Here I am -- Pat Moore -- freelance desktop graphic designer, web designer, writer and public relations professional.
As your communications contractor, I dedicate myself to making your projects the best they can be. My extensive experience in all types of communication makes this possible.
The Early Years
I was fortunate to grow up working in the family radio station, starting at 50 cents an hour mailing tapes and typing calendar announcements. Even after I left for college and moved to Toledo to teach, summers and holidays were spent in the studio. You could call me a "jack of all trades" when it comes to radio broadcasting. I did it all, including producing week-long remote broadcasts from the county fair, training new announcers, writing copy, announcing, news reporting and more.
My writing skills started developing in my high school Journalism class with teacher Dorothy Krantz, with whom I would later work as a student teacher and on the Board of Directors for the Journalism Association of Ohio Schools (JAOS). She encouraged me to attend a month-long journalism workshop at Ohio State University the summer between my junior and senior years. It was a great learning experience and wonderful adventure. When I returned, she selected me as editor of our high school paper, Tee Pee Talk. We went on to win several awards that year.
Education and Start of Communications Career
My education at Defiance College built a strong foundation for my career in communications. The new internship program placed me in the advertising department of The Defiance Crescent News, where I learned both the principles of advertising and sales. I also earned my secondary education teaching certificate.
Coming out of college, I continued to work at the Crescent News, until my father asked me to return to home and work with him as manager of TV Facts, a weekly publication of television listings distributed in Crawford County, Ohio. It was my first experience as an entrepreneur and manager, even if the staff was usually just me and a distributor. After two years, I decided to move on and use my teaching certificate.
Teaching and Doing
For six years, I was a teacher at Cardinal Stritch High School in Oregon, Ohio and Sylvania Northview High School in Sylvania, Ohio - both in the Toledo metro area. At Cardinal Stritch, all my experience was put to work teaching journalism, video tape production, English and speech, plus advising the award-winning newspaper and serving as public relations coordinator for the school. At Sylvania, my class load was much lighter - only journalism classes and advising the nationally award-winning newspaper and yearbook - much more work than it sounds. During the summers, I instructed public speaking classes at Marion Technical College, journalism and newspaper advisers workshops at Ohio University. Then it was time to move on again and put what I'd learned with my students to work in the public relations industry.
Moving and Growing in Public Relations
During some information interviews with PR leaders in Columbus, Ohio, it was made apparent to me that I needed both more experience and education to make it in this town. Coincidently, the executive director of JAOS was taking a year-long maternity leave and asked if I'd consider assuming the duties. Since JAOS is an outreach program of the Ohio State University School of Journalism, I was invited by the dean to work as an associate student and earn my masters in journalism at the same time. Talk about a lucky break!
I earned my masters degree and moved into the exciting world of public relations. Up to now, I'd been a professional butterfly - floating from one job to another. But I'd finally found a home. Still, there was a smorgasbord of opportunities in Columbus.
I started in association management at The Ohio Society of CPAs. Association work is an ideal starting point for any PR professional. It involves writing and publishing, community affairs, membership services, volunteer coordination, legislative affairs, educational services and much more. My skills flourished there and I was often asked to speak to college PR classes and association executive seminars.
The next step in the PR smorgasbord was the corporate environment. I accepted a temporary position with Bank One's Corporate Security department, and after two weeks was asked to take it full time. So, I became a documentation specialist - known as communications project manager outside the corporate environment. With every request that started with "Is there some way we can..." I searched out solutions and advance my technical communications skills. Eventually, I was able to automate the many projects I worked on - and found myself displaced during a corporate downsizing. Thus, the move to freelance graphic designs.
What makes PR so Fun
Think of my diverse experiences as building blocks that come in all different shapes and sizes. At first, it looks like they couldn't possibly fit together. Yet with the right foreman (me!), they're assembled into a solid professional with the ability to accomplish just about every task she's given - and to flourish in just about every type of environment imaginable.
That's what I enjoy about PR. You get to do for others what they don't have the time or skills to do for themselves. The CPA, security director, engineer or any other professional is focused on developing his or her product or service. I'm there to help them inform the right audience about their product, its benefits and how to use it. Do it right and I make everyone's jobs easier and make them look good, too.
I look forward to making you look good, too.
Call me and let's discuss it.
(419) 562-1779