• Bamboo keyboard
  • Monitor
  • URX2 UROG UCD ARCHEX CD-CCH Devlin, RN, CDX-C, AOE-L2, RL1X3, RL2X4, RL3X2, ITD, and 2011-12 UKC Rally All Star, L2 and L3. Rescued Rat Terrier

  • UCD CH URO3 Piccolo's Niall Delaney ("Neely"), CGC, RLP, RL3, AOE-L1, AOE-L2, RA, BN, CD, CD-CCH, CDX-C (also UKC Group 1; UKC Rally H.I.T. 9-13-14 and 5-31-15) Standard Poodle

Canine Sports Judge

Approved to judge all levels in United Kennel Club (UKC) Obedience and Rally. Approved to judge all levels and serve as a representative in Companion Dog Sports Program (CDSP). I compete with a standard poodle in obedience and rally, successfully finishing Utility-level titles in three venues, UKC, CDSP, and AKC. My dog has also earned more than 100 titles, rankings, and awards.

Web Pages

Web page development in WordPress for select clients and organizations. The page you're reading is in HTML, developed in Dreamweaver, and needs very little hosting space. Current WordPress sites include: St. Mary's Historic Site on Paca Street, Society of St. Sulpice, Debby Kay Detection Dog Training, and Chilbrook Labradors. Another page is for a personal project: CDSP Video.

Page Layout

Adept in layout and design in Adobe InDesign for print, ebooks, interactive PDF files, and fillable forms. Working knowledge of production, including covers, for Amazon's CreateSpace (Kindle Direct) as well as brick-and-mortar printing houses. Edit and process images and photos in Photoshop for best quality print reproduction. Cheerful, "no drama" interactions with clients and vendors.

Editing

Experienced in general copyediting (Chicago style) and medical editing (AMA style). Proponent of the "Oxford comma." Worked on major pharma projects through intermediate agencies on PowerPoint summaries, convention coverage, and targeted journal articles. Recent projects include Debby Kay's Super Sniffer Scent Games: A Guide to Having Fun With Your Dog.

Writing

Proficient in writing in a voice and style appropriate to both the material and the audience. Proven abilities in information gathering, research, interviews, presenting information in an interesting and informative way—and meeting deadlines.

Microsoft Word Wizardry

High-end formatting of Word documents that will mimic professional page layout. Forms, mail merge, and customized templates hold no mysteries for me. Writing VBA macros for large-task processing is fun and challenging.

About M·Plank

M·Plank—Marguerite—enjoys her new certification to judge at dog obedience trials. She's courteous to exhibitors and workers and offers helpful advice to new exhibitors. She receive consistently high reviews from trial hosts.

 

She still combines a love of writing and typography with technical skills to distill complex topics into interesting and easily grasped articles, and then present them in crisply formatted, printer-ready files or web pages. She has been fascinated by writing and typesetting since she began exploring the mechanics of printing at age 12 by learning the basics of hand-set type.

 

Successful as a freelance editor and layout artist since November 2006, she can help you figure out the best way to finish your current project.

Why Choose M·Plank

Scrupulous attention to detail and deadlines, Client-focused and definitely not a diva.

“Marguerite is one of the most competent, consistent, and intelligent editors I have worked with. She is responsible, gets her projects in under deadline, and brings up important points of question when appropriate. She is an ideal member of any team, and is a very motivated and responsible professional. She is a dream to work with!

“On a personal note, Marguerite is highly intelligent and always has something interesting to add to the conversation. She is also a very kind person who goes out of her way to help. I am fortunate to count her among my colleagues!”

Anne Stewart, Medical Editor (then at Tricore Inc.)

and ...

“Marguerite is the person I go to to get a job done, one time, done right, and done well. She has great suggestions when needed that are right on target with my concepts and her ideas have enhanced the final product. She is easy to work with and I would highly recommend her to all my business connections.”

Debby Kay, owner

Chilbrook Kennels LLC, K9 Scent Detection specialist

and ...

“Marguerite is more than a very good writer. She's an excellent instructional designer with strong knowledge and ability in layout. She has worked on a number of projects for us and we will continue to use her. Excellent client skills.”

Tom Held, President
MetaMedia Training International, Inc.

Top qualities: Great Results, Good Value, High Integrity

and ...

I have worked with Marguerite for some 15 years. As an editor, a quality assurance technician, a page layout master, and an MS Word black belt, Marguerite is by far one of the most reliable and quality-oriented people a project manager could ask for. Whenever I have work come in that requires a person in one her fields of expertise, I try my best to ensure that Marguerite is a resource on that project. I highly recommend Marguerite for a detail-oriented quality job, done fairly, and completed on schedule.

Matthew Grose

eLearning Project Manager and Developer

Portfolio

Key and Links
Sweet Snoopers. Online medical alert dog training program. Member site developed in WordPress and OptimizePress. Development began in Fall 2014; first session launched late Spring 2015. Sold to another vendor in 2018.
Anhydrous Ammonia Safety Program. Was writer / instructional designer on this free online safety course for farmers.
Blue Ridge K-9. Site was moved into WordPress from HTML5. Developed and maintained site from 1998 until 2018.
Roscoe Turner, Aviator's Guild Main Selection. Promotional copy for the McGraw-Hill Book Clubs.
St. Mary's Spiritual Center and Historic Site. Updates to WordPress completed in September 2015 and revised in January 2019.
Tae Kwon Do Classic Forms: Written by my teacher, Grandmaster Ted Hillson; it’s a steady seller on Amazon.com.
Chronicle of the Horse. Coverage of the Middletown (Delaware) Pony Club Horse trials, with photos I took.
Fundamentals of Korean Karate. A new book by Ted Hillson, on the building blocks of martial art practice.
Structural Steel Design, Civil Engineering Update Main Selection. Promotional copy for the McGraw-Hill Book Clubs.
Harding's All-Round Collection of Jigs, Reels and Country Dances. Facsilmile reprint with a new Foreword by Rodney Miller.
Create Your Own Virtual Reality System. Electronics Book Club Main Selection. Promotional copy for the McGraw-Hill Book Clubs.
Diabetes Alert Dog Alliance. Content development and web design in HTML5, including PHP database content and updates, and even the logo. Group later disbanded.

Clients

I have successfully completed projects for the companies below.

Click the company name to expand details.

These companies have used my services for clients that include BBraun, Genoptix, GlaxoSmithKline, Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, the Johns Hopkins University, Marriott International, NCCCR, Novartis, NovoNordisk, OPCMIA,Teva Pharmaceuticals, and USIS.

Email: mplank (at) mplank (dot) com


FREEBIE: PDF fillable form to create an ID card with contact info for your dog's car crate. (They ALWAYS ride in a crate, right?)