Dave Waite

Current

Senior Copywriter, Content Developer + Creative Director at Zookeeper

Past

Contracted as full-time Senior Copywriter at CyberSight - Nine Dots
Creative Writer at Nike
Production Assistant at ESPN

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Education

Otis College of Art and Design
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Northwestern University

Shaker High School

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1 more...

Recommended

8 people have recommended Dave

Connections

375 connections

Industry

Writing and Editing

Websites

Dave Waite’s Summary

• Successful leader experienced with running all aspects of a creative firm, including developing new business, managing client relationships, guiding strategic planning, inspiring ideas and executing breakout work
• Creative director, senior copywriter and interactive designer with 15-plus years of experience that includes the entertainment and sports industries
• Passionate branding expert skilled at visualizing the big picture, delving into details and crafting the perfect message
• Smart, conceptual thinker who graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and worked at ESPN and Nike before founding Zookeeper in 1999

Dave Waite’s Specialties:

Naming, brand identity, logo design, taglines, content and copywriting, graphic design, illustration, advertising and website design, including coding, CSS design, search-engine optimization and dynamic CMS implementation.

Dave Waite’s Experience

Senior Copywriter, Content Developer + Creative Director

Zookeeper

(Privately Held; Design industry)

February 1999 — Present (10 years 10 months)

• Advertising, brand identity, communications and interactive design firm which helps companies build brands that smartly express who they are, what they do and why people should do business with them – in a memorable way
• Creative services include naming, copywriting, branding, logo design, advertising, content creation, graphic and interactive design
• Produced concept-driven print ads, TV commercials, radio spots, interactive advertising, websites, product packaging, direct marketing, press releases and retail environment design
• Coordinated up to 20 projects and 10 contractors at a time for multiple clients, from research and strategy to media planning and airtime buying
• Extensive business connections discovered and maintained through blog, e-mail newsletter campaign and social media networks, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
• Clients have included Fortune 500 companies, advertising agencies and design firms:
Nike • Converse • Reebok • New York Yankees • Chicago Blackhawks • The Crystal Method • Iwata-Medea • West Coast Bank • Plum Tree Mortgage • Centex Homes • Abercrombie & Fitch • Johnny Sole • Hewlett-Packard
Contracted as full-time Senior Copywriter

CyberSight - Nine Dots

(Internet industry)

July 2000 — December 2000 (6 months)

• Primary copywriter for Wells Fargo interactive account. Edited winning RFP for Lucasfilm’s StarWars.com redesign
Creative Writer

Nike

(Public Company; NKE; Sporting Goods industry)

June 1997 — March 1999 (1 year 10 months)

• Copywriter and editor for displays in 15 NIKETOWNs and 2 NIKESTOREs, including openings in London and Berlin
• Head writer for store openings in Las Vegas, Honolulu, Toronto, Melbourne and Miami
• Responsibilities included overseeing in-house and out-of-house freelancers, brainstorming content ideas, managing extensive change-out programs and writing scripts for in-store film and video interactive displays
• Collaborated with team of architects, display designers and visual merchandisers to create award-winning displays that told a compelling brand story of how Nike products gave their athletes a competitive edge for greater performances
• Imaged athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Andre Agassi, Mia Hamm and Lance Armstrong
Production Assistant

ESPN

(Public Company; DIS; Broadcast Media industry)

August 1994 — July 1995 (1 year )

• Director assistant for SportsCenter, NFLPrimetime and NHL2Night TV shows, producing teases, promos and packages
• Created, wrote and produced hundreds of highlight packages for SportsCenter

Dave Waite’s Education

Otis College of Art and Design

• Continuing education course included screen-printing and apparel design 2008 — 2008
Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Continuing education courses studied included graphic design, brand identity and website design 2000 — 2006
Northwestern University

Bachelor of Science in Journalism , 1990 — 1994

• Graduated early, in March 1994, with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Medill and minor in political science
• Courses included advertising, direct marketing, copy editing, broadcast writing and TV news production

Activities and Societies:

Northwestern University Hockey • Captain, 1992-94 • President, 1992-93 • Vice-president, 1991
• Responsible for recruiting, scheduling, fundraising, advertising, marketing, managing team budget, creating team yearbooks and designing new logo for uniforms and merchandise
Shaker High School