an editor struggling with this question, see if my insight can help you. If you’re not an editor, it could be worthwhile for you to understand an editor’s mindset to make your pitch to your own editor friend more compelling in the future.

You can find it here: https://www.craftyourcontent.com/how-to-edit-a-friends-writing/

 

 

I Won NaNoWriMo 2017, Y’all!

I took part in NaNoWriMo–or National Novel Writing Month–in 2017, making this my third year to attempt to write 50,000 words in a month.

Well, I’m proud to say that this time, I DID IT! I’m still not done with my novel, but I am so much closer than I’ve ever been before, and that’s an amazing achievement. Now I just need to finish it, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, and start querying for an agent. I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself, but I can’t help but be excited.

If you’d like to learn how I did it, please check out my updates below:

Content Editing & Line Editing: Content Machine

My third ebook with Craft Your Content was Dan Norris’ Content Machine. I worked closely with Dan and the other editors at CYC to help make Dan’s book be the best it could be.

I was assigned to make content edits to the ebook, focusing on developing ideas, suggesting rewrites, and fixing issues with clarity, all while preserving Dan’s unique voice throughout the text. Once I suggested edits and sent them to Dan, he approved them and rewrote accordingly. After that, I moved on to line editing, concentrating on catching and improving the minute things, such as bland language, diction, odd transitions, and run-on sentences.

Some copyediting also occurred as I caught errors in punctuation, grammar, and consistency.

Content Machine is now available for purchase in ebook and paperback format.

Proofreading: The End of Jobs

One of my first jobs when I joined Elisa Doucette’s team at Craft Your Content was to tackle Taylor Pearson’s ebook, The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-5.

The Craft Your Content team had already undergone rigorous content and line editing for the ebook. My job was to oversee the final proofreads, catching any and all typos that the team had missed amongst all the editorial shifting and rewriting. Since the book had already been sent to the ebook editor, I compiled over a hundred typos and their corresponding page numbers in a Google Spreadsheet and sent it to the ebook editor for final corrections.

The End of Jobs is now available for purchase on Kindle and paperback.

Copyediting: Practical Python and OpenCV + Case Studies

While working for Elisa Doucette at Craft Your Content, I was assigned to perform first and second round copyedits to the majority of Adrian Rosebrock’s PyImageSearch course and ebook. I made line edits to Adrian’s prose and checked his coding, each being located on his WordPress. Any edits I wasn’t sure of making, I contacted the author directly for clarity and confirmation.

Practical Python and Open CV + Case Studies is now available for purchase alongside its corresponding PyImageSearch course.