Team
The Content Bureau’s core team members aren’t your average copywriters. In addition to being talented with words, most hold advanced degrees from top schools and hail from industry’s most respected consulting and technology firms. We’re not just writers, we’re businesspeople—so we understand your toughest issues and how to communicate with your most discerning readers: c-level and technical audiences.
The core Content Bureau team provides a breadth of strategy, marketing, graphic design, and editorial experience. Additional experts may contribute if specific skills or knowledge will enhance the final deliverable.
Principal
Lead Writers
Editors
Graphic Designers
Principal
Stacy Crinks founded the Content Bureau in 2000 and continues to lead the firm’s growth (occasionally sporting tiara and scepter). Prior to founding the Content Bureau, Stacy was a manager in the Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) Strategic Services practice. She previously held sales and technology project management roles with Trans Ocean/Transamerica Leasing in the shipping container leasing industry. She began her career at Publicis, a French advertising agency. Stacy received a B.A. in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from U.C. Berkeley, an M.B.A. from Wharton, and an M.A. in International Affairs/Spanish from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lead Writers
Ruth Burk is the perennial record-holder for “you rock” accolades from clients wowed by her mastery of extra-challenging projects. While she can (and does) work with content in any format, Ruth excels at transforming gnarly tech and financial services concepts into elegant thought-leadership white papers and presentations. A linchpin Content Bureau contributor since 2001, Ruth previously worked as a senior manager in Accenture’s strategy practice, as a consultant for Booz-Allen and Hamilton, and for Chevron Corporation. She received a B.S. in Accounting from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.
Clifford Carlsen brings a keen nose for news to the Content Bureau, where he translates complex technology subjects for financial audiences and identifies trends in cutting-edge technologies ahead of emerging markets. He specializes in software, telecommunications, alternative energy, and the pharmaceutical industry. Clifford most recently covered venture capital as a senior writer and web editor for The Deal LLC. He has also written for the San Francisco Business Times and The Business Journal of Portland. He earned an A.B. degree in History from Vassar College.
Lauren Gudath infuses that marcom staple, the customer case study, with such writerly flair that loyal clients know she’ll make their company—and their customers—look like prizewinners. Lauren has managed the Content Bureau’s case study projects since 2000. She also produces white papers, brochures, website copy, and most other collateral. Previously, Lauren served as the managing editor at Healthshop.com, and was a writer at Berkeley Interactive Designs, where she worked with designers and programmers to develop content-centered promotional websites. She earned a B.A. in English Literature from Reed College and an M.F.A. in Poetics from Naropa University.
Bobbie Hartman has told compelling stories about everything from footwear to software (and various other wares to boot). In each case, she distills a complicated backstory into readable and informative copy of all kinds—from long-form brochures and papers to snappy taglines. Prior to joining the Content Bureau, Bobbie served as a senior staff writer at PeopleSoft for five years, and consulted with many other companies. She earned a B.A. in Communications from the University of Oregon.
Allison Hayase is terrific with words, terrific with concepts, and terrific at collaborating with our ace designers—the perfect combination for creating killer presentations and other visually rich deliverables. Before joining the Content Bureau as PowerPoint princess in 2006, Allison ran her own management training firm, having learned the ropes as a manager in Accenture’s Communications and High Tech Strategy group. Oh, and she’s been a Japanese translator, English teacher in Japan, and high-tech engineer-slash-production supervisor, too. Allison received her B.A. in Management/Engineering from Claremont McKenna College, a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Janet Hughes leads the Content Bureau’s healthcare projects, drawing on her many years providing strategic consulting, corporate communications, and public relations for clients such as Abbott, Pfizer, AstraZenca, and various BlueCross BlueShield health plans. Senior executives turn gratefully to Janet—a veteran of Accenture’s healthcare consulting practice—for expert help in speech writing and public service campaign development, white papers and presentations, branding strategies, and even crisis communications (in short, everything but the lab work). Janet holds an M.B.A in Marketing from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Speech from Northwestern University.
Catherine Lincoln can translate arcane business concepts into crisp, clear language—and her readers (even laypeople) comprehend every word. Having served as VP of Marketing at both Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of the West, Catherine knows the territory well. In her 15 years at financial services institutions before joining the Content Bureau, Catherine illuminated the complexities of finance for both customer and internal audiences through brochures, websites, presentations, and other collateral. Catherine graduated from Bates College with a B.A. in Psychology.
Keven Smith does the near impossible with brochures, datasheets, and white papers: he makes them sing. Short and punchy or thoughtful and complex, Keven’s deliverables cut through the noise and hit the high notes. Before he joined the Content Bureau in 2005, Keven was a marketing communications writer at PeopleSoft for three years, and a technical and marketing writer at ParaSoft, a Los Angeles-area software vendor. Keven earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Southern California. And like his prose, Keven sings (tenor).
Kate Spears specializes in being a formidable generalist. Former Accenture associate partner and commercial litigator, Kate has been a Content Bureau champion since 2006. For every sort of corporate communications, Kate has yet to meet a subject she can’t write about (punk rock, perhaps?). Kate has supported teams in operations, sales, HR, finance, and technology. And the legal training has paid off: Kate’s communications—from breezy web copy to board-level presentations—are logical, forceful, and credible. She holds a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin, and a B.A. in Political Science from Marquette University.
Alicia Springer credits a checkered past in the technology, film, and publishing industries for her command of a range of prose voices—from business-analytical to consumer-chatty to just-the-facts-ma’am (and all shades in between). With over 20 years of marketing, copywriting, and PR experience prior to joining the Content Bureau in 2006, Alicia honed her corporate communications skills as a PeopleSoft senior writer. Alicia has also worked for numerous film distribution and production companies, film festivals, magazines, and museums in New York and San Francisco. She received a B.A. in Film from Wesleyan University.
Alan Stacy began his association with the Content Bureau on the client side; as Managing Editor and Publisher of PeopleSoft’s gorgeous quarterly PeopleTalk Magazine, he frequently assigned high-profile cover stories to his favorite copywriting vendor. That productive collaboration eventually led to Alan joining the Content Bureau team in 2007 as a writer and editor, specializing in the complexities of the ERP software space. Alan was PeopleSoft’s VP Communication Services before taking the helm at PeopleTalk. His CV also includes formidable experience with high-tech innovators such as Ungermann-Bass, Tandem Computers, and Sybase. Alan’s artistic alter ego as a screenwriter rounds out his portfolio of skills.
Lucy Suros is a triple-threat talent: she can write compellingly about everything from fashion to nanotechnology; her incisive editing makes her colleagues’ copy gleam; and she manages challenging projects with the grace of a surfer riding a wave (she can do that, too). A Content Bureau pillar since 2001, Lucy was formerly Director of Public Relations at Switzer Communications. She also previously held positions at various publishing, marketing, and academic organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lucy earned a B.A. in Religious Studies and Literature from Westmont College and an M.A. in Ethics from the Pacific School of Religion.
Eric Wilinski, Writer Consultant, was referred by Lisa Stonestreet, who spotted a perfect fit after expertly editing just a few of our projects. Eric has worked with words in just about every way short of hot lead typesetting. A San Francisco-based writer and editor, he has created ad copy, web copy, direct mail, case studies, and white papers for clients big and small, from individual authors to start-ups to multinational corporations, addressing both consumer and B2B audiences. In recent years, Eric has worked as a marketing writer for Google and as head of content at WetFeet, a career-information publisher. He holds a B.A. with honors in English from Dartmouth and an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from NYU.
Editors
Victoria Barbero has spent over 25 years making the sometimes trite phrase “thought leadership” mean exactly what it says. A Content Bureau editor since 2006, Victoria has polished prose, purged illogic, and boosted quality in white papers, PowerPoint presentations, and other manifestations of business braininess. Before joining the Content Bureau, Victoria served as Senior Manager in Accenture’s Strategy Communications group for nine years. Earlier, Victoria was Director of Communications for the Barents Group at KPMG and a Senior Editor at Towers Perrin. Victoria has a B.A. in English from Kent State University and an M.A. in English from Columbia University.
Nina Davis is a hawkeyed editor who can parse 400 pages of complex website copy without losing a mental link—or her uniquely droll sensibility. Before joining the Content Bureau in 2006, Nina provided editing, writing, and public relations services to high-tech clients for over a dozen years. While at Red Herring magazine, she managed and edited The Red Herring Guide to the Digital Universe (Warner, 1996) and, later, business bestseller The Internet Bubble (HarperCollins, 1999). Nina continues to write and edit pieces on emerging technology for AlwaysOn Network.
Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet possesses both business and literary cred in abundance. A Content Bureau editor since 2007, Lisa works with top-tier clients in technology, business, design, and higher education to present their ideas clearly and forcefully. As an experienced editing consultant, Lisa has helped businesspeople, journalists, novelists, and academic writers bring their visions to the page. She was founding editor and publisher of And, a 1990s Bay Area arts quarterly, and her poems have appeared in numerous magazines and journals. Lisa holds an M.F.A. from the Warren Wilson M.F.A. Program for Writers and a B.A. from Yale University.
Donna Gregory edits for the Content Bureau, but that’s a bit like saying Isaac Stern fiddled for Carnegie Hall. Donna’s a virtuoso: she teaches communications at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, was a communications consultant with McKinsey & Company for nine years, and before that served on the UCLA Writing Programs faculty. She managed McKinsey’s West Coast client communications function and co-authored its internal guidebook, On Writing Well at McKinsey. She earned a Ph.D. in English from UCLA.
Jane Irene Kelly earned her editing stripes in the business press, making even the driest, most complicated copy read like engaging prose. From meat processing to structural engineering to internal auditing, there are few subjects Jane hasn’t tackled during her 16-year career. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a former bureau chief for Adweek magazine. She also was the editorial “force” behind the 2004 redesign of Lucasfilm fanzine, Star Wars Insider. As a Content Bureau copyeditor, Jane provides the very last quality-control check before stamping “Final” on editorial projects.
Christine Kent has no trouble retaining her focused cool during those eleventh-hour final, final-final, and final3 copyedits. As an editor, writer, and journalist, she has composed and polished all types of content for technology, consumer, and corporate clients, finding just the right tone to tell the tale at hand. Chris is also an editor-in-chief at Ragan Communications, for whom she launched and continues to manage Ragan’s Media Relations Report, a national newsletter on the media and PR. Chris also served as writing manager for Blanc & Otus Public Relations. She holds a B.A. in Communications from American University.
Lisa Zuniga’s specialty is the final, drop-dead polish; no deliverable has a hair out of place, so to speak, once Lisa has signed off. A Content Bureau editor since 2000, Lisa formerly held editorial positions at HarperCollins Publishers and ACCESS Productions. Lisa is also a journalist, with clients including Northern California Home and Design, the San Francisco Business Times, and Regardie’s magazine. Lisa received a B.A. in English Literature from Vanderbilt University and an M.A. in English Literature from Georgetown University; she also studied at the University of London.
Graphic Designers
Masha Chausovsky has earned “seasoned pro” status in corporate graphic design (plus, she’s a key member of the Content Bureau’s bicoastal design tag team: they work straight through time zones to get crucial jobs done). Masha joined the Content Bureau in 2007, after eight years working with Accenture and its major alliance partners, SAP and Oracle Corporation. She has created award-winning branding and print design for major alliance events, including booth design, attendee guide booklets, presentations, web graphics, and collateral needed for each event. Masha attended Bard College and Massachusetts College of Art.
Lisa Galten brings a clean, sophisticated design aesthetic to every Content Bureau PowerPoint or layout project she manages—and a hell-or-high-water ability to deliver top-quality work in record time (see Masha C. and the tag team, above). Prior to joining the Content Bureau in 2006, she worked closely with partners and consultants for nine years at Accenture to create client and internal websites, print deliverables, and presentations. Since 2003, Lisa has also assisted various clients with corporate branding and website development. Lisa holds an M.A. in Marketing from the University of San Francisco.
Renée LaFlamme knows that adding visual punch to words and concepts makes all the difference. Since 2002, she has worked alongside Content Bureau writer consultants to develop high-impact, high-end presentations for projection and print. Renée has over 10 years of experience creating original illustrations, presentations, trade show materials, case studies, RFPs, brochures, direct mail, and other types of collateral for clients including Accenture, Deloitte and Touche, Bain and Company, and Bechtel. Renée attended Ohio State
Todd Nocera, the Content Bureau’s in-house multimedia visionary and cool guy, gives the term “eclectic” new meaning. He has worked in video, sound, web, and print for a range of clients, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Cartoon Network, RGA Interactive, Subaru, Hasbro, Mattel, Nestlé, and other heavy hitters in the advertising world. His alternate vocation as a musician keeps him busy during off-hours. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an M.A. in Music Composition from Tufts University.
Elizabeth Parent has brought a distinctively professional look to the Content Bureau’s deliverables since 2001. Liz works closely with Content Bureau writer consultants to produce high-concept presentations and graphics that nail the story at a glance. Before joining the Content Bureau, Liz was a senior graphic designer in the New York office of the Accenture Strategic Services practice. She also worked as a graphic designer for Brouillard Communications, a corporate division of J. Walter Thompson in New York. Liz received a B.F.A. with honors in Advertising and Design from Syracuse University.
Learn how the Content Bureau team, using our unique approach to writing and project management, delivers exceptional results.
