Darden, Orlando, FL – (180,000 employees)
The Darden family of restaurants features some of the most recognizable and successful brands in full-service dining: Olive Garden®, LongHorn Steakhouse®, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen®, Yard House®, The Capital Grille®, Seasons 52®, Bahama Breeze® and Eddie V’s®. Darden’s people equal their success and are proud to employ more than 180,000 team members in more than 1,700 restaurants. Together, creating memorable experiences for nearly 390 million guests in hundreds of communities across North America.
Digital Content Analyst – 2019 to present
As a Digital Web Content Analyst supporting Darden’s largest brand Olive Garden and Darden.com, I have collaborated with Darden Leadership, Brand, Marketing, IT, Digital Platform, DASH, Menu Team, New Restaurant Openings Team, Account Managers, Business Partners, and cross-functional teams to launch and maintain content on the QA and live sites for 5 web experiences including English desktop and mobile, Spanish desktop and mobile, Canada desktop and OG App. Olive Garden launches have included Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Darden’s largest event – Pasta Pass. I maintain effective communication and influence between distributed teams for high volume web marketing on all Olive Garden experiences. Top 2 areas of focus include Content Management and Project Management.
- Content Management – Manage, organize, and verify content and campaign initiatives across multiple websites and media channels. Collaborate with external agencies for workflow with Digital Properties. Responsible for editing, publishing, and verifying a number of creative materials ranging from copy, images, or data files.
- Project Management – Interacted closely with individuals at all levels throughout the organization across various functions and external vendor partners to ensure accurate and timely implementation. Own and lead the identification and resolution of key issues on several digital guest touchpoints with members of the cross-functional team, vendors, agencies, and fellow interactive partners. Responsible for Work Orders, Incident tickets and CRQs, Change Request submission for DP updates, and CAB Review Board.
- Darden’s Web Content Analyst adds value by being First responders and point of contact for Digital Platform and mobile app issues; owner of issue through resolution. I serve as liaison between marketing team members and cross-functional IT resources as well as enterprise partners and subject matter experts.
- Support New Restaurant Openings by building out all required items in Oracle Business Control Center. This is a Darden Leadership priority. I ensure from a system perspective that OG NROs are ready to receive online orders on day 1. This leads to happy customers to inspire frequency and another visit, and improves overall conversion and targeted total shareholder return.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts – Digital, Orlando, FL – (74,000 employees)
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Digital (DPRD), is a division of the Walt Disney Company which creates world-class immersive digital experiences for Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Shanghai Disney Resort, Disney Cruise Line and Disney Vacation Club. DPRD is responsible for the end-to-end Guest experience for all digital-led initiatives globally, across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation and Merchandise lines of business.
Digital Producer – 2016 to 2018
As a Disney Parks and Resorts Digital Producer worked with Tech, Creative, Digital Account Managers, Business Partners, and cross-functional teams to launch and maintain content on the QA and live sites. Maintained effective communication between distributed teams for regular changes on the site as well as changes during live sites and outages. Disney Digital Producer’s work goes beyond the stated job description, and is the point of contact for any issue on the sites.
- Experienced agile Digital Producer with ability to create, edit, build and maintain websites for Walt Disney Cruise Lines, Disney Vacation Club, and backup support for Disney Springs, resulting in better user experience, ROI and brand loyalty.
- Engaged for both technical and content objectives for digital projects and services in a fast paced, deadline-driven environment with quick turnarounds, resulting in on-time deliverables within planned duration and resources.
- Led communication of daily scrum meetings to prioritize day-to-day tasks in JIRA for team and manage multiple projects, adapting to changes quickly and delivering a better ROI.
- Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge, coach peers and develop team members resulting in training 10 new digital producers in learning production tools, brand, environment and system, while proactively looking for technical solutions to implement requests in a more efficient manner.
- Built products in CMS for tastings booking on 4 Disney Cruise ships increasing online customer registrations by 100% and over $65,000.00 of revenue increases on the first day launched. Delivering new continued revenue stream for product line and service.
- Provided on rotation Technical 24/7 On-Call support, crisis messaging, problem-solving with Disney IT, call center, customer service, and operational responsibilities resulting in quicker return to service for customer and revenue for Disney.
Florida International University – Miami, FL – (10,000 employees)
College of Engineering and Computing
FIU is South Florida’s largest university, with 50,000 students, 1,100 full-time faculty and over 200,000 alumni. As the research engine of FIU, The mission of the College of Engineering and Computing is to reach preeminence in the classroom, laboratory and industry. The college pursues innovations in education, research that is interdisciplinary and leads to entrepreneurial pursuits, and stronger community and industry engagement. In 2018, the college was awarded $37 million in research grants and contracts.
Web Designer II – 1998 to 2015
As Senior Web Designer developed innovative higher education and research websites and technical designs to enhance the end-user experience by delivering high-quality products, systems and services using professional industry standards.
- Led and managed front-end web design and development and content management system for over 100 university sites.
