Professional Portfolios; Real Projects = Real Results

Professional Portfolios;Real Projects = Real Results
LSC April 2010 Meeting
Louellen S. Coker Content Solutions

Real Projects = REAL Results
Dissect portfolio options
Choose your platform
Choose your projects
Present your project
Pull it all together

Goals of your portfolios
Intrigue
Call to Action
Showcase
Get a Gig

Define your brand
Who are you?
What qualifications and experience do you have?
Do you seem trustworthy and reliable?
Are you looking for work?
Can I see some examples of previous work?

Dissect Portfolio Options

Description of a portfolio
“…a representative collection of one’s work. As the word’s roots suggests (and as is still the case in the arts), the sample of work is fashioned for a particular objective and carried from place to place for inspection or exhibition.”
—Wiggins,
quoted by Barrett

Forms of portfolios
Hard copy
Archive
Presentation
Sample
Elevator
Virtual
.pdf
Website/Blog
Social media
Coffee shop

Choose your platform

Best practices
Keep it simple
Keep it organized
Keep it succinct
Keep it optimized
Keep it targeted
Keep it consistent

Tools
Software for capturing/creating pieces
Open source
Office products
Adobe Suite products
Wireframing/Organization tools
Mindmeister for mind-mapping (www.mindmeister.com)
Jumpstart for wireframing (www.jumpstart.com)
Toodledo for project management (www.toodledo.com)
Basecamp for project management (www.basecamphq.com)

Tools, cont.
Online services
www.elance.com
www.qfolio.com
www.wordpress.org
Social Media
LinkedIn.com
Facebook.com
Slideshare.net
YouTube.com
Flikr.com
Wordpress.org/Blogger

Finding the Muscle
Elbow grease
Blogs and Forums
Use help
LSC Help Desk
Trial and Error
Training
www.lynda.com
Blogs
Workshops
Hire some help

Case Study: .pdf

Case Study: HTML & .pdf

Case Study: CMS (Joomla!)

Case Study: Social Media

Choose your projects

First steps, FIRST
Know thy goal
Know thy audience
Know thy work
Know thy capabilities

What projects do I consider?
Those created in your day job
Those for which you won an award
Those created for volunteer organizations
Those created specifically for your portfolio
Those created for fun
EVERYTHING and ANYTHING

What projects do I include?
Pieces that speak for themselves
Pieces that translate across platforms
Pieces that show skills
Pieces that show interpersonal skills
Piece that is the product of a difficult situation

Case Study: Content Solutions

Self analysis
Goal: to showcase Content Solutions’ skills and capabilities in a way that resonates with businesses that need and appreciate our expertise
Audience: anyone who needs writing, design, or web services, concentrating on small-medium size businesses

Self analysis
Work: Leverage proprietary and work done for existing clients
Capabilities: CMS plugins (both Joomla! and Wordpress), social media limitations, software, samples, bandwidth, budget

Leverage proprietary information
GET PERMISSION
Limit to outward facing information
Redact if necessary
Collect as you go

Leverage proprietary information

Leverage your work
Select pieces that are relevant to varied audiences
Reflect about process
Blog in deeper detail about process
Show level of professionalism

Leverage your work

Present your projects

Put your best foot forward
Optimize your files
Print = CMYK 300 dpi (.tif, .psd, .eps)
Web = RGB 72 dpi (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif)
Error FREE
Professional
Relevant
Appropriate

Essential elements
Cover Page – must have name; may have your mission statement, short introduction, or bio
Table of Contents
Navigation – some method to guide a reviewer through your artifacts
Artifacts – your best (mostly)
Reflection – optional

Reflection
Metacognition – thinking about your thinking
Not always necessary
Important
For contextual clues
To show growth
For those in educational settings
When being assessed

Pull it all together

Present your work
Determine a presentation theme
Organize your works in a logical manner
Compile your artifacts in a consistent manner

Protect intellectual property
Watermark
Limit scope
Low resolution
Remove “copy & paste” ability
Put your footprint in the metadata
Copyright

Protect yourself
NEVER leave your portfolio behind
Make copies of portions of the artifacts in your presentation portfolio
Organize your artifacts in a less expensive presentation folder
Consider including a thumb drive with soft copies of included and/or larger works
Maintain consistency when possible

Lather, Rinse, Repeat!

Questions?
Writing
Design
Web
Solutions

Blogroll
www.freelanceswitch.com
www.yourcontentnotes.com
www.yourcontentportfolio.com
www.stc-dfw.org

References
Barrett, H. Electronicportfolios.org - http://www.electronicportfolios.org/distance/index.html

Works consulted
Reece, G. & Keeton, L. (2004). Digital Portfolios: How to Market Your Skills! Proceedings of the 51st Annual Conference of the Society for Technical Communication.
University of Washington, Educational Partnerships & Learning Technologies/Catalyst Project - http://catalyst.washington.edu/home.html

Works consulted
Ball State University Career Center, http://www.bsu.edu/students/careers/documents/portfoli/.
Baron, Cynthia L. (2004). Designing a Digital Portfolio. New Riders: Boston.
Campbell, Dorothy M, et. al. (1997). How to Develop a Professional Portfolio. Allyn and Bacon: Boston, MD.

Works consulted
Counseling & Career Coaching. The George Brown Toronto City College. (2005) Creating a Professional Portfolio. http://www.gbrownc.on.ca/saffairs/stusucc/portfolio.html.
Educational Partnerships & Learning Technologies/
Catalyst Project. http://catalyst.washington.edu/
home.html.
Portfolios, Advice and Resources, http://www.coroflot.com/public/portfolio_tips.asp. University of Washington.

http://www.stc-marcom.org	476
http://www.slideshare.net	9
http://yourcontentnotes.com	4
http://www.lmodules.com	1
http://www.stcsig.org	1
http://www.techgig.com	1

Professional Portfolios; Real Projects = Real Results

by Louellen Coker on Apr 15, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

6 Embeds 492

Statistics

Professional Portfolios; Real Projects = Real Results — Presentation Transcript