RHYS

HEYDEN
Writer & Reporter

SUMMARY
I have had a lifelong fascination with stories and storytellers. My ultimate goal
is to discover, delve into, and disseminate the worlds most compelling
stories in the most creative and consequential way possible.

EXPERIENCE

th

11000 NE 10 St. #254

Bellevue, WA, 98004
781.801.8799
rhysheyden@gmail.com
rhysheyden.com
http://lnkd.in/e2rSkR
@RhysHeyden

Brand Services Writing Contractor, McKinstry

Seattle, WA June 2015 to Present
I currently work as a writing contractor at McKinstry, a Seattle-based construction
firm. I am a contract worker at McKinstry via Rylem, a business consultancy. I
handle a wide variety of external and internal communications at McKinstry,
includingbut not limited todesigning and writing for the company blog,
authoring stories for McKinstry's intranet, honing storytelling and writing
techniques within the company, and revamping McKinstry's multimedia efforts.

Staff Writer, New Times

San Luis Obispo, CA May 2013 to May 2015
I was a full-time staff writer at New Times in San Luis Obispo, California.
New Times is the Central Coast's award-winning alt-weekly newspaper. I
spent most of my time researching, interviewing, and writing a multifarious
medley of news and feature stories. When not reporting, I also assisted with
copy editing, web production, and graphics.

Historical Researcher, Statens Arkiver (Danish National Archives)

Copenhagen, Denmark Oct. 2012 to Dec. 2012

Clips, links, &

references all
available upon
request

I worked part-time as a historical researcher while studying abroad. I was

paid for this position, which required me to search, photograph, annotate,
and analyze a wide variety of historical sources about the 1733 slave
insurrection on St. John (formerly the Danish West Indies).

Editorial Intern, Current Newspaper

Washington, D.C. Jan. 2012 to Aug. 2012
This internship operated through the selective SOC Deans Internship
program. I wrote articles, contributed research, blogged, and worked
extensively on web strategy, launching Currents custom WordPress-based
website. I was promoted to full-time for the summer. Current is a bi-weekly
newspaper based in D.C. covering public media.

EDUCATION
American University, Washington D.C.
B.A. in Journalism, Minor in History 2010 to 2013

Graduated magna cum laude in three years (3.88 GPA).

Inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha (selective journalism honor society).
Studied at Danish Institute for Study Abroad, Copenhagen (DIS).
Sole recipient of 2013 Academic Excellence Award in the
Communication/Media program at DIS.
Contributing Writer at The Eagle, AUs independent student paper.
Produced several award-winning student reporting projects.

SKILLS

Technological: Microsoft Office, Final Cut Pro, Audacity,

HTML/CSS, Adobe Dreamweaver, Social Media.
Journalistic: News, features, sports, multimedia platforms, copy
editing, photojournalism.
Linguistic: Professionally proficient Spanish, translation experience.
Investigative: FOIA/PRA requests, court research, data mining.