Matthew Markovich

Oakland, CA USA
Contact

Professional Experience

For more than a decade I have worked with companies such as Microsoft, AccessData and Astro Studios, as well as organizations including PBS, the United Way and the Stanford Persuasive Technology Laboratory, to create and coordinate communications and development strategies. My experience includes work as a management and communications consultant working across sectors from law, telecommunications and technology to entertainment, travel, and fine foods. In addition, I have worked with a range of non-profit entities to promote fundraising and development work and enjoyed a parallel career writing about travel, beer, wine and spirits and literature for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, Napa/Sonoma Magazine and Time Out guidebooks. As my background suggests, I specialize in quickly absorbing highly technical and/or complex materials and concepts and translating them into comprehensible, engaging communications strategies for any audience, in any medium.

Expertise

Content Editor (online)
14 Years
Writer
14 Years
Other, Specify
10 Years

Specialty

Business (general)
14 Years
Travel
14 Years
Technology
14 Years

Industries


Magazine - Local/Regional magazines
8 Years
Online/new media
14 Years
Nonprofit
7 Years

Total Media Industry Experience

13 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

Time Out Guidebooks (10+), San Francisco Bay Guardian (10+), San Francisco Chronicle (6-10), Frommer's Budget Travel (1-2), Military.com (1-2), Napa/Sonoma Magazine (1-2), Design For Living Magazine (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

FarmsReach (3-5), Leadership Landing (1-2), Microsoft (1-2), AccessData Group (10+), United Way of the Bay Area (10+), FirstGiving.com (6-10), Home Preferred (6-10), Astro Gaming (3-5), Astro Studios (3-5), SNP Communications (1-2), Kapow Technologies (1-2)

Other Work History

-Created and edited marketing collateral, executive communications, technical documentation and user demo guides for leading litigation software leader AccessData. Reframed corporate web presence; drafted web copy and blog posts. Authored several white papers (see writing samples). -Worked directly with CEO of Home Preferred to articulate company vision. 2008 Grand Prize Winner from a field of 60 entries, Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit Business Plan Competition. - Senior contributor to the last four editions of the Time Out: San Francisco guidebook. Authored all sections of guide and multiple 3000+ word chapters. - Developed corporate giving campaigns for United Way of the Bay Area with senior executive teams and volunteer coordinators. Presented and moderated over 100 public speaking engagements. See my LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmarkovich) for further details.

Technical Skills

Digital photographer with editing skills (Adobe, Photoshop)

Computer Skills

-Expert in Internet-based research and Internet communities, search engine technology and search marketing -Highly proficient with all MS Office applications including Word, Powerpoint and Excel -High degree of software systems knowledge

Equipment

Several laptops, desktop, wireless DSL, fax, mobile phone, digital cameras, video camera

References

Lana Holmes Founder/CEO Olive Branch Associates 707-621-4512 Lana@olivebranchassoc.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/lanaholmes Founder & CEO of three start-ups, Lana Holmes has also held COO and VP assignments with expertise in the areas of organizational development, operations, sales and business development in corporate and private businesses, consulting firms, and non-profit sector. Ms. Holmes has supervised my work on two projects. Colin Smith Director of Communications, Mac Division Apple (415) 218-7479 colins@apple.com Mentor. Helped guide WebEx Communications through its $3.2 billion acquisition by Cisco Systems, Inc. and recently joined Apple Computing to head public relations efforts for its Mac computing division

Awards

Grand Prize Winner, Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit Business Plan Competition

Showcase

Strategic Communications

BlackRock Investor Pulse
(Belljar for BlackRock Financial 2/15/2025)
Wrote script for 90-second commercial with Belljar Media for Blackrock, Inc., to highlight its push into consumer-focused, long-term savings and investment products.
The New Frontier of Data Sampling
(AccessData Group 2/15/2025)
Technical white paper written for litigation software leader AccessDataGroup. Abstract: Over 90% of business communications are now electronic, and the challenges of accessing, storing and maintaining that mass of data is no mean feat. Thanks to new developments in the once-obscure area of law known as electronic discovery, every byte has the potential to hurt an enterprise in surprising—and costly—ways. Electronic discovery, or e-discovery, will have a direct impact on any business using electronic communications and data storage, and may be involved in litigation. In other words: all business. The rapidly evolving legal requirements of e-discovery represent a perfect storm for data storage and data management in enterprises of all sizes—a storm which IT professionals ignore at their peril.
Home Preferred Business Plan
(Home Preferred 2/15/2025)
Business plan written for retail start-up Home Preferred, which was selected from a field of 60 competitors to win the Grand Prize at the 2008 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit Business Plan Competition.
Astro Gaming Executive Summary
(Astro Gaming 8/10/2008)
Executive Summary written for high-end video game peripherals design powerhouse, Astro Gaming which resulted in $3.5 million of venture funding.
VatorSplash Oakland Spotlights Tech, Oakland-Style
(Vator 2/15/2025)
Press release for Vator, an international startup competition and educational conference for entrepreneurs and investors, to announce its first Vator Splash Oakland event.

Travel Writing

White Nights, Big City
(San Francisco Bay Guardian 2/15/2025)
Brief article highlighting St. Petersburg, Russia: "Decreed a capital before it was even built, St. Petersburg, Russia, is the product of one man's obsession. Others may have gazed over a massive expanse of swampland, but when Peter the Great looked in the early years of the 18th century – intent on bringing his nation out of the Dark Ages and into the glare of a modern Europe, in the full flower of the Enlightenment – he saw his European capital."
War and Peace
(San Francisco Bay Guardian 2/15/2025)
Piece detailing travel to Belgrade, Yugoslavia: "Belgrade wears its scars like an aging soldier of fortune who strips his sleeves to point out where and how he received each wound. And there have been many: from the third century B.C. through the aftermath of the 1995 NATO air strikes, conservative estimates indicate the city, strategically located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers, has been destroyed and built anew some 40 times."

Beer, Wine and Spirits

Something's Brewing in Wine Country
(Napa/Sonoma Magazine 2/15/2025)
"Up in Wine Country, where the grape is king, a quiet revolution has been taking place. Scan the wine lists of the world's most discriminating sommeliers and right alongside Chardonnay and Pinot Noir you'll find craft beer. As burgers make their way onto upscale menus, India Pale Ales (IPAs) are edging out California Cabernets as the pairing of choice in the very heart of Wine Country"

Book Reviews

Savage Summit
(San Francisco Chronicle 2/15/2025)
Book review of Jennifer Jordan's, "Savage Summit - The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2, the World's Most Feared Mountain": "The difficulty in reading these superbly researched portraits of the first five women to summit K2 is that their raw humanity makes them frustrating people to observe. The women are finally junkies mesmerized by the romance of destruction, locked into an all-or-nothing gambit in which the specter of almost certain death becomes transmogrified into state of bliss."