Meet Michelle

Michelle Lentz graduated from Wright State University with a degree in English and an emphasis in Technical Writing and  Speech/Theatre. She entered the industry as a technical editor for aerospace documentation. She honed her editing skills and moved into more diverse areas of industry, consulting within training and documentation for  consumer products, pharmaceuticals, software, SAP, science, and manufacturing.

Michelle has also spent a fair amount of time studying e-learning and Web 2.0. For several years, Michelle was Director of Training at Trivantis (Lectora). Her experience led to presenting at several conferences as well as countless local presentations. (View a complete list of Michelle's local and national presentations here.) In April of 2003, Michelle was certified as a PMMI Certified Trainer through the Packaging Machinery Manufacturer's Institute, the standard in packaging documentation and training.

In October 2003, Michelle decided to leave her job as an instructional designer and trainer in a manufacturing firm to start Write Technology. She recently served as Vice President of Technology for the Greater Cincinnati ASTD and is on the national planning committee for the ASTD TechKnowledge 2010 conference in Las Vegas. Michelle also functions as a founding member and Technology/PR chair for the Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship.

Michelle maintains four weblogs, including an award-winning blog on wine as well as her industry-related blog, and is over-connected in social media. Michelle is also a contributing technology writer for Brian Solis's Bub.blicio.us social economy blog.

Write Technology currently offers customized courses on everything in social media, including blogging, Twitter, personal branding, and more.

Social Networking:

LinkedIn: writetech
Twitter: writetechnology
Ning: Kevin and Michelle
Ning: Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship

Organizations/Positions Held:

• ASTD National: Planning Committee member, TechKnowledge 2010 Conference
• Greater Cincinnati ASTD: Vice President of Technology, 2007-2008
• American Marketing Association, Cincinnati Chapter: co-chair, Interactive/Word of Mouth Special Interest Group
• Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Fund: Co-Founder, Technology & PR Chair

Podcasts:

Occasionally I'm interviewed on social media for learning industry podcasts. Listen in!

01/09 The Accidental Trainer Podcast: Social Media (and Microblogging) for Business and Learning

09/08 Elearning Guild "Guildcast" Interview on Twitter for Education

Presentations:

Upcoming:

PodCamp Ohio: Creative Commons: Legally Using Other People's Stuff, 6/20/09

BlogHer '09: Food (& Wine) Blogging in a Recession, Chicago, IL, 7/24-25/09

Southwest Florida Library Network: Social Media Basics and Wikis, Fort Myers, FL, 08/24/09

The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati: Social Media Basics for Non-Profits: What, Whys, and How of Web 2.0, Cincinnati, OH, 09/15/09

Meeting Tech Fall Summit: Using Social Media for an Event Backchannel for Connection and Communication, San Francisco, 10/21-22/09

PRSA Media Day: Panel: How the Media Can Talk to Bloggers, Cincinnati, OH, 10/29/08

To Be Announced, November Conference

Delivered:

The METS Center: Get Plugged In to Social Networking panelist focusing on Social Netiquette, Northern Kentucky, 6/4/09

eLearning Guild's Using Media to Engage the Learner Online Conference, 6/4-5/09: Cool Tools: Free Web 2.0 Tools to Legally Spice Up Your Training

Kenton County Public Library Technology Series:

• Improving Your Blogging, May 14
• Intro to Twitter, May 18
• Using Creative Commons, May 28

eLearning Guild's eLearning 2.0 and Beyond Online Conference, 4/23-24/09: 140 Characters or Less: Microblogging in Learning

Cincinnati Women Bloggers, 4/25/09, Blogging: Content, Content, Content with Julie Niesen

VisionServe Alliance Conference: Managing the Non-Profit, 4/30-5/1 Keynote: Accessible Social Media for Your Non-Profit, Cincinnati, OH

Spaces of Interaction: An Online Conversation on Improving Traditional Conferences, Improving Conferences Panel, 02/20/09

The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati: Social Media Basics for Non-Profits: What, Whys, and How of Web 2.0, 02/12/09

ASTD TechKnowledge 2009, Las Vegas, NV, 01/09:

• Cool Tools: Free Web 2.0 Tools to Legally Spice Up Your Training
• 140 Characters or Less: Introduction to Microblogging
• Face to face sessions on blogging and Web 2.0

American Marketing Association, Cincinnati Chapter, Non-Profit Special Interest Group: Introduction to Blogging, 12/08

eLearning Guild DevLearn '08, San Jose, CA, 11/08:

• 140 Characters or Less: Microblogging in Education
• Breakfast Byte: Introduction to Twitter

Unconference organizer and facilitator: Wine Bloggers Conference, Sonoma, CA , 10/08

American Marketing Association, Cincinnati Chapter: Link, Tweet, Plax, or Blog? 10/08

Cincinnati iMarketing Group: Tips on Blogging, 10/08

Kenton County Public Library: Panelist, Social Media: Linked In, Blogging, and Twitter, 09/08

Cincinnati Women's Bloggers: Twitter Tips & Tweaks, 08/08

PodCamp Ohio: Small Words: The Power of Twitter, Columbus, OH, 06/08

Greater Cincinnati ASTD: Get Connected: Building Your Personal Brand with FaceBook & LinkedIn, 05/08

The Cincinnati Women's Circuit: Panelist on social media panel, Now is Gone: Did You Miss It?, 04/08

Tennessee Association of Realtors, Introduction to Web 2.0, Nashville, TN, 03/08

ASTD TechKnowledge, San Antonio, TX, 02/08:

• Using Wikis to Collaborate Across an Organization (2 sessions)
• Introduction to Open Source Software
• Face to Face sessions on Blogging

Elliot Masie's Learning 2007, Orlando, FL, 10/07:

• Blog Yes! Using Your Blog to Market Your Training Internally
• book club session on David Weinberger's Everything is Miscellaneous

Greater Cincinnati ASTD: Panel Member, ASTD TechKnowledge Review, 02/07

ASTD TechKnowledge 2007: Instructional Design Learning Lab facilitator, 4 sessions, Las Vegas, NV, 02/07

Elliot Masie’s Learning 2006: Mini-session: Compliance Training: From Boring to Not, Orlando, FL, 11/06

Greater Cincinnati ASTD eLearning Forum: More than Instructional Design Overview, 08/06

Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities: Teaching on the Web, 05/02

Cincinnati Catholic Schools In-Service: The Internet and the New Plagiarism, 10/02

NAGTAD annual conference: New Web Media/Introduction to Lectora, Ft Lauderdale, FL, 09/00