davejx

[davejx]

journalism.txt

Selections from my career as a journalist and critic (2005—present):

The pleasant surprise of vibrant, energetic Los Angeles (Travel section feature story, The Globe and Mail)

The way we react to COVID-19 will define the rest of our lives (Op-ed, Cult MTL)

Zach Zoya: Rouyn’s very own (Cover story and music feature, Cult MTL)

Tropic of X is a big, bold swing by Imago Theatre (Theatre review, Cult MTL)

An eye for composition (Cover story and music feature on Phoenix, Hour Magazine)

M for Montreal: How La Belle Ville Survived 'Next Seattle' Status to Maintain its Music Scene's Fire (Music section cover story, Huffington Post)

'So It Goes': Hollerado Singer Meets Grandson Of The Nazi Who Spared His Dutch Grandfather's Life (Music section cover story, Huffington Post Music Canada)

Review: Frank (Exclaim!)

'Love, Guaranteed' Is Netflix's Flimsy Version of a Hallmark Movie (Exclaim!)

[davejx]

2022.txt

This year, my client list includes Dingus & Zazzy, a creative and marketing agency in Edmonton; Boisvert-Gayle, a production and media agency in Montreal; and Raison d'être Media, a PR agency in Montreal devoted to ethical events and concerns.

At Dingus & Zazzy, I work for the main admin team at the behest of the agency's CEO and its Director of Ops, and with the copy team. I handle a lot of the copy positioning the agency itself, write the agency's newsletter, refine email sales sequences, and serve as the copy team's Content Coach and Mentor.

Selected work:

Dingus Dispatch #1 (newsletter issue) The Medium is the Message (blog post)

At Boisvert-Gayle, I work in tandem with CEO Jonathan Potter, and serve as the agency's Senior Communications Strategist. We pitch certain clients as a team, and work together on strategic business initiatives wherein I serve as the copy/strategic content lead and he serves as the business/strategic marketing lead.

Selected work:

Bedrock Energy Corp. (all website copy) What is CAES? (blog post)

For Raison d'être, I am an on-call copywriter. Selected work: Triskel Fest press release

[davejx]

2021.txt

In 2021, my main clients were BeatConnect, a startup in Montreal; C2 Montreal, a business conference in Montreal whose team I have been on since its beginnings in 2012; and the Movin'On Summit, a global initiative dedicated to sustainable mobility. Movin'On "brings together the major players in sustainable mobility, public and private, collective and individual," and works with mobility/transport luminaries like Michelin, Thales, and Mercedes-Benz, as well as firms like Accenture.

For BeatConnect, I served as a sort of jack-of-all-trades CMO, but my main jobs were in content production and relationship management. I created/produced content for all the major social media platforms BC was on (see examples from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn) and also helped produce video for our brand and with project partners like MUTEK and LYRE music (selections below). I also guested on the Music Tectonics podcast to discuss the software.

Alina Smith from LYRE uses BeatConnect to collab

Pheek + Stereo IMG use BeatConnect for MUTEK

BeatConnect Creators teaser video

For C2 Montreal, I worked on ideation for a project with EY for Innovation Realized and wrote editorial copy in conjunction with its 2021 event (selections below).

The future of events: A top-tier event strategist unpacks critical next steps (C2 Magazine feature interview with now-former SAP leader Nicola Kastner, which she featured on her website)

5 key insights into harnessing the power of community to connect with audiences ("Takeaways" post feat. SID LEE's Britt Stromberg and Joseph Matsushima)

Step into your truth to be the best leader you can be ("Takeaways" post feat. RBC SVP Katie Dudtschak)

For Movin'On' my work was mainly behind the scenes. I wrote briefs on a dozen or so presentations so that attendees could get the gist of each session in case they missed it. I also helped produce video for the conference featuring Accenture's Steve Zoegall (Global Industry Lead - Cities, Transport & Critical Infrastructure for Accenture; Fellow at The World Economic Forum), Alexander Holst (Managing Director, Sustainability Strategy & Services Practice Lead for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria for Accenture), and Thomas Scapin from MACIF.

Though much of the video was for internal use/presentations, the video featuring Scapin was posted to the Movin'On YouTube page.

[davejx]

2020.txt

For obvious reasons, 2020 was a tough year for a lot of people. When the pandemic hit, I was interviewing for positions. Unsurprisingly, those positions were temporarily or permanently closed when the world stopped. Still, I managed to do a few interesting things.

In late fall I was the content/copy lead for the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence's Montreal Summit. Most of this work was client-facing, but I was charged with writing landing page copy, three featured articles titled "Presenting GPAI," "Future of work through the AI lens," and "Responsible AI + governance." Additionally, I was responsible for turning these larger pieces into digest pieces for newsletter content.

Also in the fall, I worked with directly with (Toronto-based digital agency) Art + Science CEO Spencer Saunders as an ideation gun-for-hire for an education industry pitch for NGen, aimed at getting more young people in Ontario interested in the manufacturing trades. After we won the business, Saunders wrote, among other things, "You were a beacon for collaboration for me at a time when I had nowhere else to turn."

In 2020 I also worked with technology entrepreneur/media star Amber Mac on The Amber Mac Show. I had almost complete editorial and creative control on my scripts, and with this freedom, I created op-ed copy dealing with significant issues at the intersection of technology and culture (an example op-ed starts at 16:22 in the selection below).

[davejx]

2019.txt

In 2019, my company WordNorth Media was awarded a contract to create and disseminate all forward-facing Facebook content and copy for Hallmark Channel, then the sixth-largest cable network in America. In 2019, our content calendars served a daily audience of over 5.5 million people, mostly concentrated in the United States.

Pages we administrated, created copy/content for, and posted on included:

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Hallmark Home & Family Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas Hallmark Channel's Kitten Bowl and Kitten Games Hallmark Drama Hallmark Hall of Fame Good Witch Chesapeake Shores When Calls The Heart (pictured above) It was a time- and labour-intensive job, and offered an interesting look at how television worked behind the scenes — especially considering we were in charge of these pages at the time of the college admissions scandal involving Lori Loughlin, then the star of When Calls The Heart.

[davejx]

2018.txt

In early 2018, I incorporated my first company: WordNorth Media. I created WordNorth to formalize and legitimize my existing freelance business. At the time, I had been a freelancer for thirteen years on and off, and after consulting with my advisors, thought it would be advantageous from a branding perspective to operate as a company and not just an individual.

Getting up to speed as a company takes time, but over that first year of operations, I did work with Blue Ant Media, P Squared Publishing, Backpacker College, MyHive, and, most interestingly and prominently, Kountable and SFM.

Kountable is a San Francisco-based "trade and technology platform" connecting SMEs and entrepreneurs in Africa to project funding. I wrote case studies for them highlighting the projects they would help get funded, and the entrepreneurs they supported.

Selected work:

Case study on Africa Medical Supplier (Kigali, Rwanda) Case study on Petoma Works Limited (Nairobi, Kenya)

SFM is a Montreal-based company that "provides customized go-to-market solutions to global brands within the audiovisual, live entertainment, and media production industries [in] addition to traditional wholesale distribution services."

I was approached by their marketing team — Lisa Griffiths, now Director of Marketing, and Joey Molino, now Director of Brand Management — with a goal in mind. SFM wanted to be honoured by Deloitte as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies, an accolade they'd never received.

Working independently and with Griffiths, I wrote a colossal 10,000 word case study on all aspects of SFM's business conforming to Deloitte's requirements for an entry. After completing and submitting the 25-page report, I all but guaranteed Griffiths and Molino that they would win the designation.

They did.

While the case study is not protected by an NDA, I am not 100% sure if it would be good form to share it here. I have sent Griffiths an email asking for permission to show prospective clients.

[davejx]

2017.txt

In late 2016 after returning to Canada from Los Angeles, Montreal-based TANK hired and relocated me to be the Editor-in-chief of the Canada 150 HQ, the in-agency content team devoted to Canada 150, its projects, its initiatives, and the personalities associated with those projects and initiatives.

As the Editor-in-chief, I was the editorial director and the de facto ACD of the content campaign. I led a multidisciplinary team of writers, editors, producers, directors, and researchers. I wrote most forward-facing social media copy (in English) for the content campaign, worked directly on creating boutique multimedia content for Buzzfeed and Spotify (Best Use of Audio Platform, Infopresse Prix Média — 2017) and was heavily involved in the robust video work associated with the campaign (Finalist, Editorial Strategy, Infopresse Le Grand Prix Boomerang — 2017).

Selected work (with my roles below each):

Of the above videos for Canada C3: Selected project for editorial coverage; wrote project synopsis (x 3) and pitched to Canadian Heritage; envisioned and created central concept; liaised with project partners; conducted audio interviews with subjects; briefed creative team and director Philippe Toupin; selected voice talent for dubbing; remotely supervised voice talent recording process; selected music; directed/supervised final edits

Of the above video for the Indspire Laureates Tour: Selected project for editorial coverage; wrote project synopsis and pitched to Canadian Heritage; envisioned and created central concept; liaised with project partners; briefed creative team and director; interviewed and coached video subject; selected music; directed/supervised final edit.

Of the above video for transVersing: Selected project for editorial coverage; wrote project synopsis and pitched to Canadian Heritage; envisioned and created central concept; liaised with project partners; briefed creative team and director Martine Asselin; directed/supervised final edit.

Of the above videos for The Walrus Talks:

Selected projects for editorial coverage; wrote project synopsis (x 2) and pitched to Canadian Heritage; envisioned and created central concepts; liaised with project partners; briefed creative team and director Ana Valine; selected music; directed/supervised final edits.

[davejx]

why_tumblr.txt

A lot of friends and colleagues have made really really nice portfolio websites with Wix, Cargo, Webflow, and Squarespace (combatdavey.com was made with Squarespace), but when I went about putting together a “portfolio,” something inside me said “do something different.”

I am guided by that something. 

I like low-tech solutions to things and I prefer to use free and inexpensive solutions when possible. I built this little portfolio as a Tumblr because I like Tumblr, because Tumblr is free, because I like this theme (based on Windows 3.1), and because if we are going to work together, you may want to know that I often choose to walk a slightly different path. Not better or worse, just different. 

The only rule is it has to work. And this works.

[davejx]

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