Presentation by Louellen S. Coker about creating professional portfolios at the October 8-9, 2010 Professional Conference on Communication in Nashville held by the Middle Tennessee Community of the Society for Technical Communication.
2. Goals of your presence
• Intrigue
• Call to Action
• Showcase
• Get a Gig
3. 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?
4. Forms of portfolios
• Hard copy
• Archive
• Presentation
• Sample
• Elevator
• Coffee Shop
13. Choose Your Projects
• Know thy goal
• Know thy audience
• Know thy work
• Know thy capabilities
14. What projects to
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
16. 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
17. 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
18. Leverage proprietary
information
• GET PERMISSION
• Limit to outward facing information
• Redact if necessary
• Collect as you go
20. Leverage your work
• Select pieces that are relevant to varied
audiences
• Reflect about process
• Blog in deeper detail about process
• Show level of professionalism
21. Put your best foot forward when
presenting your projects
• Optimize your files
• Print = CMYK 300 dpi (.tif, .psd, .eps)
• Web = RGB 72 dpi (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif)
• Error FREE
• Professional
• Relevant
• Appropriate
23. Pull it all together
• Determine your presentation venues
• Organize your works in a logical
manner
• Compile your artifacts in a consistent
manner
24. Protect intellectual property
• Watermark
• Limit scope
• Low resolution
• Remove “copy & paste” ability
• Put your footprint in the metadata
• Copyright
25. 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
30. References
• Barrett, H. Electronicportfolios.org -
http://www.electronicportfolios.org/
distance/index.html
31. 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
32. 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.
33. 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.