Stephen X. Arthur

Current

• Senior Contract Technical Writer at Strategy A Consulting Group, Inc.
• Contract Technical Writer at Impact BC

Past

• Consulting Editor and Technical Writer at British Columbia Transmission Corporation
• Consulting Technical Writer at CHC Global Operations
• Contract Technical Communicator, Instructional Designer, Journalist at Impact BC

• Creative Writer, Technical Writer, Marketing Communications Consultant at ImageMaker Advertising
• Video script writer (Self-employed)
• Contract Technical Writer and Editor at IMT Image and Microscope Technology
• Consulting Technical Communicator at E-Comm 9-1-1 Emergency Communications for Southwest BC, Inc.
• Commissioned Content Developer and Project Manager at National Film Board of Canada
• Consulting Video Script Writer, Content Developer, Technical Writer, and Instructional Designer at BC Ministry of Forests
• Consulting Technical Communicator and Business Analyst at Hughes Aircraft Company
• Consulting Technical Writer and Content Developer at BC Hydro
• Contract Technical Writer at Spectrum Signal Processing
• Consulting Science Writer at Science World BC
• Consulting Video Script Writer (Training) at BC Cancer Agency
• Contract Technical Writer at MDSI
• Quality Assurance Contractor at MDA
• Instructor at Institute for Communication Arts
• Technical Writer and Corporate Communications Writer at IP Unity Glenayre

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Education

• The University of British Columbia
• University of Southern California

Recommended

3 people have recommended Stephen X.

Connections

43 connections

Industry

Writing and Editing

Websites

• My Portfolio

Stephen X. Arthur’s Summary

Draws on 20 years of diverse project experience. Rigorous, accountable, self-starter. Holds graduate science degree. Seeks career opportunities with potential for long-term contribution to team-building, vision, and growth. Writing samples: www.sxa-portfolio.com.

Offers planning, writing, and editing for policies and procedures, trades training, user manuals, white papers, online help, software documentation, proposals, science, and creative scripts for training videos and corporate documentaries.

Stephen X. Arthur’s Specialties:

Revisable manuals, software documentation, science writing, technology transfer, narration, animation & VFX, digital photography, screenplay format, and story editing.

Stephen X. Arthur’s Experience

• Senior Contract Technical Writer

  Strategy A Consulting Group, Inc.

  (Writing and Editing industry)

  2009 — Present (less than a year)

• Contract Technical Writer

  Impact BC

  (Hospital & Health Care industry)

  October 2009 — Present (2 months)

  Compiling and writing training guides for quality improvement initiatives. Contract for a few weeks with some extended work expected.

• Consulting Editor and Technical Writer

  British Columbia Transmission Corporation

  (Utilities industry)

  June 2008 — July 2008 (2 months)

  Performed comprehensive substantive editing of BCTC’s 2008 State of the Transmission System Report, 115 pages.

• Consulting Technical Writer

  CHC Global Operations

  (Public Company; Airlines/Aviation industry)

  February 2008 — April 2008 (3 months)

  Wrote a manager's manual for using CHC's Web-based Safety & Quality Integrated Database, a global, integrated, reporting and safety-management system.

• Contract Technical Communicator, Instructional Designer, Journalist

  Impact BC

  (Medical Practice industry)

  October 2006 — February 2008 (1 year 5 months)

  BC Practice Support Program. Wrote a series of training manuals to assist BC family physicians to make management improvements as part of a province-wide program sponsored by the BC Ministry of Health, the BC Medical Association, and Merck Frosst. Wrote the Participant’s Guides entitled Program Introduction, Understanding Quality Improvement, Adopting the Chronic Disease Management Toolkit, and Working in Teams.

• Creative Writer, Technical Writer, Marketing Communications Consultant

  ImageMaker Advertising

  (Mining & Metals industry)

  December 2005 — June 2007 (1 year 7 months)

  Wrote treatments and scripts for corporate documentary videos for mining exploration companies American Creek Resources, Baffinland Iron Mines, Bell Resources, Selkirk Resources. Series of separate contracts.

• Video script writer

  Self-employed

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Media Production industry)

  1986 — 2007 (21 years )

  Clients include BC Cancer Research Centre, BC Ministry of Forests, Bikes on Broadway, Fisheries Council of BC, BC Children's Hospital, BC Institute of Technology, Hillsborough Resources, Trans Atlantic Resources, Baffinland Iron Mines, Bell Resources, and BC Central Credit Union. Producers include Vidatron Productions, Shane Lunny Productions , National Film Board of Canada, and ImageMaker Advertising.

• Contract Technical Writer and Editor

  IMT Image and Microscope Technology

  (Medical Devices industry)

  October 2005 — November 2005 (2 months)

  Wrote sections of a user manual for upgrades to iSolution DT, a professional microscopic image-analysis application. Copy-edited the entire manual.

• Consulting Technical Communicator

  E-Comm 9-1-1 Emergency Communications for Southwest BC, Inc.

  (Public Safety industry)

  June 2005 — October 2005 (5 months)

  Developed the format for documenting standard operating procedures for dispatching fire-and-rescue responders. Wrote and edited the manual in clear, plain English.

