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Hi there, I'm Eli. I am an award-winning Chicago-based writer and editor who has covered a wide variety of subjects. My passion is to tell stories and share information in interesting ways.
With experience working for a variety of publications and organizations, including daily and weekly newspapers, large corporations, content marketing firms, professional sports franchises, world-class universities and political campaigns, I have seen many different sides of the communications industry. Because of my time spent in a variety of working environments, I am comfortable working under the pressures of deadline and handling multiple assignments or dealing with several clients simultaneously. The same comfort applies to interviewing sources, overseeing communications initiatives, managing editorial calendars, copyediting text and fact-checking information—all vital aspects of communications. My journalism career began working on the sports desk at a newspaper before moving on to writing on the topic. I believe that covering sports is about more than just recapping who won and lost inside the lines of the playing field. Besides standard news stories, game previews and recaps, I have written obituaries on fallen players, legal stories about athletes who have run into trouble with the law, medical pieces following serious injuries, historical looks at past games and players, business stories about lockouts and contract negotiations, features that offer an inside look at game plans and strategy, health stories on players' diets, even fashion profiles about the gear and clothing athletes wear. All of them fall under the header of sports, but really, they are much more than that. They connect readers to the subject they love, but with a new twist. Using traditional reporting skills combined with a passion for the topic allowed me to really connect with readers on a variety of sports-related topics. These days, I write less about athletics, but I take the approach and skills I gained writing about players and coaches to other topics. In content marketing, corporate communications, education writing and public relations, understanding subject matter is vital. Gathering relevant supporting information, using SEO best practices, speaking with subject matter experts, and understanding the perspective of the organization I'm writing for allows me to cover fields such as finance, information technology and higher education for some of the biggest names in those respective industries. These tactics have allowed me to write countless blog articles, white papers, press releases, video scripts, case studies and other types of communication on topics ranging from pharmaceutical manufacturing to robotics to the impact the Federal Reserve has on home mortgage rates. To create a great piece of written work, it is also important to have knowledgeable and helpful copy editors and proofreaders. I have a great amount of experience in those roles as well, reviewing and fixing all sorts of copy to meet AP and specific style standards. This includes looking over copy, headlines, subheads, photo captions and other written content for correct style, consistency, and proper spelling and grammar. Partnering with others is something that I love about communications. I enjoy working with a team, and believe the best work comes when multiple people contribute. Collaborative efforts have helped produce some of the content I am most proud of during my career, including award-winning articles. Understanding data and statistics has been beneficial throughout my career. This first applied to sports, where numbers have become more a part of the daily conversation of which players, coaches and teams are most effective. Translating the numbers to writing, so that it makes sense to readers, is a skill I have worked on since the beginning of my career. Knowledge of data and analytics has since been applied to other areas of communications, where an understanding of how to share information and engage readers has been a tool I’ve used often in my writing and editing. In conjunction with communications, I have also spent a great amount of time using and understanding social media to break news, gather information and connect with readers. From sending out links via Twitter to weekly chats with Facebook fans to highlighting photos via Instagram to sharing my thoughts on video or radio shows/podcasts, my knowledge of the ever-changing digital world is expansive and can be an asset to any publication or company. Outside of communications, I work as a Wrigley Field seat vendor, selling concessions at Chicago Cubs home games. |
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