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Dunno: John Martin's resume     EMPLOYMENT HISTORY June 2005-October 2006: Compiled a column at the Canberra Times called CC Duties: Compile material for half a broadsheet page five days a week of short items - froth and bubble, off-beat material, curiosities, human interest, community pulse, trivia, snippets of local news etc. Achievements Hmm, well they paid me. Does that count?     Editor of Monitor at University of Canberra. March 2004 to March 2005. Duties: Produce 12-page tabloid-sized publication every two or three weeks. Write, design pages and edit on InDesign software, supervise and instruct two journalism and two photography interns. Supervise circulation and online edition. Achievements improved quality and vastly increased quantity of articles in hard copy edition. Demonstrated effective teamwork and leadership skills, liaison and negotiation skills and timely use of stringent resources amid budgetary constraints. Author of print on demand book How Much is That Scorpion In the Window (short humour fiction, http://www.equilibriumbooks.com/scorpion.htm), 2004. Author of free ebook Adventure by Flip-Flops Under the Southern Cross (short humor fiction, http://www.independentbook.com/index.php) 2004. Casual sub-editor, Canberra Times, January 2003-May 2005. Duties: Previously design pages with INL pagination. Sub-edit on Coyote system, co-ordinate work of junior journalists. Now sub-edit on Cybergraphics system on occasional weekends. Achievements Ability to cover staffing holes in diverse senior positions in sport, news or features sections either as a layout sub-editor or down-table sub-editor. Demonstrated teamwork skills, liaison and negotiation skills, calmness under stress; and ability to meet deadlines to produce good-looking and informative pages. Sports sub-editor, Canberra Times August 1997-2003. Started in the upper mid-range 4G level but promoted in 2001 to a margin as acknowledgement of my value to section. Duties: Designed pages with INL pagination, sub-edited on Coyote system, co-ordinated the work of junior journalists, liaised with senior management and public Achievements Filled in regularly as chief sports sub, where I was expected to make many snap decisions usually based on set guidelines but sometimes quite unique. Ensured deadlines were generally met, balancing the need to get important late-breaking stories into the paper. Successfully co-ordinated the work of sub-editing staff   Freelance writer via Internet, 1998-current Duties: writing humour columns based on family, parenting, sport, politics and everyday living. Achievements I have written humour columns for: www.zinos.com (U.S.), www.thenetwits.com (U.S.), www.thewallofsound.co.uk (U.K. - now defunct), www.idlefish.com (U.K.), www.sawaal.com (India),www.daveglarden.com (U.S.), www.ianwollf.com (U.S.),www.witwords.com (U.S.), www.themestream.com (U.S. - now defunct). I wrote short humour on a contract basis for Airborne Entertainment which provided humour content for Internet-based mobile phones: WAP system, 2000-2001 I have more than 200 people from a dozen or more countries who subscribe to a free e-mail list featuring my humour columns. I promote the list from my web site but otherwise rely on viral advertising. The list, which dovetails with my site, goes out two or three times a week. I used to write satirical news for www.newshax.com   Webmaster, http://www.dunno.com.au Duties: Day-to-day maintenance of site, including concept and design, keeping abreast with current Internet trends, monitoring tracking software, exploring new revenue streams. Achievements Taught myself basic html skills in 1998 from a book and built a web site with geocities.com account In 1999 I started a second web site, Down Under But Not Out, using a web editor (WebExpress) in 1999. Built up traffic from one or two hits a day in 1999 to more than 1200 page hits a day by 2003 by exploiting my growing knowledge of search engines and tracking software, and trying to satisfy demand. The site, which featured more than 550 of my own humour columns and pieces of satire, drew positive feedback from readers from all over the world and caught the eye of national media (Good Weekend magazine, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, February 22, 2003) and other professionals on the Internet. I generated revenue from advertising on my former site and from the sale of a self-published novel I now promote on my new otherwise ad-free site, called Dunno, (mainly to Americans via credit cards).   