• Commissioned Content Developer and Project Manager

  National Film Board of Canada

  (Government Agency; Motion Pictures and Film industry)

  April 1996 — February 2001 (4 years 11 months)

  (1) Directed, animated, and co-produced the award-winning NFB film Transfigured, based on the paintings of Jack Shadbolt. Numerous international film festivals and exhibitions. Nominated for Best Director, Animated Production, at the BC Film and Television Industry Leo Awards, 2000. (2) Researched and wrote successful proposals that obtained funding to develop a scientific-visualization project for schools—a paleogeographic time-lapse film series, simulated with 3D animation. Commissioned by the NFB to research the subject matter in depth (historical geology), conduct market research, write the scripts for the five parts, evaluate production software, and estimate the budget.

• Consulting Video Script Writer, Content Developer, Technical Writer, and Instructional Designer

  BC Ministry of Forests

  (Environmental Services industry)

  June 1995 — October 1996 (1 year 5 months)

  Wrote a series of ten training videos on field sampling procedures for the Resource Inventory Skills Training program (BCIT/Nutec Training/Black Tusk Video). Wrote Participant's and Trainer's Guides for the Resource Inventory Skills Training Curriculum, including photo interpretation, field navigation, plot sampling for plant identification and coverage, timber cruising, and ecological site series.

• Consulting Technical Communicator and Business Analyst

  Hughes Aircraft Company

  (Public Company; GMH; Defense & Space industry)

  May 1994 — July 1994 (3 months)

  Hughes Canada Systems Division – Product Support
  Developed the department's procedures for managing, developing, and conducting large-scale training programs for the air-traffic control industry, based on the Design/IDEF process-mapping software tool.

• Consulting Technical Writer and Content Developer

  BC Hydro

  (Government Agency; Utilities industry)

  May 1993 — July 1993 (3 months)

  B.C. Hydro Trades Training and Development --
  Researched and wrote the training manual for a new skills-upgrading course for power system journeymen, Distribution Switching for Linemen.

• Contract Technical Writer

  Spectrum Signal Processing

  (Public Company; SSPI; Wireless industry)

  May 1993 — June 1993 (2 months)

  Developed and co-wrote the user guide and online help for an integrated sound/fax/modem/ answering-machine PC expansion board, with associated software.

• Consulting Science Writer

  Science World BC

  (E-Learning industry)

  February 1993 — April 1993 (3 months)

  Researched and wrote the content for That Day in Science, an interactive computer kiosk on the history of science.

• Consulting Video Script Writer (Training)

  BC Cancer Agency

  (Government Agency; Hospital & Health Care industry)

  June 1992 — July 1992 (2 months)

  B.C. Cancer Research Centre - Terry Fox Lab
  Wrote a training video on tissue culturing.

• Contract Technical Writer

  MDSI

  (Public Company; MDSI; Computer Software industry)

  July 1987 — October 1987 (4 months)

  Documented parts information for the 6100 Portable Data Terminal. Supervised comprehensive updating of the product documentation, from component-level maintenance to user guide.

• Quality Assurance Contractor

  MDA

  (Public Company; MDA; Defense & Space industry)

  March 1987 — May 1987 (3 months)

  Validated documentation for installation, operation, maintenance, and engineering of a mainframe-based meteorological analysis system developed for the U.S. Air Force, AWDS (Automated Weather Distribution System)

• Instructor

  Institute for Communication Arts

  (Motion Pictures and Film industry)

  1986 — 1987 (1 year )

  Taught screenwriting for two semesters.

• Technical Writer and Corporate Communications Writer

  IP Unity Glenayre

  (Privately Held; Telecommunications industry)

  May 1985 — August 1986 (1 year 4 months)

  Engineering Department (on contract): Wrote Operator's, Supervisor's, and Manager's Manuals for a commercial answering-service system. Marketing Department (as employee): Wrote brochures, press releases, and overhead presentations for a variety of telecommunications products. Supervised complete documentation for installation, operation, and maintenance of a digital paging system.

Stephen X. Arthur’s Education

• The University of British Columbia

  Master of Science , 1989 — 1991

  Wrote numerous scientific reviews and primary research papers.

• University of Southern California

  Master of Fine Arts , film production and screenwriting , 1979 — 1981

Additional Information

Stephen X. Arthur’s Websites:

• My Portfolio

Stephen X. Arthur’s Groups:

Society for Technical Communication (STC) - Canada West Coast Chapter
Canadian Science Writers Association (CSWA)

•    Society for Technical Communication
•    The Official USC Alumni Association Group
•    University of British Columbia (UBC) Alumni
•    Hughes Aircraft Company
•    STC Canada West Coast
•    New Media BC
•    MDSI Mobile Data Solutions
•    Glenayre Alumni

Stephen X. Arthur’s Honors:

* Canada Council for the Arts Production Grant, 2002 ($55,000)
* Canada Council Creative Development Grant, 1999 ($20,000)
* Jury for National Film Board of Canada (NFB) Award, VIFF 1999
* NFB travel grant - Hiroshima Int'l Animation Festival in Japan, 1998
* NFB commissions, 1996 ($70,000), 1998 ($80,000)
* Guest Speaker, Vancouver Film School Multimedia Campus, 1996, 1998, and Center for Digital Imaging & Sound, 1998
* "Studio BC" profile on Knowledge Network, 1997
* Guest Speaker, Society for Technical Communication, 1984
* Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1979
* William Rea Fellowship in Communication, 1978
* Canada Council for the Arts Production Grant, 1978

Stephen X. Arthur’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch