Introduction

Thank you for visiting my repository. I'm excited to share some of my writing work with you.

Before you learn about my educational and professional background, I'd like to introduce myself properly. My name is Kayla, and I'm a technical writer with over six years of combined professional and educational experience.

I enjoy all aspects of technical writing, from research to design, and I find developing and honing new skills and concepts rewarding.

Educational background

I obtained a bachelor's degree in History with a minor in Technical and Professional Communications from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. Throughout my academic career, I completed two internships that have contributed significantly to my professional development.

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites Internship

During my junior year of college, I interned at Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites (HBMS) for three months. I was the Collections and Exhibition Manager intern, tasked with executing an exhibition about Musikfest. Musikfest is a free music festival and a staple in the Bethlehem, PA, community since the 1980s.

The exhibition was called Mugshots: Oral Histories of Musikfest & Musikfest Memorabilia, and it focused on preserving the memories of Musikfest attendees through oral history and portrait photography. I would interview willing participants, asking them to share their fondest Musikfest memories. Afterward, I would take their portrait photography, which was displayed with the one word they chose to describe Musiket at the Goundie House, an HBMS historical site, throughout the duration of the festival. All oral history testimonies were recorded through the StoryCorps application and are stored in the Library of Congress database. The exhibition also featured Musikest memorabilia loaned to HBMS from local residents.

Throughout my internship, I wrote proposals to secure in-kind donations with local vendors and partnered with social media influencers to promote the exhibit. I also collaborated with the HBMS Marketing team to create marketing collateral. This internship allowed me to wear multiple hats and apply my technical writing skills.

To learn more about my exhibit, please check out the Lehigh Valley Live: Got Musikfest stories? Historic Bethlehem wants to hear ’em blog post that I co-wrote during my internship.

Cumberland County Historical Society Internship

During my senior year in college, I secured a technical writing-focused internship at the Cumberland County Historical Society (CCHS). I was the Community Outreach intern for four months. I was tasked with creating a blog and booklet about the Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB) guidelines. The mission was to bring awareness and educate the public and local real estate agents about HARB. HARB is a committee that enforces policies and guidelines for preserving historic properties. This internship allowed me to further develop my technical writing skills and communicate technical information to a lay audience.

Professional background

After obtaining my bachelor's degree, I pursued copywriting and project management careers before becoming a technical writer.

My first job after college was as a Copywriter and Digital Marketing Specialist at a small marketing firm in Pennsylvania. My responsibilities included crafting optimized web and social media content for clients in the medical, dental, and tourism industries and managing their local listings using tools like Yext, Moz, and Google My Business.

When I moved to North Carolina, I landed a job as a Project Coordinator at a digital experience agency. My primary duties involved managing small to medium-sized Adobe Analytics and Shopify projects, onboarding new project managers, and revamping onboarding documentation.

While these roles helped with my professional development, they did not provide me with fulfillment. I eventually landed a permanent position as a Technical Writer at a business consulting and services agency. In this role, I organized, designed, and launched an internal knowledge base in Confluence and SharePoint. I also audited projects for compliance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and collaborated with the Marketing team to create case studies for the company.

Over time, I developed a desire to expand my reach and dive into software technical writing. With persistence, I secured a Technical Writer position at a public safety company. In this current role, I oversee and maintain the command center and evidence software documentation portfolio. My tasks include drafting user guides, quick start guides, online help, and more. I use the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) software and MadCap Flare to structure and deliver our end-user documentation.

Contributions

I contributed to The Good Docs Project during my free time for over a year. The Good Docs Project is an open-source community that creates templates and guides for software projects to promote and enforce quality documentation. I took on several roles for The Good Docs Project, which included:

Kickstarting a style guide committee to vote on and establish writing and style standards for our templates and their accompanying guides. Forming a task force for the style guide committee to audit our templates to identify discrepancies. My involvement in The Good Docs Project allowed me to give back to the community while improving my technical writing and project management skills.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this article about my background. I hope it provided insight into who I am. If you'd like to connect with me, please message me through LinkedIn.