Andy Cheyne
1 Willis Court
Home Phone: (+44) 1993 831657 Personal
Date of birth: 7 June 1957 SummaryI have been a documentation professional for over seventeen years. Over this time I have produced technical literature for a very wide range of products, aimed at an equally diverse range of audiences. From this rich experience I have developed a skill for clear and accurate writing combined with a flair for the design and presentation of traditional paper manuals and electronic documents. I follow the evolution of the technology surrounding technical publications with much enthusiasm. A significant and particularly rewarding part of my career has been spent managing an expanding team of technical writers. During this time I have come to understand many of the complex aspects of motivating, coordinating and developing a documentation group in a dynamic and challenging environment. Employment History
February 1998 – Present X-CEL produces reporting and planning software for large network service providers. I am the leader of a small team which produces user documentation and whose remit is expanding to include World Wide Web responsibilities, marketing literature, and other areas of technical publications.
May 1997 – January 1998 I was engaged in writing, designing and managing an extensive set of manuals for X.400 (Messaging Services) and X.500 (Directory Services) server products which run under Unix and Windows NT. My work concentrated largely on X.500 technology. Although the manuals are intended for systems administrators, programmers and similarly technical audiences, it is important that the manuals provide a comprehensive introduction to the concepts involved. The principal tool that I used was FrameMaker on Sun UNIX workstations. I also provided much advice and assistance to the administrators of the company's Internet and Intranet services.
January 1990 - May 1997 Madge Networks specialises in local area networking products: its core technology is Token Ring, but it also extends to Ethernet, ATM and FDDI, and to products that provide interconnection between networks using these technologies. As Principal Technical Author I was responsible for establishing and managing the company's documentation group. During my time with Madge the company grew considerably: starting as the sole writer, eventually I came to be the leader of a ten-strong team. As well as writing manuals - in the main, targeted towards systems administrators - I also undertook all the tasks expected of a documentation manager, including:
Manuals were written using PageMaker and, later, FrameMaker. Corel Draw! was used for illustrations. We also wrote extensive on-line documentation, primarily using HDK to produce Windows help text. Following a reorganisation of the company, I joined the Service Division as Principal Information Technologist, with responsibility for developing and administering new channels for the distribution of technical information. In this capacity I:
All of these programmes required me to take an active part in the development of the company's service strategy, and involved close cooperation with the Marketing Department. This varied work entailed me gaining a familiarity with a wide range of tools and techniques, including HTML and Adobe Acrobat. Most of the work was performed using Windows-based PCs, although I also installed and ran servers running SCO UNIX.
October 1987 - December 1989 The main projects that I was engaged in at Norsk Data included:
I was actively involved in the introduction of desk top publishing into Norsk Data's documentation group. The tools that we used included PageMaker, Micrografx Designer and Norsk Data's Notis suite of office automation software.
February 1985 - September 1987 Solid State Logic is a leading manufacturer of audio production systems for the recording, broadcast and film industries. The manuals that I produced were intended for a highly technical audience and were designed so that each manual reflected exactly the configuration options chosen by the customer. I used TeX running under BSD UNIX on a VAX to write these manuals.
January 1984 - January 1985 I was responsible for writing and maintaining a large suite of manuals - some twenty volumes - for Telecomputing's transaction processing software, which ran on ICL and IBM mainframes.
June 1982 - December 1983 During my time with Peter de Bono I wrote manuals for a wide range of products including:
EducationBSc class 2(ii) in Physics, Imperial College, London, 1978 Five A-levels, eight O-levels Interests and ActivitiesMusic, in many forms, plays a very important part in my leisure activities, I am particularly interested in traditional music and dance: I play a number of instruments and I am the foreman of a village morris team. In addition, I am very fond of twentieth-century classical music, jazz and many aspects of popular music. I have recently taken up pétanque, and when the occasion arises I am an enthusiastic, though unaccomplished, cricketer. |