Mai J. Dinh

OVERVIEW

• Writer / Editor – Bring strong sense of news judgment. Able to manage and inspire writers, editors and freelancers. Cultivate new talent and mentor new graduates.
• Content Strategy – Establish updating standards and workflow procedures for editorial, photo and design. Ensure products are seamlessly integrated and regularly updated with relevant content on all platforms.
• Product Development – Weigh priorities from management, editorial and sales to craft products that satisfy key stakeholders’ goals and vision. Assess metrics pre- and post-launch with analytics and project teams to identify areas of improvement 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

West Parent Teacher Council (PTC), New Canaan, CT | September 2022 - present
Co-editor of weekly e-newsletter, Friday Folder

• Created e-newsletter template in Membership Toolkit when PTC migrated off Constant Contact platform
• Edit, write/re-write and fact-check news items collected from the PTC, school administration, local organizations and businesses for the e-newsletter 
• Create simple graphics to accompany news items to help busy parents digest information in a glance  
• Ensure e-newsletter is distributed to 600+ parent subscribers on time and provide a look ahead and roundup of community news 

Media Center volunteer, September 2021 to present 

• Check out and check in library materials in order for books and magazines to be correctly tracked
• Reshelve books and magazines to keep media center organized and appropriately stocked

withlovemai.com, New York, NY | May 2013 - March 2017
Creator / Blogger

Redefining Realness Book Launch, Telecommute | Sept 2013 – March 2014 
Senior Campaign Manager / Art Director / Project Manager 

• One of three chief strategists for Redefining Realness book launch, which debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list at #19 
• Developed micro-campaigns to leverage author Janet Mock’s social presence including a series of review quote graphics shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr; setup of IAmRedefiningRealness.com story sharing Tumblr site; created book tour graphics and made ongoing updates with new dates
• Acted as Art Director reviewing all digital and print marketing materials; assigned projects, reviewed designs for consistent branding and managed volunteer graphic designers located across the U.S. 
• Established deadlines and workflow systems as Project Manager to track assigned tasks and collect work from volunteers 
• Live-tweeted events with #RedefiningRealness to increase awareness and ensure robust content for retweeting 

PEOPLE.com, New York, NY | Aug 2007 – May 2013
Product Director / Senior Editor

• Led live event red carpet coverage across platforms that increased inbound social traffic, reduced homepage bounce rates and provided social touch points for second screen audiences
• Spearheaded desktop redesigns of Homepage and Article pages, which reach 13 million UVs, and launched Red Carpet Spotlight section that features Style 360, Most Loved Looks and Trend Report
• Created user-generated photo campaign Real Beauty at Every Age, which produced more than 4MM “hearts”, 214K votes, 17K  and 13K social interactions (Facebook, Twitter, Google+). Digital readers voted on finalists who were featured in the magazine and online 
• Oversaw real-time Oscar-night trivia game optimized for tablets, and incorporated Facebook login and social leaderboard. Hired freelance staff that produced 600 trivia questions and photos, and directed live content publishing to sync with telecast. Interactive game was sponsored by Sprint in 2011 and Tiffany in 2012
• Executed series of social stunts, including “Sexy Men, Sexy Moves” animated gifs for Tumblr, Royal Stamp app on Facebook, “Funny Is the NEW Sexy” videos on YouTube with more than 500K views, “Sexiest Man Alive on Facebook” campaign that increased LIKEs from 23K to nearly 1MM in seven months
• Launched casual gaming section, which expanded video ad inventory and introduced interactive content delivery. Lead editorial effort to create five original online games and managed staff that researched more than 500 questions for July 2008 launch. 
• Created online archive with 35 years of PEOPLE magazine content in May 2008. Managed freelance staff and outsourced resources in India. Successfully launched section, which was stalled for three years, while juggling games channel launch
• Directed creation and launch of celebrity database. Hired and managed a staff of 20 freelancers. Celebrity pages secured first-page SEO placement for Google search results and generated 70 million PVs/month on PEOPLE.com 

LA.com, Los Angeles, CA | July 2003 – May 2007
Co-Editor-in-Chief / Managing Editor / Senior Editor / Editorial Producer

• Wrote requirements for content management system that improved usability for producers and content tagging 
• Determined columns and franchises for the gossip blog and categories in the city guide 
• Balanced $5K monthly freelance budget, processed invoices, trained and hired new employees 
• Assigned stories and photography, oversaw workflow and deadlines, and developed functionality enhancements  
• Helped plan LA.com launch with technical and design teams
• Wrote and edited first weekly e-newsletter before launching subsequent e-newsletters for all sections of site                                                                

Variety.com, Los Angeles, CA | April 2003 – July 2003
Web Editor

• Championed online edition to print editors and offered digital content to enhance print stories
• Developed strategies to integrate print and online content and encouraged communication

Media News Group, Los Angeles, CA | Aug 2000 – April 2003 
Content Developer for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group

• Created a content strategy for an entertainment portal for the L.A. Daily News and its sister newspaper websites, managing development teams pre- and post-launch
• Launched special sections such as Lakers, elections and red carpet to aggregate content from eight newspaper websites in order to streamline production and leverage related news

EDUCATION
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bachelor of Science in Journalism | May 2000