Charles Hodgkins

At Large

Western North America; New Zealand

A willful, active hiatus from the professional world

• Covered New Zealand like a blanket during a five-week visit
• Ideated, orchestrated, and executed a move from Los Angeles to California's Central Coast
• Hiked 1000-plus miles up 155,000 vertical feet (cumulatively, not at once) — everywhere from California to Colorado, New Mexico to New Zealand
• Published several new photo narratives on Travels with Charles
• Enjoyed the odd lazy afternoon

Principal Copywriter / Product Content Manager

PandaDoc

Product voice architect for global document software company

• Developed, advocated, and maintained voice and appropriate tonality of product throughout all stages of customer experience
• Composed clear, concise copy to help smooth the ride for customers across entire product spectrum: signup flows, activation and onboarding, growth initiatives, product upgrades, transactional emails, and much more
• Created and continually refined UX copy style guide
• Edited and proofread content written by colleagues: Help Center articles, sales reports, video scripts, and user interview templates
• Collaborated closely with product design, product management, product marketing, and senior management teams
• Voluntarily contributed marketing copy, such as newsletters, blog posts, launch emails, etc.
• Gamely bridged cultural gaps between Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian, Portuguese, Floridian, and Californian colleagues

Senior Copywriter / Newsletter Content Manager

Healthline

Marketing/UX writer and newsletter editor for leading health content provider

• Curated, wrote, and produced up to 60 newsletters each month for two million subscribers
• Composed UX copy for mobile apps and Web
• Helped define and introduce new brand identity and voice, in collaboration with senior management and marketing, product, and design teams
• Ensured consistent voice in messaging across all touchpoints, from email campaigns and SEO meta descriptions to landing pages, native ads, even office signage
• Developed content strategies for new and existing newsletters, plus email campaigns
• Managed newsletter content calendar for publications on nutrition, wellness, multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, and other conditions
• Tracked and reported monthly performance data for all newsletters

Deputy Managing Editor

iVillage

Editor, content producer, and editorial staff manager for lifestyle website

• Managed 20 writers, editors, and translators
• Maintained editorial calendar up to three months in advance
• Curated and produced weekly email campaigns
• Edited and produced feature articles, short pieces, marketing copy, as well as editorial and marketing newsletters

Travel Author / Contributor

Rough Guides

Writer and researcher for celebrated travel guidebook and content publisher

• Author of Pocket Rough Guide: San Francisco, 1st Edition (published 2014)
• Author of Pocket Rough Guide: San Francisco, 2nd Edition (published 2016)
• Co-author of / contributor to eight other titles, including The Rough Guide to California (2011, 2014), The USA (2009, 2011, 2014), San Francisco & the Bay Area (2009, 2012), and Yellowstone & Grand Teton (2011)
• Author of several features for Roughguides.com

Founder / Editor in Chief

Burritoeater

Creator, producer, and author of "San Francisco's top resource for taquerias and mustaches"

• Conceptualized direction, voice, and scope of website from pre-launch to final bite
• Built and maintained comprehensive data directory about every local taqueria
• Wrote 1000 detailed burrito reviews (it's true)
• Reviewed several taquerias each month for Intestinal Apocalypse newsletter
• Appeared on Cooking Channel's United Tastes of America and KALW San Francisco's Crosscurrents; quoted in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe; featured in San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, San Francisco Examiner, Gelf Magazine, and on countless Web media outlets
• (In)famously anointed as "the patron saint of San Francisco taquerias" by one brassy local media source

Food Writer / Content Editor

ChefsBest

Articulator of competition results for food-judging forum

• Wrote and edited nearly two hundred 400-word "quality definitions" for a wide-ranging lineup of everyday, best-in-class grocery foods
• Edited feature articles written by chefs and other culinary experts
• Performed QA and HTML coding leading up to site launch

Senior Editor

MP3.com at CNET

Content writer and producer for high-profile music website

• Pitched, researched, wrote, edited, and produced dozens of feature stories, artist profiles, and album reviews
• Performed daily QA on staging site's front page
• Learned the sacrosanct value of the Rule of Threes when compiling lists

Senior Editor

Listen.com (later Rhapsody and Napster)

Editorial department leader for meteoric online music company

• Managed staff of writers
• Edited and wrote capsule artist reviews and weekly feature pieces
• Helped supervise growth to 30 editors and writers (from less than 10) in under one year
• Contributed weekly column, Hodge's Corner, to newsletter

Writer / Editor / Content Strategist and Producer

Exploding Head Trick Productions

Peculiarly named vehicle for contract and freelance work

• Handle creative projects for an array of clients: Audible Treats Public Relations, KGO-TV, Crescent Heights Real Estate, All Music Guide, Noise Pop, Charles Krug Winery, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and many others

Bachelor of Arts, Literature

University of California, Berkeley

Emphasis: 20th century American literature
Thesis: The Crazy Quilt: The Language of Music and Musicality of Language in the Works of Toni Morrison
Activities: Telegraph Avenue record stores, mainly — initially as a customer (Amoeba, Tower), eventually as an employee (Tower)