Dan Davies (23)

Online Journalist / Lecturer / Social Media

Profile

Dan Davies
Community Manager and Content Producer at Village Underground
Writing and Editing | London, United Kingdom, GB

Summary

My two main educational achievements bookend a range of vocational journalism experience largely focused around (but not limited to) arts, music and culture. High competition for these jobs has meant that I’ve had to prove my competence and find creative ways of deal with problems quickly. I’m trusted to affably but firmly manage teams as demonstrated by my rapid ascension from writer to editor at Whatsonuk, setting up my own magazine with Blowback and being appointed as Arts Editor for Metro Newspapers.

I’m passionate about my work and able to build temporary project from the commission for Saatchi to recent work on Mashed Festivals (www.mashedfestivals.com). In addition to a broad range of freelance writing, I’ve often offered management advice and consultation for clients as varied as Cancer Intelligence and 4Talent. Following my masters, I’ve been passing on advice to teenagers by guest lecturing to journalism students at Birmingham City University.

My MA not only re-skilled me in a range of digital media but also introduced me to new media skills such as data journalism and applied techniques for Social Media which led to paid work during my course. Although it is natural to want to compartmentalise, the same instinct for story telling is carried throughout all my work. This is best illustrated by the way some of my blogs on www.dandavies23.com have led to interviews with Radio 4 and a special on Inside Out, West Midlands.
Specialties: Photography and editing video for internet - please see YouTube and Flickr. I’m used to a variety of editorial systems including Atex. I’m familiar with design and layout Quark, InDesign, Photoshop, Flash, self hosted Wordpress, Typepad Social Media tools such as Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Facebook Insights Editing software Audacity, Sony Vegas I’m really interested in new technologies such as the possibilities of geo-location and mapping.

