Portfolio | Jason Hall

A Week of Writing, May 7 to 13

13 May, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

Big news this week is that last week’s gains continue to drive writing efforts forward. The French translation of my first article for Le Magazine Azur will be complete by the week-end, and my application that won Webtech Wireless the 2012 Adoption of Technology award continues to reverberate through that company. CEO, Scott Edmonds, said, “now we can call ourselves an award-winning software company”.

Pro-EOBR Campaign Gaining Ground describes efforts by trucking associations to get the Canadian government to legislate in favour of mandatory electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs). These devices replace paper logs books that drivers use to track their hours. EOBRs are considered safer and more reliable in the industry.

Long-Term Disability: What If You’re Employer Goes Broke? is based on the federal government’s 2012 budget that includes a requirement for companies to insure their long-term disability plans.

Getting The Car Accident Trauma Help You Need is sadly based on a real-life tragedy and serves as the springboard for understanding how to deal with ICBC if you’re in a MVA.

I turned some creative writing into a movie just for fun. It was fun, but it cost money too. In my new little film, I was amused at the idea that our brains grew not to accommodate our needs, but exactly the other way around.

A Week of Writing, April 30 to May 6

6 May, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

This has been another epic week of writing for me, although some of it won’t appear online just yet. For example, I just wrote an article for Magazine Azur, but its awaiting translation to French so it won’t be published for a few more weeks.

On May 2, 2012, I attended the BCTIA Techbrew event where it was announced that Webtech Wireless was nominated for the Adoption of Technology award. I pre-wrote this blog about the event to which I updated and added photos later that night to be ready for its scheduled release at 5:40 am PST (early enough for eastern readers).

I found out that the agency that looks after Webtech Wireless’ news releases particularly mentioned the quality of the Quadrant Manager Mobile news release I wrote. I haven’t been writing a lot of their news releases, so that’s great to hear.

Stay tuned for an article in Magazine Azur (it’s written and submitted, but not yet published). Two Canadians—one English; one French—experience the trials and triumphs of travelling in the south of France. I wrote the English and my friend and fellow traveller, Sylvie Soucis, is translating it into French. “Où est le &#@* train.”

Celebrating Mental Health Week: May 7-13, 2012 describes the loopholes private insurers use to elude quite valid claims from people who pay for private insurance.

May is the Month of Motor Safety is another timely blog post based on a recent news release from the Vancouver Police Department’s announcement that it will be targeting dangerous drivers in May. I go on to warn of the dangers of entirely trusting one’s accident claim to an ICBC Adjuster. AS a public entity doing the work of a private insurer, ICBC is in an ongoing conflict of interest with every claim it settles.

I wrote an article called, Long-Term Disability Claims: A Cross-Country Check, which highlights stories across Canada affecting those with long-term disabilities. I didn’t know there was a Rick Hansen coin?

A Week of Writing, April 23 to 29

29 April, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

I’m in such a state of production, that I didn’t realize I’d written two blog posts for Webtech Wireless (our goal is one per week), so that’s why there are two.

Webtech Wireless’ InterFleet client, Ville de Québec is among seven finalists for this year’s Intelligent Community award for web savvy and innovative cities.

Quadrant Manager goes Mobile describes the latest, greatest to the Webtech Wireless suite of Quadrant products: Quadrant Manager Mobile for iPad and iPhone.

I researched a quick and wrote a quick ICBC Accident Checklist for those in British Columbia who’ve had a motor vehicle accident and need to know what to do next. There’s a downloadable version you can print and keep in your car too.

Possessive or Plural?

24 April, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

I’m building a list of real-life grammar error examples, based on my writing, researching, and reading. These examples will all make titallating class materials at BCIT or when I publish my own version of Strunk & White. The examples below focus on confusion about pluralization.

ICBC

As an insurer and issuer of driver licences, we make decisions which can have a significant impact on peoples’ lives.

Problem: People is already plural, so the apostrophe is misplaced. Also, the sentence should use that and not which as it’s restrictive. In editing, the lack of a comma is a giveaway that the writer was uncertain anyway—using which always requires a comma.

Correction:

As an insurer and issuer of driver licences, we make decisions that can have a significant impact on people’s lives.

Northwest Crane

Northwest Crane Service is an Oklahoma based crane rental company that provides crane service nationwide. Their fleet of cranes range from 80 to 660 tons and have been used in projects to solve challenges such as…

Problem: In the second sentence, the subject is fleet, which is a collective noun (therefore treated as singular). The confusion arises from the words cranes and tons (clearly plural) closer to the verb have, but the collective should prevail so it should be has. Other copy errors are indicated, (and corrected), in underscore.

Correction:

Northwest Crane Service is an Oklahoma-based crane rental company, which provides crane service nationwide. Its fleet of cranes ranges in size from 80 to 660 tons and has been used in projects to solve challenges such as…

A Week of Writing, April 16 – 22

22 April, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

As the momentum of my writing picks up, I’m called to produce ever more content with ever more speed. While not altogether abandoning my reliance on adhering to good technical writing skills, it’s really the audience that matters most, so that’s my greatest focus.

This week:

Webtech Wireless 2012 Annual Report At Webtech Wireless, we (the Marketing department) worked tirelessly with Finance to produce the 2012 Annual Report. All were concerned with proper reviews, but also in ensuring this document is readable to our Board, stakeholders, and investors.

Also at Webtech Wireless, the blog post I researched in February went live in time for the many tradeshows now occupying the lives of government snow removal fleet operators. I’m pleased the name, “Are Your Winter Fleet Contractors Worth Their Salt?” was retained.

Long-Term Disabilities Top Social Issues in Forthcoming Alberta Election for the Disability Claim Denied site looks at social issues affecting Alberta, which ever way the election goes.

A Week of Writing, April 9 – 14

15 April, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

I should preface this post with “why I love my job” to describe the diversity of things I do. Apart from writing on a diversity of subjects (see below), I’m also busy designing graphics, designing web pages, interviewing interesting people, collaborating, doing some project management, and generally being a techy good time charlie. When I hear people complain about their jobs, I am torn between sympathy and the desire to say, “then quit”.

Long-Term Planning for Long-Term Disabilities describes changes to RDSPs (Registered Disability Savings Plans) in the 2012 Federal Budget. It’s mostly good news for those with long-term disabiliteis, but otherwise off the radar of the Media.

Investment in Lean Technology Powers CP’s Success picks up on the news of the day–CP Rail is posting record profits, despite harsh winter conditions (in the West) and a low stock evaluation. Its adoption of lean technologies such as Webtech Wireless’ Quadrant solution is credited with this success.

How Provincial Budgets Affect Those with Long-term Disabilities is a simple cross-country tour describing changes to provincial budgets that affect those with long-term disabilities. I slightly favoured western provinces (because that’s where the traffic is coming from), and I’m sorry I could find nothing for Quebec.

ICBC Conflict of Interest How Could Your MVA Claim Be Compromised By ICBC’s Conflicts of Interest? describes some of the ways British Columbians are at the mercy of the Province’s auto insurer, ICBC. This is my kick-off blog post for this site.

A Week of Writing – April 1 to 8

6 April, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

It’s been a busy week and in addition to all else, here’s what I’ve written:

Province’s new mandatory pedestrian helmet law takes effect tomorrow is an April Fool’s article on the Vancouver Observer online magazine I write for. The article’s a fun romp. My friend, Ulrike, and I cruised downtown beauty salons looking for a photo op for the story. We found it. Much fun all round, although comments on the VO site indicate some people have very little experience with April Fools’ pranks.

Integrating Fleet Technology Boosts Revenue on the Webtech Wireless blog is a post based on an interview I did with Troyer Ventures’ CEO and owner. Initially, I interviewed Steve Troyer to put his company forward for this year’s BCTIA award, but the material’s so good I’ve repurposed it as a blog post and a case study for Webtech Wireless.

Disabilities And The Federal Budget on Disability Claim Denied site provides commentary on the 2012 federal budget for those with long-term disabilities. I write a weekly blog on long-term disabilities and soon will also writing for them on ICBC claims. Lots of research goes into these little posts.

History of GPS Devices is a fun spoof on GPS and other wireless technologies. I wondered how AVL (automated vehicle location) and GPS (global positioning system) technologies might have helped explorers in centuries past. It’s just fun based on my work in the industry and my love of history.

History of GPS Devices

1 April, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

Since working at Webtech Wireless, I’ve starting getting an idea of how transformative location-based GPS-powered technology can be to our future once everyone adopts it into their everyday lives.

Take for example, your public library. No longer would a librarian passively wait for borrowed books to be returned and then issue fines. Every librarian could take an active part in repossessing books, because each book would have its own GPS device installed. With just a little help from satellites and small fire arms, a librarian could then find and repossess books from forgetful borrowers?

Moral drawn from this short film clip: Return your library books and nobody gets hurt.

But enough of the mundane future. What about the past? The past is full of great missed AVL/GPS opportunities. How would the Age of Exploration be transformed by GPS?

No more “Let’s try around the next shark infested cape for the route to Cathay, or the Fountain of Youth, or Name-Your-Spice Island” anymore. A Magellan or Columbus could toss his outdated sextants and ridiculous astrolabes overboard and, instead, boot up his GPS device.

Voíla! With affordable on-board communications, he could easily navigate around monsoons, plot a route to India, or get the upper hand on Malacca pirates. As a leader in bringing state-of-the-art GPS tracking and cellular solutions to small vassal states, he could add to the riches of his king and/or patron. And through communication among enterprise-level fleets, he would be able to offer just-in-time delivery of gold, tobacco, slaves, and beaver pelts on time and under budget.

thar be monsters !

How Much Graphic’s Experience Do You Need?

29 March, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

As a freelance writer, how much graphic experience do you need?

Writers often find themselves involved in the visual components of their writing. This can range from making aesthetic choices for a document to sub contracting a graphic designer to taking a DYI approach and creating graphics themselves.

These days, things are a lot more visual as everything moves online where people tend to even read visually—scanning, foraging, and generally jumping around compared with more traditional linear reading styles.

I just edited a blog post for Webtech Wireless, one of my main clients, and apart from having to revise the text on an image, I designed to improve the overall look and feel of the image. So, not really a functional improve, just an aesthetic call to improve the overall look and feel of a very technical article.

Original

I didn’t have the source for this image—it was just pasted as an Excel® chart in Word®. I find that most graphics created in Microsoft programs look really clunky and, well let’s just face it, nerdy.

Original Excel graphic

Revised

To revise the original, I started from scratch and redrew the content in Adobe Illustrator. I didn’t intend to go quite this far, but one thing led to another and pretty soon I’d built up these dreamy layers of gradients, Gaussian blurs, reflections, and transparencies. I think I’d go for some Jell-O salad now.

Revised graphic in Adobe Illustrator

In the end, a lot of technical material was rendered a little more, er, palatable with an eye-popping image. Read the article…

Making a Difference

27 March, 2012 / Jason Hall / No comments

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your instruction and guidance in class.
Having teachers who have a passion for what they teach makes the difference.”
–Joe Coll, Technical Writer, Ballard Power

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