Experience Profile of Joe Watts

Overview:

My experience includes project and program management, website design and maintenance, writing, editing and print design. I have a particular interest in promoting ecologically sound tourism practices and provide tourism consulting, eco-tourism promotion and cooperation, historical/heritage tourism promotion and scenic byways program promotion and management to select clients. I have experience working as a staff writer/editor finding ways to best utilize advertising pieces that attempt to influence editorial content and as a consultant working with media professionals to push client-driven messages.

Primary objectives when working with clients include producing materials that provide a strong brand and leave the targeted market with a better, more positive understanding of the client.

Watts Consulting provides graphic and website design services for non-profit and for-profit companies with a focus on nature-based tourism, natural resource conservation and development and community planning based organizations. Other areas include working with the tourism industry in general and working on emerging concepts in traveler-oriented wayfinding. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Watts Consulting provides services in the Southeast, primarily in Alabama and several surrounding southern states.

Coordinate work done to promote the Alabama Scenic Byways Program, develop initial marketing plan, encourage local community participation, assist in organization of Corridor Advocacy Groups (CAG's) and develop marketing and promotional materials related to the state scenic byways program. Speak at meetings (ranging from under 10 to over 100 participants) throughout the state on the merits of the program. Manage project work from independent planning firm HNTB. Write grants; currently a total of well over $500,000 has been secured for byways projects in Alabama from Federal Highway Administration funds.

Coordinated work done by consultant TEI Engineers and Planners, Inc. with RPC and with the Alabama Department of Transportation. Organized and led group meetings, built consensus and provided guidance in the overall development of the Scenic Byways Program Manual.

Coordinated inventory of scenic roadways produced by all twelve regional planning agencies; finalized report; worked with political officials, state agencies, individuals and nonprofit groups to generate interest and awareness of project.

Wrote draft state legislation creating the Alabama scenic byways program, worked with state legislators to pass byways-oriented legislation. Oversaw statewide operations including policy work, program development, public speaking, fundraising, grant writing, political lobbying and operations.

Wrote articles concentrating on healthy lifestyles, researched story ideas, edited recipes for consistency and clarity, developed recipes, developed, wrote and edited a menu planner focusing on nutrition for each issue and represented the magazine at national conferences.

Wrote and edited articles, conducted phone interviews, developed and edited recipes, assisted with reader phone calls, attended photography sessions, participated in taste-testing, and helped organize a photography exhibition of Southern photographers with Southern Accents and The Birmingham Museum of Art.

1992-1997. Thesis option degree.

1988-1991. Completed four year program in 3 years.

1999. Completed an intensive 3 day workshop held at Camp McDowell, Alabama on planning and smart growth in Alabama communities.

2002. Intensive 4-day workshop held in Stephens Point, Wisconsin on signage and general interpretation for tourism impact and usability, particularly as interpretation relates to scenic byway designation.

2003. Intensive 3-day workshop held in Charlotte, North Carolina on scenic byways management practices, from corridor management planning to facilitating group meetings and understanding intrinsic resources.

2007. Completed a 2-day workshop held in Birmingham, Alabama concentrating on Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom and Digital Photography workflow and manipulation.

2008. One day workshop targeting the growing interest in helping tourists find their way with websites, signs, maps and guides. In addition to attending the workshop, I worked with the Alabama Department of Transportation to organize and develop the agenda.

I've worked extensively with the following software:

Adobe Dreamweaver, from Macromedia's version 2.0 through Adobe's CS4
Adobe Photoshop, from version 4.0 through CS4
Adobe Fireworks, from version 1.0 through CS4
QuarkXpress, from version 3.2 through 6.5
Adobe InDesign, from version 1 through CS4
Adobe Illustrator, from version 7 through CS4
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, from Beta 1.0 through 2.0
Adobe Acrobat, from 3.0 through version 9

I also have experience with the following programs: Microsoft Office suite including PowerPoint, Word, Excel. Apple's Keynote, and limited experience with current versions of WordPerfect. I have experience using Adobe Flash and several components for Flash (notably the popular component Slideshow Pro) and experience using PHP and MySQL. I use Movable Type for my personal blog and also for several client websites. Oh, and I've just ordered the latest Adobe product, Design Premium CS4, that includes brand new versions of all the Adobe products listed above.