Charles Cowens

Current

• Senior Technical Writer at Exadel

Past

• Technical Writer (Contract) at Acirro
• Technical Writer at Prismedia
• Publications/Internet Services Director at The Independent Institute

• Technical Services Manager at Colorific
• Print Manager at HarperCollins Publishers
• Production Services Manager (originally Senior Layout Artist) at Ziff-Davis Press
• Desktop Publishing Specialist at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
• Typesetting/Desktop Publishing Supervisor (originally Typesetter) at Sybex

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5 more...

Education

• University of California, Berkeley

Connections

136 connections

Industry

Computer Software

Websites

• My Company

Charles Cowens’s Summary

I combine words and pictures together in various formats to help people better understand complex issues, and I also help organize other people to do this.

Charles Cowens’s Specialties:

editing; writing; document, Web, and office production tools; collaboration; XML

Charles Cowens’s Experience

• Senior Technical Writer

  Exadel

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)

  July 2002 — Present (7 years 5 months)

  Development of user guides, getting started guides, help files, and release notes; writing and editing material for marketing collateral and company Web site; writing and editing material for trainings; editing contract proposals; support for marketing and end-user assistance activities; and Web site administration for an enterprise Java software product developer and professional services provider

• Technical Writer (Contract)

  Acirro

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Networking industry)

  December 2001 — April 2002 (5 months)

  Development of user guide, "quick starts", help files, and release notes for a network storage technology company

• Technical Writer

  Prismedia

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Networking industry)

  September 2000 — May 2001 (9 months)

  Development of installation and developers guides, creation of and support for tools for use in the publishing process, and advising engineering on improvements in the user interface for a network storage technology company (changed name to Acirro)

• Publications/Internet Services Director

  The Independent Institute

  (Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Public Policy industry)

  October 1997 — May 2000 (2 years 8 months)

  Coordination and production of books and an academic journal, Web site administration and maintenance, and general systems support for a non-profit policy research institute

• Technical Services Manager

  Colorific

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Software industry)

  July 1996 — October 1997 (1 year 4 months)

  Technical support, Web technical support documentation, quality control, and release engineering for color management software company (name later changed to E-Color)

• Print Manager

  HarperCollins Publishers

  (Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Publishing industry)

  January 1995 — July 1996 (1 year 7 months)

  Manufacturing and budget analysis of 1- and 4-color books and liaison with printers for trade book publisher

• Production Services Manager (originally Senior Layout Artist)

  Ziff-Davis Press

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  June 1991 — February 1995 (3 years 9 months)

  Supervision of prepress operations, establishing production systems and procedures, research and development, and production technical support for computer book publisher (absorbed into Macmillan Computer Publishing in 1997)

• Desktop Publishing Specialist

  Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

  (Partnership; 51-200 employees; Law Practice industry)

  August 1990 — June 1991 (11 months)

  Layout of documents and newsletters for a legal firm

• Typesetting/Desktop Publishing Supervisor (originally Typesetter)

  Sybex

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  February 1987 — August 1990 (3 years 7 months)

  Supervision of both typesetting and desktop publishing operations for book production and typesetting and desktop publishing of books for computer book publisher (absorbed by John Wiley & Sons)

Charles Cowens’s Education

• University of California, Berkeley

  BA , Legal Studies , 1979 — 1985

  Activities and Societies:

  UCB Registration Fee Committee, ASUC Draft (Registration) Counseling

Additional Information

Charles Cowens’s Websites:

• My Company

Charles Cowens’s Groups:

PTA, Bayside Council of PTAs, WCCUSD (West Contra Costa Unified School District) Community Budget Advisory Committee, CPEC

•    The Content Wrangler Community
•    DocBook
•    HarperCollins Publishers
•    DITA Awareness Group

Charles Cowens’s Honors:

Distinguished Citizen Award - West Contra Costa Public Education Fund, 2006

Charles Cowens’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch