DARRELL DAWSON
COPYWRITER
FOR HIRE • FREELANCE
Columbus, Ohio • darrelldawson (at) yahoo.com
I will deliver you dynamic, clever, on-brand, goal-achieving copy for a variety of uses and formats.
I work fast (I've knocked out radio spots from conception to scripting to self-voiced recording in less than an hour) and am versatile (I do everything from tweet to write event scripts to edit magazines).
CAREER SUMMARY
The Columbus Dispatch
August 2006-July 2020
• As the copywriter in this metropolitan daily newspaper’s marketing department, I created TV and radio commercials; pre-roll web videos; print, Web and outdoor ads; social media posts; and other materials that promoted The Dispatch and affiliated publications, websites and products.
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• As an advertising special sections editor, I oversaw production of sections on behalf of such organizations as the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio (Parade of Homes magazine/guide) and Susan G. Komen Columbus (Race for the Cure program). This included writing longform articles, assigning stories, writing headlines, selecting photos and overseeing graphic design.
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• I worked with Editorial, Advertising, Circulation, Human Resources and other departmental clients to help meet their marketing needs with promotional ads and other collateral.
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• I wrote marketing campaigns, composed scripts, performed "voice of god" duties and contributed to special sections for events produced by the Dispatch Shows Group, including its spring and fall Home & Garden shows, Scholar Athlete Awards and Columbus Weddings shows.
GateHouse Media/Gannett
June 2015-July 2020
• I wrote the majority of the copy for its revamped corporate website, GateHouseMedia.com, including executive bios, “About Us” section and summaries of different commercial services.
I also edited copy for other sections of the website, including the numerous community involvement blurbs that GateHouse publications contributed to. And I wrote and helped produce “About Us” and recruitment videos featuring GateHouse’s CEO.
• In 2020, I served as the voice-over artist for eight local Best of Preps awards programs that incorporated a variety of A-list athletes, such as Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes. The GateHouse/Gannett events team partnered with ESPN to produce each streaming special.
A sample of my voice-over work on these specials may be viewed here.
• Created adaptable marketing collateral, such as print and digital ads and emails, for the relaunch of GateHouse publications’ revamped websites. These materials were customized for use by the individual websites as they relaunched.
• Concepted and wrote customizable 10-second preroll videos that promoted app awareness and print subscriptions that were used on the websites of select GateHouse properties.
Columbus Sports Publications
January 2000-August 2006
• As editor of Blue Jackets Beat, which was the official magazine of Columbus’ National Hockey League team, I oversaw a small team of freelance writers and photographers.
• I also fulfilled the roles of copy editor, graphic artist, columnist and web writer for Buckeye Sports Bulletin, a weekly magazine covering Ohio State athletics.
The Madison Press
January 1997-January 2000
• As sports editor at this daily newspaper, I organized all aspects of the sports section’s production.
ALSO NOTABLE...
• Commercials I’ve written have won a Public Relations Society of America PRism award, an Ohio Valley Regional Emmy award and an International Newspaper Marketing Association Award
• Additionally, ads I wrote were global finalists in the International Newspaper Marketing Association awards in 2010 and 2012.
• Fluent in such Adobe Creative Cloud/Suite programs as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat
• Stand-up comedian from 2009-2018
• Audience warmup act for the Ohio Lottery's "Cash Explosion" game show (2017-present)
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• Sole proprietor and operator of Yesterseason, an online vintage clothing resale store with annual sales of $40,000+
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• Graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism