Sr. Technical Writer at Zebra Technologies, MyLink500.com (open to invitations)
Saginaw, Michigan Area
- Current
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- Senior Technical Writer at Zebra Technologies
- Past
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- Documentation Specialist at Abbott Laboratories
- Senior Technical Writer/Technical Editor/Production Specialist at Motorola
- Contract Technical Writer at Renaissance Worldwide
- Technical Writer (Contractor) at Lucent Technologies
- Technical Writer and Trainer (Contractor) at Abbott Laboratories
- Assistant Editor/Editorial Assistant at American Foundrymen's Society
- Education
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- Michigan Technological University
- Recommended
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5 people have recommended Donna - Connections
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500+
connections
- Industry
- Computer Hardware
- Websites
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Summary
My favorite topics to chat about include:
* Christianity and the Bible (the Lord has brought me through so much and appears to be preparing me to help others through chaplaincy)
* chickens, eggs, and small-scale farming
* technical writing in general and unstructured FrameMaker in particular
* disaster preparedness and crisis response:
- on the Alcona County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
- trained chaplain through IFOC (www.ifoc.org) and going through new training with Community Chaplains of America
- Red Cross first aid and CPR trained
- Red Cross shelter operations trained
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I love to learn and to teach others what I have learned, in writing or through live training. I have more than 18 years of technical writing and editing experience, mostly in hardware, software, and connectivity. I typically start working on projects at a concept stage and take them through final deliverables (usually PDFs on CD, but sometimes printed manuals). I have been through training in HTML and XML, although I have yet to use either extensively at my jobs.
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Specialties:
Software:
* Adobe FrameMaker--expert in unstructured Frame since 1993 and learning structured Frame with DITA.
* Adobe Illustrator
* Microsoft Word
Other writing-related skills and specialties:
* Paper and electronic publishing
* Technical writing/editing
* Single sourcing and content reuse
* Structured authoring
* Telecommuting
* Information Mapping
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Experience
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Senior Technical Writer
Zebra Technologies
(Public Company; ZBRA; Computer Hardware industry)
July 2003 — Present (6 years 5 months)
I work with hardware, firmware, and some software to create User Guides and Quick Reference Guides for bar code printers, RFID printer/encoders, and a wireless print server. I started with the User Guides for four printer lines in 2003, and I now handle 30+ assorted manuals for several product lines and rebranded manuals, with 4 more rebranded manuals waiting for me to start them.
My major contribution to this job has been single-sourcing the content of my User Guides, which facilitates consistency between product lines and between different manuals in the same product line. I did this on the fly--creating the process by trying new ideas and working through the bugs while still meeting my deadlines. I have pushed unstructured FrameMaker about as far as it will go and am looking at moving my single-sourced content to structured Frame. -
Documentation Specialist
Abbott Laboratories
(Public Company; ABT; Pharmaceuticals industry)
February 2003 — June 2003 (5 months)
Helped with assorted documentation needs through temporary contracts.
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Senior Technical Writer/Technical Editor/Production Specialist
Motorola
(Public Company; MOT; Computer Networking industry)
April 1996 — March 2001 (5 years )
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS/MUNDELEIN (April 1996 - November 1997): In the cellular division, worked in Interleaf on assorted documents related to a large switching system.
SCHAUMBURG (November 1997 - March 2001): Began as a technical writer with a small group in the radio systems sector and became the editor as the group expanded. Edited manuals, corrected style and layout problems in the source files, generated final PDF files of manuals, and worked with print vendors to get printed copies. Helped write internal procedures/processes, developed a FrameMaker template, and helped develop an interdepartmental style guide. -
Contract Technical Writer
Renaissance Worldwide
(Publishing industry)
November 1997 — April 1999 (1 year 6 months)
Part of the time that I worked for Motorola, I was a contractor through Renaissance.
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Technical Writer (Contractor)
Lucent Technologies
(Public Company; LU; Telecommunications industry)
December 1994 — April 1996 (1 year 5 months)
Maintained the input command and output message manuals for a large switching system.
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Technical Writer and Trainer (Contractor)
Abbott Laboratories
(Public Company; ABT; Pharmaceuticals industry)
June 1993 — October 1994 (1 year 5 months)
Served as a technical writer, trainer, and software installer for assorted groups.
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Assistant Editor/Editorial Assistant
American Foundrymen's Society
(Non-Profit; Mining & Metals industry)
April 1990 — March 1993 (3 years )
Worked in the book publications department and on the staff of Modern Casting magazine.
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Education
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Michigan Technological University
BS , Scientific and Technical Communication , 1984 — 1988
Go Huskies!
- Activities and Societies:
- Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, CCLI Consultant
Additional Information
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Websites:
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Interests:
PERSONAL: Jesus Christ, my family, serving God by serving my community, my church, gardening, composting, raising chickens WORK-RELATED: single sourcing, resuse, usability
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Groups:
- Community Chaplains of America
- Society for Technical Communication (STC)
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Linked n Chicago -
Christian Professionals Worldwide -
Motorola Alumni -
The Content Wrangler Community -
Michigan Tech Alumni Association
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Honors:
Awards from the Society for Technical Communication (STC)
Chicago Chapter Level:
* Award of Excellence, March 2008 -- Zebra ZM400/ZM600 Documentation Set.
* Award of Distinguished and Best in Show for a Technical Manual, March 2007 -- Zebra XiIIIPlus/R110Xi/R170Xi User Guide.
* Award of Distinguished, March 2007 -- Zebra RFID Programming Guide.
* Award of Distinguished, 2000 -- Motorola SiteLens User Manual. Award received for editing this manual and contributing to the template and layout.
* Award of Excellence, 2005 -- Zebra 110PAX4 User Guide.
* Award of Excellence, 2001 -- Motorola Key Management Facility (KMF) User Manual.
* Award of Merit, 2005 -- Zebra Technologies Technical Publications Group template.
International Level:
* Award of Distinguished, May 2007 -- Zebra XiIIIPlus/R110Xi/R170Xi User Guide.
* Award of Distinguished, May 2007 -- Zebra RFID Programming Guide.
* Award of Excellence, 2000 -- Motorola SiteLens User Manual.
Donna Jones (Zalensas)’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
