Portfolio and Services

Mick McAllister

I've been doing business as Dancing Badger Consultants for about fifteen years. My background in education and the computer industry gives me some special skills that have served me well.

I can grasp new, unfamiliar technical information quickly and explain it effectively.: I wrote my computer book The Illustrated Turbo Prolog while learning Prolog. In 2005, writing Cheesman Dam: A Century of Service for Denver Water required learning the principles of dam construction as well as historical research. Later the same year, I researched and wrote white papers on DBP (disinfection by-products) for the same client.
My exceptional research skills are applicable to any subject area.: As primary technical consultant for ALPNET, I was responsible gathering and explaining information on new technologies. I wrote white papers, led workshops, and gave public presentations to keep employees current on rapidly changing technology. I trained myself in C++, HTML, and various other technologies. While researching Cheesman Dam, I found and identified a lost manuscript and an extremely rare publication.
I respect document ownership.: As a teacher of writing, my role was to help the writer find his own voice, express her own thoughts. My editing approach is anonymous, keeping the author's style and tone. I have two favorite examples of this. The first is an essay by author Frederick Manfred that I revised and condensed for Sender of Words. Fred said it sounded like he wrote every word.
The second example is a piece of marcom I wrote for Denver Water's marketing manager. When she showed it to her boss, the boss complimented her on how well she had written it, and was dubious when informed that it was actually written by the resident intellectual. It was not my document; I was just the writer.
I put my ego in the performance, not the voice.: Corporate documentation is created anonymously and by collaboration. I take pride in balancing the need for an authentic, identifiable voice and the need to avoid personalizing the text. Part of my research process identifies the corporate voice of documents so that I can recreate it in my writing.
I have a clearly defined writing process.: With experience in every stage of information development from brainstorming to DTP and printing, I value efficient writing processes. I have a solid grasp of how to move a document through subject matter meetings to the final, management-level approval and on into production. My years as a teacher have given me the skill to communicate and manage this process. I keep documentation projects on track and deliver documents without compromising cost, schedule, or quality.

My professional writing has spanned the spectrum from APIs to general interest essays for magazines, from book reviews to original fiction and poetry. I've written successful grant applications and RFPs and managed writing teams. I've edited technical manuals, history books, collections of essays, and web pages. I've presented writing workshops to programmers, environmental engineers, and localization experts. My SEO expertise has garnered top ten listings for Dancing Badger in more than a dozen pertinent topics. If you have a project you need help with, drop me a .