Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis

Recruiter and Owner, Synergistech Communications

San Francisco Bay Area

Current
  • President/Recruiter at Synergistech Communications
  • President at Synergistech Communications
Past
  • Member, past President (San Francisco chapter) at Society for Technical Communication
  • Contract Technical Writer at Verity
  • Contract Technical Writer at IBM

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7 more...

Education
  • Amherst College
  • Stowe School
Recommended
Andrew has 32 recommendations 32 people have recommended Andrew
Connections
500+ connections
Industry
Computer Software
Websites

Andrew Davis’s Summary

Synergistech Communications matches expert technical communicators —

* Technical Writers and Information Developers for the computer software and hardware, medical, biotech, pharmaceutical, financial, and semiconductor industries
* Business Writers for Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and ISO 900x process compliance, best practices, and in-house operations
* Copyeditors, production editors, and developmental editors
* Trainers (technical and otherwise)
* Publications Managers and Publications Directors
* Online Help and User Assistance (UA) authors
* Instructional Designers
* Illustrators and Graphic Artists
* Information Architects
* Electronic Publishing experts (for single-sourcing, knowledge base, XML/XSLT, DITA, structured authoring, and CMS implementations)
* Marketing communications experts (for white papers, proposals, data sheets, presentations, and video scripts)
* Usability/User Experience (UX) Specialists
* User Interface (UI) Designers
* Indexers
* Translators and Localization/Internationalization experts

— with the most discerning companies on three continents.

Synergistech links you to professionals who explain complex products to impatient, technically sophisticated developers, administrators, and integrators via API references, programmers' guides, developer tutorials, and illustrative code samples in C, C++, C#, and Java.

Count on us for precision and speed, modest markups, deep understanding of and respect for our candidates and clients, frankness, reliability, and follow-through. We're also unique for setting up "safe" 1099-based contracts.

From 1986 until Synergistech launched in 1995, Andrew was a Technical Writer on staff at Consolidated Capital, Zehntel (now Teradyne), and Oracle (where he became a publications manager), then a Contract Technical Writer at SGI, IBM, Borland/Inprise, Informix (now IBM), Network Equipment Technologies, Oracle, and Verity. Before 1986, Andrew did marketing writing, journalism, and direct sales.

Andrew Davis’s Specialties:

From-the-trenches understanding of technical publications and IT systems. Efficient sourcing of knowledgeable, articulate, tool-savvy technical talent. Expert negotiator of win-win compensation packages. Candid skills assessment and informal resume evaluation, plus referral to experts for resume-writing, career coaching, and interview preparation.

Andrew Davis’s Experience

  • President/Recruiter

    Synergistech Communications

    (Privately Held; Myself Only; Computer Software industry)

    January 1995 — Present (14 years 7 months)

    Recruit technical communicators for discerning companies worldwide. As of Fall, 2007, our focus is on matching seasoned, technically sophisticated contract and staff (aka "perm") Technical Writers, Technical Trainers, and DITA / XML / structured-authoring professionals with urgent requirements for rare skill sets.

    Most of our work is with companies and communicators in the SF Bay Area, but we're open to opportunities for synergy elsewhere (including outside the realm of high-tech).

  • President

    Synergistech Communications

    (Computer Software industry)

    1995 — Present (14 years)

  • Member, past President (San Francisco chapter)

    Society for Technical Communication

    (Computer Software industry)

    1986 — December 2008 (22 years)

    Regular attendee at San Francisco Bay Area STC meetings, to talk about the job market, recruit candidates, and learn about opportunities to make a difference. With my decision in early 2009 to develop a job-search product, STC affiliation seemed less relevant. All good things must end, evidently.

  • Contract Technical Writer

    Verity

    (Public Company; 201-500 employees; VRTY; Computer Software industry)

    May 1993 — June 1994 (1 year 2 months)

    Created API/SDK reference documentation for text-retrieval software.

  • Contract Technical Writer

    IBM

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; IBM; Computer Software industry)

    June 1991 — July 1993 (2 years 2 months)

    Two contracts. 1) Created 200+ pages of original reference, help, and user documents in under 2 months for new hypermedia authoring tool. 2) Created installation, developer reference, and networking manuals for realtime servers.

  • Contract Technical Writer

    Informix Software

    (Public Company; 201-500 employees; IFMX; Computer Software industry)

    January 1993 — June 1993 (6 months)

    Documented INFORMIX 4GL for Windows, created glossary, index, demo app, and product roadmap.

  • Contract Technical Writer

    Network Equipment Technology

    (Public Company; 501-1000 employees; NWK; Computer Software industry)

    June 1992 — May 1993 (1 year)

    Documented configuration and use of AppleTalk, CLNS, DECnet, Apollo Domain, Novell IPX, TCP/IP, Ungermann-Bass Net/One, Banyan VINES, and XNS protocols over Ethernet, Frame Relay, Token Ring, switched multimegabit, and serial networks. Wrote original content on RSRF and PPP protocols for users of T3-capable IDNX multiplexer. Created coursenotes for network administrators. Updated 700+ page LAN-WAN Exchange multiprotocol router.

  • Contract Technical Writer

    Borland

    (Public Company; 201-500 employees; BORL; Computer Software industry)

    January 1992 — April 1992 (4 months)

    Wrote and revised SQL*Link Users Guide and six (6) RDBMS-specific addenda.

  • Contract Technical Writer

    Silicon Graphics

    (Public Company; 501-1000 employees; SGI; Computer Software industry)

    July 1991 — July 1991 (1 month)

    Created 40-page technical report for image-processing toolkit in less than 40 hours.

  • Publications Manager

    Oracle

    (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; ORCL; Computer Software industry)

    May 1988 — June 1991 (3 years 2 months)

    Researched, wrote, edited, produced, and maintained 80+ books for Oracle database administrators running under proprietaary minicomputer operating systems, including Data General AOS/VS, Wang VS, Stratus VOS, Convergent CTOS, HP's MPE/XL, Prime PRIMOS, Control Data's NOS/VE, and IBM's System/88. Hired, trained, and managed four (4) Technical Writers. Team won division's "Top Gun" award twice for creating 1600+ pages of technical coursenotes for sales consultants.

  • Technical Writer

    Zehntel (now Teradyne)

    (Public Company; 201-500 employees; TER; Semiconductors industry)

    March 1986 — May 1988 (2 years 3 months)

    Wrote installation and configuration documentation and training coursenotes for circuit board testing hardware and its UNIX-based software.

  • Marketing Communications Writer

    Marken Communications

    (Public Company; 1-10 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

    1985 — 1986 (1 year)

    Wrote press releases, backgrounders, and related marketing collateral about hard disks, printers, a power line disturbance monitor, and similar products for high tech clients.

Andrew Davis’s Education

  • Amherst College

    BA , Liberal Arts (major: English) , 1980 — 1984

    Had hoped to go on to medical school, but became an English major just to survive. My class was the most competitive (applicants:admitted students) liberal arts program in the country.

    Activities and Societies:
    Wrote and edited monthly newsmagazine (4 years). Swam 200-yard backstroke for varsity swim team (4 years). Cum Laude graduate.

  • Stowe School

    Liberal Arts September 1975 — July 1980

    Volunteered every vacation at London hospitals in Histology and Pathology labs.

    Activities and Societies:
    Boarding school in the wilds of Buckinghamshire, England: Swim team. Cycling team. Managed intake dorm.

Additional Information

Andrew Davis’s Websites:

Andrew Davis’s Groups:

Society for Technical Communication (STC), Bay Area Publications Managers' Forum (BAPMF), Oracle Alumni, OpenBC, MoveOn, Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest, GreenPeace

  •    Society for Technical Communication
  •    The Content Wrangler Community
  •    Amherst College Alumni and Friends
  •    BayBiopharma
  •    Startup Specialists
  •    BASN-San Francisco Bay Area Startup Network
  •    Openreq.com (Recruiters & Staffing Professionals)
  •    Tech-Writer
  •    Baywolf
  •    STC Silicon Valley Chapter (STC-SVC)
  •    GreenBiz.com -- Green Business Professionals
  •    Old Stoics
  •    MedBio Connect
  •    Bay Area Publications Managers Forum (BAPMF)
  •    Entry-Level Jobs and Internships: CollegeRecruiter.com

Andrew Davis’s Honors:

Distinguished Chapter Service Award, Silicon Valley STC, 2007 (for advising members and presenting on career-related topics, as well as becoming chapter's first corporate sponsor)
Distinguished Chapter Service Award, San Francisco STC, 1995 (for getting organization on the web & automating job listings)
Top Gun Award, Oracle, 1989, for delivery of 1600+ pp technical training coursenotes

Andrew Davis’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
  • job inquiries
  • expertise requests
  • business deals
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

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