- Provided direction for the development and implementation of school/college, key units and other web sites and interactive plans. This involved training and mentoring over 50 department personal, and students focused on best practices in information architecture, site and landing page design, content development, search engine optimization, display, mobile, and other/new digital media strategies, resulting in shared knowledge and continue development for university employees and a stronger US workforce.
- Insured accessibility, 508 standards and ADA compliance for Engineering and Computing websites resulting in better accessibility and meeting of USA guidelines and regulations.
- Created graphical elements used for all FIU Engineering and Computing managed websites and applications, including developing the styled layouts for all managed websites, design, icons, and the graphical conversion from Adobe Creative Suite to HTML/CSS/CMS.
- Ensured that all application design and styling is up to industry, state and government standards resulting in compliance with university and state regulations.
- Created wireframes, interface design, interactive prototypes, process flows and site maps to effectively communicate interaction and design ideas, resulting in better user experiences and a total online portfolio with over 1 million hits per month.
Coordinator, Computer Systems Control – 1998 to 2015
As Computer Systems Coordinator was the main point of contact for online web data and information for research divisions and engineering departments within the university. As coordinator provided technical and administrative assistance to Engineering Department staff in regards to websites and online research data. Also responsible for project coordination, maintenance and management.
- Fostered a collaborative working environment that promoted creativity and innovation through teamwork and communication. Building on the college mission of commitment to serve our students and give them every opportunity to pursue their dreams.
- Served as Brand Ambassador and ensured that web and digital activities are based on a solid brand strategy, positioning/value proposition development, and messaging to attract prospective students and constituents in support of building the FIU brand.
- Clear communication, exceptional verbal and written communication skills, strong business acumen, interpersonal skills, ability to lead and integrate web strategies with the organization’s overall vision and marketing plan.
- Worked with stakeholders and partners to define business functions of website, and implemented these requirements using innovative technologies using front end optimization techniques resulting in accurate and enjoyable user experiences.
- Able to communicate effectively with co-workers and partners in other cross-functional areas concerning policies and procedures in the area of records management, information services and data management.
Administrator, Virtual Reality Environment – 2014 to 2015
The Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure, and Sustainability, Built Environment Informatics Laboratory is equipped with cutting-edge WorldViz wall mounted Virtual Reality System and surveying technologies to facilitate teaching and research in Construction Management, Construction Education and Training, Construction Safety and Health, Project Planning and Progress Monitoring
- Designed a reconfigurable learning space that delivered the ability to adapt the environment to the needs of the faculty and the audience, resulting in better user experience for teaching and research.
- Led tours and presentations in the virtual reality environment for donors and stakeholders leading to new partnerships for the college and university.
- Virtual Reality system and sensors calibration, troubleshooting, maintenance and technical support. Ensured software and hardware updates for delivery of reliable service and classes.
Adjunct Faculty, Florida International University – 2000 to 2003
FIU belongs to the 12-campus State University System of Florida and is one of Florida’s primary graduate research universities, awarding over 3,400 graduate and professional degrees annually. The university offers 191 programs of study with more than 280 majors in 23 colleges and schools. FIU is the second-largest university in Florida, and the fourth-largest in the United States by enrollment.
- Adjunct Faculty for 3 graduate and 5 undergraduate courses in the College of Engineering and Computing, College of Architecture and the Arts, and School of Computing and Information Sciences, resulting in developing over 125 students with new technical skills.
- Led New Experimental Course on Web Development and Design with funding from Office of Naval Research Educational Innovations at FIU Grant Number: N00014-99-1-0952 Principal Investigator: Dr. Malek Adjouadi, Co-PI: Dr Armando Barreto.
- Experience leading courses in Web Design and Development, 3D Modeling for Architecture and Virtual Reality Environments in Architecture which resulted in new intra college collaborations and partnerships.
- Developed new features to organize and lead hybrid online and in person courses by identifying new methods in digital media and technologies for delivering information to student members. Ability to collaborate and deploy knowledge by leveraging multimedia technologies, such as graphics, audio, and video resulting in better student experience and grades.
Florida International University – College of Engineering and Computing, Miami, FL
Master of Science in Engineering Management – 2007 to 2011
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Business Administration, Strategic and Global Communications, Marketing Techniques and Management in a Global Environment, Technology Entrepreneurship, Usability Engineering, Total Quality Management, Organizational Design and Behavior, Change Management, Leadership, Project Management, Budget, Organization Information Systems, Data-Driven Decision Making, Negotiations, Management of Innovative Technology
Florida International University – College of Communication, Architecture and the Arts, Miami, FL
Bachelor of Fine Arts – 2004 to 1999
Visual Thinking, Electronic Art, Figure Sculpting, Figure Drawing, Entrepreneurship & Organizations, Painting, Contemporary Art, Modern Art, Art History, Humanities, Human Relations, Photography, Research, Thesis Development.
Ringling School of Art and Design – Sarasota, FL
Computer Animation, – 2005 to 1998
Concept Development, Photography, Graphic Design, Illustration, Traditional Animation, Stop-Motion Animation, Computer Animation, 3D Modeling, Development of Art and Ideas
