September 2005 – Web version    

Consulting by Debbie Wolfe

Dear interested editor and/or faculty member,

     Yes, I do consulting regarding technology training, course/program design and project management for news organizations and academic institutions. More details about the sessions I offer are listed further down on this Web page.

     I am considered one of the pioneers of “computer-assisted reporting” by many and I am the first full-time technology trainer in a newsroom, worldwide. I’ve been a professional journalist since 1978 and have two journalism/mass communication degrees: B.A., 1978, Michigan State University; M.A., 1989, University of South Florida, summa cum laude. My career includes 7-1/2 years of teaching and directing college-level journalism courses in addition to 15 years of teaching working journalists. Currently, I am the technology training editor at the St. Petersburg Times, in St. Petersburg, Fla., USA.

     My per diem fee is negotiable and is dependent on several factors like:

     Expenses are in addition to the fee. A bonus: My fee is the same whether I’m doing one-on-one coaching or group training. My technology training trademarks are:

For further information regarding my consulting sessions (content and costs), here’s my initial contact information:

Debbie Wolfe      e-mail: dpwolfe@yahoo.com

My work contact information is: Debbie Wolfe, Technology Training Editor, St. Petersburg Times, 490 First Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida USA  33701 --  phone: 727-893-8111, ext. 2919

Note: My full resume and detailed contact information are available on my FREE technology training CD-ROM. File name = DeborahPWolfe.doc For a copy of the CD, e-mail me your request and professional contact information for verification. Shipping to foreign countries has, at times, been problematic so be sure to include your complete surface mailing address in English. If you like, I am happy to e-mail you my resume as an e-mail attachment.

Nuts and Bolts:

Since 1989, I’ve worked full-time at the St. Petersburg Times and have been the owner of my own business called, “Consulting by Debbie Wolfe.” I specialize in training journalists to effectively use, analyze and teach technology on deadline. The industry calls analyzing or researching electronic public records "computer-assisted reporting," "computer-assisted research" or CAR. I am also the author of TECH TIPS, a FREE and periodic e-mail column about the "tips, tricks and traps" of technology training in newsrooms. To find out more or subscribe, check out my TECH TIPS archive page.

Sample consulting sessions:

“train-the-trainers” (1) creating technology training lesson plans that work; (2) writing/illustrating technical tip sheets that appeal to and are used by adult learners ... using common software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Photo Editor (comes with many Microsoft Office suites); (3) the craft of teaching -- organization and presentation techniques for classroom and hands-on lab environments; (4) creating self-paced, Web-based learning modules suitable for use on your newsroom's intranet using common software like Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft FrontPage.

management sessions (1) measurement techniques for technical training; (2) techniques for developing and maintaining an ongoing and flexible in-house technical training program that is sized for your news organization and meets the needs of your staff; (3) project management techniques for publication or broadcast for assignment editors or producers

hands-on technical training (1) Excel levels I – V (spreadsheets) ... techniques for "interviewing the data" to find your own patterns in the data rather than accepting the viewpoint of public officials; crafting stronger interview questions for sources or story ideas for publication/broadcast; downloading data from the internet; cleaning data; charting data for field interviews and the news report (2) Access levels I and II (relational databases) ... for "interviewing" larger and more complex data sets than what Excel can handle; (3) advanced searching techniques for the World Wide Web to locate background information and fresh interview sources -- people finding; (4) locating and downloading public records from the Web for use in Excel or Access; (5) taming Acrobat Reader data tables for use in Excel without buying specialty software ... includes advanced data cleaning techniques in Windows Notepad and Microsoft Word; (6) searching the so-called hidden Web -- finding information not indexed by general search engines like Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc.; (7) writing FOIA or public records requests for electronic data.

Client list includes: