Liz Massey

lizmassey68@hotmail.com | 602-430-1474

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Accomplished writer and editor with decades of experience writing, editing and managing story assignments for print, online and digital media platforms. Comprehensive content development for organizations ranging from one-attorney law firms to a large public university. Adaptable editorial leader who quickly adjusts to changes in product, publication frequency, or delivery platforms. Successful at workflow optimization and improving content creation efficiency and developing process improvements that slash research, writing and editing time. Capable collaborator, adroit presenter, talented coach and mentor. 

KEY SKILLS + COMPETENCIES

Magazine Writing ✦ Copy Editing ✦ Line Editing ✦ Story Assignment & Writer Coaching ✦ Production Scheduling ✦ Editorial Calendar Development ✦ Content Auditing ✦ Editorial Planning ✦ Content Style Guide Creation & Revision ✦ Narrative Nonfiction Story Development ✦ SEO Best Practices ✦ Content Operations ✦ Performance Metrics Analysis ✦ Workflow Optimization ✦ Information Dashboard Development ✦ Podcast Production & Editing ✦ Presenting/Training ✦ Using Gen AI As A Writing Assistant ✦

WORK EXPERIENCE

FindLaw - 2017-Present

Web Build Content Marketer

• Supervised content creation for 700+ small law firm website builds and upgrades. Conduct regular collaborative meetings with clients and internal partners. Champion user-friendly content that meets editorial standards and content best practices.
• Partnered with SEO strategists and writing staff to deliver high-ranking web pages based on rigorous performance metrics analysis. Promoted data-driven decision making when creating, revising or optimizing web content. 
• Slashed prep time by 50 percent by streamlining the workflow design and implementation of a research task in Wrike. Prototyped new task designs and collaborated with a coworker to rate the original task’s fulfillment challenges. 
• Collaborated with a working group to craft customizable information dashboard templates for tracking multiple projects in Wrike as they moved through the production pipeline, allowing for “plug and play” access to critical status updates.
• Presented training sessions on using Generative AI (Gen AI) to develop and edit content, writing better home pages, leveraging Personal Knowledge Management for professional development and improving cross-role collaboration skills.
• Provided 1:1 writer coaching to a content staff of 50-plus writers; draft a monthly coaching email with tips and tricks to improve content quality and efficiency. Mentor incoming writers and help them adapt to FindLaw’s standard operating procedures.
  

Arizona State University - 2004-2017

Managing Editor 

• Provided editorial leadership for an award-winning quarterly alumni magazine, growing circulation from under 200,000 to nearly 400,000.
• Developed and maintained annual editorial calendars and lists of future ideas to create aligned user experiences across print, web, newsletter, video, podcast and live event channels. 
• Created story edit memos to guide revision work by freelance writers, reducing the average number of drafts per story from three to two. 
• Trained alumni staff in Associated Press and house editorial style guidelines for writing event copy, reducing copy editing turn around time by 10 percent. 
  

Echo Magazine - 2000-2003

Managing Editor 

• Provided editorial oversight for an esteemed local biweekly LGBTQ newsmagazine with a readership of 50,000.
• Developed a full, 26-issue editorial calendar, increasing lead time for important articles by 150 percent. 
• Vetted and curated reputable pro-LGBTQ political, health and career news from wire and other sources, providing approximately 15 percent of the content for a 72-page magazine. 
  

ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

• Video Producer - Produced a dozen safety training videos and three lean manufacturing sales training videos at an aluminum manufacturing facility.
• Freelance Writer And Editor - Published more than 400 articles and edited six book manuscripts, plus extensive online copywriting and blogging experience. 
  

PROJECTS

Digital Ministry Committee - Content Strategy Work (Pro bono)

Audited church website content and usability. Identified opportunities to improve accessibility, information architecture, and findability in search. 

LGBTQ+ Community Center - Editorial Consulting

Provided advice and research support for a community center launching a magazine. Acted as managing editor for the first issue. 

TOOLS

• Microsoft Suite
• Google Suite
• Content Management Systems (CMS) - Drupal, WordPress
• Open Arena AI System (proprietary)
• Wrike (project management system) 
• Trello
• Miro
• Loom
• Riverside.fm
• LucidSpark
  

EDUCATION

University of Kansas

Bachelor of Science, Magazine Journalism