Casual sports, news and features sub-editor, Canberra Times, February-August 1997 Chief sub-editor, The Goulburn Post, August 1996-February 1997 Duties: News tasting, layout, sub-editing, teaching and directing junior staff, undertook role of acting editor as required, co-ordinated the work of sub-editors, reporters, photographers, printers, wrote regular editorials, wrote a weekly humour column. Achievements Redesigned sections of the newspaper to reflect modern practices Compiled a style guide for use by the sub-editors Demonstrated effective teamwork and leadership skills, liaison and negotiation skills and timely use of stringent resources   Casual sports, news and features sub-editor, Canberra Times, March-July 1996 Freelance feature writer, Federated States of Micronesia, for Pacific Magazine and The Examiner newspaper, October 1995-January 1996 Chief journalist, Micronesia Focus newspaper in Federated States of Micronesia, August-November 1995 Senior sub-editor, The Examiner, Launceston, June 1991-August 1995: worked mostly as night chief sub-editor, but also worked variously as news editor, chief sport sub-editor, down-table news and sport sub-editor. Cybergraphics pagination. As night chief-sub managed the work of six or seven people. Author, 1994, self-published fictional satire book, "Apples". Achievements Wrote the book. Edited the manuscript. Chose a printer and negotiated cost, materials, style and work schedule. Proof-read the manuscipt. Created simple design and artwork for front and back cover. Sent review copies of book to three daily newspapers. Drove around the state to speak to book store managers and place copies for sale. Now market the book from my Internet site, http://www.dunno.com.au   Chief of (reporting) staff, The Examiner, Launceston, March 1989-June 1991 Duties: responsible for day-to-day generation of news, sport and feature stories; drew up daily duty rosters and holiday rosters for 20 reporters and photographers; managed the workload of news, sports and features reporters and photographers; commissioned columnists; undertook financial management; recruited and trained staff; liaised with news, sports, features, advertising, circulation and promotion managers regarding placement of articles and strategies for covering stories in the newspaper. Achievements Demonstrated leadership, liaison and negotiation skills in dealing with a range of clients and stakeholders Smooth work operations of reporters and photographers to meet newspaper deadlines Stayed either within or ahead of budget Successfully juggled human resources Recruited and trained staff. Assembled and headed team to cover 1990 world rowing championships at Lake Barrington which we recognised at the newspaper had economic importance, as well as sporting kudos, for Tasmania.   Chief reporter, world rowing championships: Lake Barrington, Tasmania 1990 and Bled, Yugoslavia, 1989 Columnist (chess and lighter family topics), The Examiner, Launceston, 1984-1990 Chief day sub-editor, The Examiner, 1985-June 1989 Chief sports reporter, The Examiner, Launceston, 1983-1985 Sports sub-editor, The Post-Courier newspaper, Port Moresby, 1982 News reporter and trainee sub-editor, The Chronicle, Toowoomba, late 1981 Public relations officer, Corporate Communications, (PR) early 1981. Prepared a report on the social and economic impact of Australia's first legal casino, Wrest Point, on Tasmania; European Working Holiday, 1980 Junior reporter, The Examiner, 1979 Copy boy, later cadet journalist, The Examiner, 1976-1978     EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Matriculation, Launceston, 1975 Training Writing/Presentation/Media Media Law Course, Canberra 1998 Newspaper design training with Bob James, 1988 Management and Administration Strategic Management, 1990 Various in-house management programs, 1987-1991 by Don Bowden Computer-based INL Training Cybergraphics Microsoft Word Processing Self-taught: HTML (basic); PageMaker (basic); Quark Express (basic); Web Express web editor     PUBLISHED WORK Self-published fiction book, "Apples", 1994 (satire) Newspaper and magazines articles 1977-2003 (news, sport, features): Melbourne Herald (news, features and sport) Melbourne Sun (news, features and sport) Sunday Press (sport) Hobart Mercury (chess) Burnie Advocate (humour) Toowoomba Chronicle (news and features) Goulburn Post (humour and Editorials) Canberra Times (humour) Micronesia Focus (news, features and sport) Pacific Magazine (feature) Tasmanian Mail (chess) Australian Cycling Magazine (sport) Tasmanian Chess Magazine (chess) My web site: http://johnmartin.actweb.net, 1997-current         John Martin at a glance: Year of birth:  1958 Marital status: Married, one child, 6   Miscellaneous: I am in good health and a non-smoker. I have a current ACT drivers licence. Address:     Holder, Weston Creek, Canberra, ACT, 2611, Australia.    e-mail me:   jkm@netspeed.com.au       Return to top   Home   Subscribe   My books   My archives e-mail me