Experience

  • Oct 2011 - Present
    Community Manager and Content Producer / Village Underground
    Devising and overseeing the venue's social media strategy. Creating original multimedia content and profiling current artistic community.
  • Jan 2011 - Present
    Visiting Lecturer / City University London
    Will be lecturing on and offering support and guidance to web editors of MA Magazine course, final production project. Areas covered: branding, positioning, editorial integration and process, Wordpress themes and CSS tweaks, essential plugins and widgets.
  • Oct 2010 - Present
    Visiting Lecturer / Birmingham City University
    Introducing undergraduates to the basics of Journalism. 1 day per week during term time.
  • Apr 2010 - Present
    Social Media Manager / Marketing Birmingham
    Managing Social Media and engaging with public about the City Of Culture bid. As well as keeping the public informed about the bid's progress, another element of this job is to discover, enthuse and embrace the myriad of cultural activities in the city in the lead up to the judging. I have also Microcast short audio clips and video snippets. The culmination will involve a live blog (using Cover It Live) which will take place on the day of judgement (16th June)
  • Apr 2011 - Present
    Deputy Editor: TheMediaBriefing / Briefing Media Ltd
    Checking and curating aggregated content, creating original material - including video interviews and features.
  • Apr 2010 - Present
    Social Media Surgeon / Podnosh
    Training voluntary and community groups how to make best use of social media.
  • Feb 2010 - Present
    Producer / Meshed Media
    Providing online content solutions for creative businesses also assistant manager of Created In Birmingham pop-up shop. Most recently wrote the Twitter script for International Dance Festival Birmingham.
  • Jan 2010 - Present
    Copy Writer / Capsule
    Commissioned by Capsule to write their We Are Eastside brochure. Project involved taking descriptions and press releases from arts organisations in Digbeth area and rewriting them in a compelling and inclusive way.
  • Jun 2007 - Present
    Metro Life Editor - East Midlands / Associated Newspapers
    Responsible for the daily arts section of the newspaper ensuring the pages covered the best and most suitable artists and events happening in Derby, Nottingham and Leicester. Responsible for commissioning copy, proofing the spread and listings section and ensuring it complied with the house style. I also wrote for both the East and West Midlands editions, including the daily Birmingham blog and articles for the national edition of the newspaper.
  • Oct 2006 - Present
    Copywriter and Project Consultant / Cancer Intelligence
    I was consulted for the organisation and launch of the first only online journal for cancer, commissioned to provide an analysis and consultation of the publishers website, suggesting areas of improvement, including: a feasibility study of media enrichment software, the importance of blogging, integrating databases and effect bulk e-mailing and increasing measurability. I was also commissioned to ghost write an article for Professor Gordon McVie published in Guardian Society online http://tinyurl.com/mcviesociety.
  • Mar 2006 - Present
    Brand Development / Ten4 Magazine, Ideas Factory, Channel 4
    Ten4 magazine was distributed across the West Midlands. The managing editor (Dan Jones) recruited me on a consultancy basis to expand and develop the brand. I negotiated national distribution and advised on repositioning the magazine to appeal to a national audience.
  • Feb 2006 - Present
    Creative Consultant / CLIC Sargent
    I was commissioned as the creative manager for a unique project – writing, designing and producing a mock 1950’s supplement for an original copy of The Times for Richard Branson’s birthday present, he subsequently chose to support the national charity for cancer and leukaemia in children.
  • May 2006 - Present
    Cult-Geister / Gum, Saatchi and Saatchi
    I was commissioned to produce an artistic presentation for Universal Home Video to provide a ‘handle’ on Birmingham. I wrote and produced a short film interviewing various creative lynchpins from Birmingham, including magazine editors, club promoters, DJs, graphic/ conceptual artists and comedians. I also compiled the soundtrack which acted as a musical history of the city.
  • Aug 2003 - Present
    Founder, Creative Director, Editor / Blow 23 Ltd
    I was behind the inception and creation of this unique, high quality, free magazine available in over 30 cities nationwide. My key responsibilities were to develop the product and maintain the high quality aesthetic we had achieved. I wrote the style-guide subbed and edited the entire publication, ensuring editorial styles and values remained consistent. I was responsible for the content, always with a key eye on high professional and artistic standards - open to all creative and artistic mediums. Blowback was a broad church, its one proviso was that any artist covered within the pages must be covered passionately. There was no space for cynicism. It particularly covered cross fertilised media. We were one of the first art magazines to consistently champion VJ culture and music promo directors. We also provided a platform for breaking writers and designers for across the UK and Europe. I managed the team of in-house designers, volunteers and writers, working closely to develop a distinctive aesthetic and artistic identity for the publication. As director I was consulted on financial decisions, brand development, exposure, event management and distribution.
  • Jul 2001 - Present
    Editor / Whatsonuk Magazine
    National student magazine with incidental paid for guides including Student and Festival. Key skills included: supervision, liaison and editorial development which I enhanced. I increased productivity from the single monthly tabloid and occasional A5 guide, to consistent tabloid and bi-monthly guides on diverse and disparate subjects maintaining an overall through-style and brand feel. I also managed a multi-cultural event for One Live in Birmingham (Radio 1) and produced an accompanying CD (compilation of the month DJ magazine, October 01). As editor I was also asked by UCE cinemas to host a series of Q&A sessions with prominent UK directors and actors including Mike Leigh.

Education

  • 2009 - 2010
    Birmingham City University
    MA in Online Journalism
  • 1996 - 1999
    University of Leeds
    BA English and Media Arts Technology in Contemporary English Literature, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Photography, Video Production
    Activities: 'Other Drama and English' ODE, Student Rep, Forge FM

Additional Information

Websites:
Online Journalism, Print portfolio, Mashed Festivals
Interests:
Gigs, clubs, photography, Online Journalism, Social Media, Data Journalism
LinkedIn Profile

Uploads

YouTube Channel

Posts

May 23, 06:01 AM
Bookmarks for May 20th to May 23rd

These are my links from May 20th to May 23rd:

May 16, 07:01 AM
Bookmarks for May 14th to May 16th
May 10, 08:03 AM
Bookmarks for May 4th to May 10th

These are my links from May 4th to May 10th:

May 04, 08:06 AM
Bookmarks for April 27th to May 4th

These are my links from April 27th to May 4th:

April 23, 07:01 AM
Bookmarks for April 19th to April 23rd
April 17, 03:00 PM
Bookmarks for April 11th to April 17th

These are my links from April 11th to April 17th:

April 10, 07:01 AM
Bookmarks for April 10th from 11:06 to 11:58

These are my links for April 10th from 11:06 to 11:58:

April 05, 07:03 AM
Bookmarks for April 5th from 11:40 to 11:57
April 03, 11:06 AM
Bookmarks for March 28th to April 3rd

These are my links from March 28th to April 3rd:

March 28, 08:06 AM
Bookmarks for March 27th to March 28th

These are my links from March 27th to March 28th:

Main WP Site
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz