Thomas R. Stone
Rochester, New York
Email: trsmail (at) rochester.rr.com
Twitter: @ThomasStone
Website: www.ThomasRyanStone.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomrstone

Introduction: I am currently employed in a unique role as a learning and development evangelist at Element K, where I have been employed for the past 10+ years. I am always interested in hearing about great opportunities with great organizations, specifically in the areas of learning and development and talent management, and specifically in roles involving research, evangelism, and/or marketing (esp. social media marketing).

Relevant Work Experience

Product Design Architect at Element K (2007 - present)

In this unique role at Element K, my primary duties have evolved to focus on evangelism and thought leadership in the form of being a:

• Passionate and Articulate Speaker. I frequently give presentations at industry conferences, industry trade groups, customer locations, etc., as well as online events such as webinars and virtual conferences. See the list of my presentations at conferences and webinars, which includes such groups as the American Society for Training Development, the eLearning Guild, Training Magazine conferences, the Society for Applied Learning Technologies, TrainingIndustry.com, and more.
• Thought Leadership Writer. I am the creator and author of Element K Blog, the company's corporate blog. This covers a range of Learning and Development topics, industry analysis, and more. I have also written several whitepapers on cutting edge Learning and Development topics, such as Social Learning and Mobile Learning. A selection of my whitepapers includes:
  • Enterprise Mobile Learning and Development: A Guide for CLOs and Training managers
  • Blending Web 2.0 Technologies with Traditional Formal Learning: A Guide for CLOs and Training Managers
  • Web 2.0 and Social Learning Best Practices: 100+ Tips on the Use of Blogs, Forums, and Wikis in Organizations
• Products and Services Evangelist. In this soft-marketing role, I promote Element K's learning solutions in support of the Sales team's engagements with our enterprise customers. This includes giving both virtual and on-site presentations on a range of topics, but specializing in cutting edge areas such as Social Learning and Mobile Learning.
• Marketing Writer. I am the creator and author of the extensive monthly Element K News customer newsletter.
• Social Media Marketer. I have taken a lead role in promoting the use of social media for marketing and customer communications at Element K. In addition to common social media tools, this has also included creating a social networking community for select customers.
• Innovation Instigator. Through identification of market trends, competitive analysis, and more, I author internal reports for senior leadership and product development groups, that suggest new directions for products and services. These reports serve as inputs to Element K's long-term strategic product development planning.

Senior Instructional Designer / Content Developer at Element K (1999-2007)

Primary duties included authoring, storyboarding, and reviewing content used for both e-Learning tutorials and traditional ILT (print) courseware. I used a broad range of authoring tools and content management systems (CMS), including both industry standard rapid development tools and proprietary Element K tools. I successfully completed numerous projects on time and within budget, with my areas of emphasis generally being technical content such as Web development technologies, programming, XML, etc.

Notable other responsibilities and achievements included:

• Manager. For one year during this timespan I managed a team of Instructional Designers. My responsibilities included, but were not limited to:
• Directly managing a team of 13, and co-managing the complete team of 26.
• Planning projects with the product management team.
• Documenting the use of the XML-based tools, processes, instructional design model, and other aspects of the job role.
• Teaming with other functional managers to constantly improve the efficiency of our production process.
• Trainer. As a senior member of the team, I very often was asked to train new hires in the tools and processes involved in the Instructional Designer role. This included developing the training materials, and then delivering the training, typically as 1-3 day Instructor Led Training (ILT) classes, but also including some Virtual Classroom instruction.
• Coaching / Mentoring. As a senior member of the team, I very often was assigned as a coach or mentor for junior members of the group.
• Virtual Instructor. For several years I was also a virtual instructor, as part of the e-ILT program, on a range of technical (web development, programming) topics. This involved giving weekly live sessions, monitoring class discussion forums, and reviewing student assignments.

Independent Web Development Consultant (1997 - 2001)

The services I provided to clients included:

• Full cycle Web development, including customer/client needs-analysis.
• Usability design.
• Web programming and content development.
• Database design and web implementation.
• Website marketing, search engine optimization, etc.
• Testing (e.g., cross-browser implementations), deployment, and ongoing maintenance.
• Customer/client training as necessary.
• Web log reporting and detailed traffic analysis.

Professional Organizations

• American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)
• Genesee Valley chapter of ASTD
• Board of Directors, VP of Social Media (2010- )
• The eLearning Guild

Formal Education

• B.A. in Philosophy, University of Rochester, GPA = 3.75 out of 4.00
  • B.A. with Highest Honors (Top of class, GPA in Philosophy = 3.94 out of 4.00)
  • Gold Key Honor Society
  • Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
• Graduate Program in Philosophy (one year), Ohio State University, GPA = 4.00 out of 4.00
  • University Fellowship
  • Institute for Humane Studies Fellowship

Non-Technical Strengths

• Quick learner
• Passionate and articulate public speaking (see speaking history)
• Clear writing
• Effective personal communicator
• Teaching/training/coaching
• Ability to work effectively with or without strict deadlines
• Highly organized (GTD practitioner)
• Analytical and logical analysis
• Industry research

Significant Additional Projects

Over the years I have undertaken a number of significant projects outside of my professional work. Here are three:

• EpistemeLinks.com: Launched in 1997, EpistemeLinks.com since that time has been one of the most significant and popular philosophy resource sites on the Internet. It is entirely database-driven, using ASP.NET and C# to provide a rich interface for researchers to over 18,000 categorized resources. Although not currently being updated, it continues to be widely used by university professors, students, and others interested in the subject of the philosophy.
   
• Frontier Experience or Epistolary Sesquipedalian Lexiphanicism from the Occident, by J.E.L. Seneker: I re-published this 1906 book through Lulu.com (available at Amazon.com). For more information, visit the book's website at www.sesquipedalian-lexiphanicism.com
   
• Baseball writing: I am a blog author at the baseball blog site Seamheads.com, and am currently writing a book on the subject of Baseball All-Time Teams. Related to this, I am also a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

References

Available upon request.