Currently doing a PhD in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics (see below)

Summary / Academic Publication / Employment History / Education and Training / Technology skills

Summary of Skills and Experience

Academic Research (see here for full details)

• Currently researching a thesis on the practice of personal weblogging in the UK
• Wrote two book chapters, one on MySpace profile production and one on the relationship personal webloggers have with their readers.
• Co-authored a report "Meeting Their Potential: The Role of Education and Technology in Overcoming Disadvantage and Disaffection in Young People", contributed to "Harm and Offence in Media Content: A Review of the Evidence" and produced entries in three encyclopedias.

Education & training

• Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Media department at the LSE teaching media theory and the internet and globalization to seminar groups of MSc students (2004/5). Also designer and leader of an advanced Internet research methods workshop (2006- present).
• Associate lecturer for the MA in Journalism and the BA in Media and Cultural Studies at the London College of Communication (2003/4)
• Associate lecturer for "You, Your Computer and the Internet" at the Open University in 2000
• Speaker at workshops aimed at SMEs and non-profits for New Media Knowledge on virtual community management and on effective search engine use.
  

Research, editing and writing on technology for business and consumer audiences

• Wrote Dealing with E-mail, for Dorling Kindersley's Essential Managers Series and wrote the 'mass media' entry in their 2006 encyclopaedia, Human.
• Wrote, edited and commissioned stories about science, technology and Internet issues for 15 years in a variety of online and print publications including The Daily Telegraph, BBC News Online, Which?, Salon.com and New Scientist.
• Produced an online consumer guide to Internet use for The Net magazine.
• A research associate for the iSociety project at The Work Foundation.
• Links to a selection of my articles are here.

Strategic consulting and management of Internet and Interactive TV ventures

• Designed the virtual community for the six websites run by Network of the World - a broadband news and entertainment site
• Oversaw the construction, launch and development of newscientist.com and newsscape.net.
• Designed the on-screen help system for NTL's interactive TV.

Helping non-profits and the public sector use Internet technologies effectively

• Reported for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Office of the e-Envoy on the use of the Internet by voluntary organizations and housing associations.
• Addressed conferences for local and national government on virtual community building and web design.
• Wrote a MSc dissertation on Factors shaping the political use of the Internet among UK activists

Creating and maintaining healthy virtual communities to meet business goals

• Was in charge of the specification, development and maintenance of six virtual communities at Network of the World.
• Have overseen chatrooms and messageboards for the BBC, the Financial Times and various commercial TV clients
• An active participant in online communities including The Well for more than 20 years.

To get in touch | Return to home page

Summary /Academic Publication / Employment History / Education and Training / Technology skills

Employment History

London School of Economics Sep 2006 - Present
Graduate Teaching Assistant

Designing and leading advanced workshops in research methods for the internet. Also leading a workshop at University of Bristol in the use of Web 2.0 tools for academic research and collaboration.

London School of Economics Sep 2004 - May 2005
Graduate Teaching Assistant

Teaching Theories and Concepts in Media and Communications and Globalization, Communication and the Internet to Masters students in seminar groups.

London College of Communication Sep 2003 - May 2004
Associate Lecturer

Lecturing on Media, the Public Sphere and the Internet to MA students in Michaelmas and to BA students in Lent term. Supervised third year BA and MA dissertations.

Tempero Sep 2003 - Feb 2004
Messageboard Moderator

Overseeing Messageboards and chatrooms for several UK cable television websites and monitoring incoming text messages live for ITV's Pop Idol and I'm A Celebrity television programmes.

Which? July 2002 - Oct 2002
Project Leader and Senior Researcher

Researching, writing and supervising tests of computing, consumer electronics and other products for the Consumer's Association, Britain's leading source of consumer advice and advocacy.

• Commissioning market research and reports from test labs in the UK and across Europe.
• Using the data to write reports in Which? - the Consumer Association's main magazine and one of Britain's largest circulation titles.
  

Consultant Feb 2001 - July 2002

Providing strategic web consultancy, virtual community building advice and training - principally to the public and not for profit sectors. Activity during this period included:

• Doing telephone and focus group interviews for the e-Envoy's report "E-enabling the Voluntary and Community sector"
• Conducting workshops with voluntary sector organizations with David Wilcox of Partnerships Online
• Speaking at conferences and seminars about web design and about virtual communities for the private sector and local and national government.
• Acting as a host for messageboards and chatrooms at the BBC and for FT.com.
• Acting as an online mentor for DirectSupport, which helps charities and community organizations that have decided to become UK Online Centres.
• Being on the boards of the Rural Broadband Interest Group - working to make broadband available to the third of the UK population which can't access it - and the Newington Green Action Group
• Administering the mailing list of the Voluntary and Community Sector Internet Task Force (Volcom).
• Writing Dealing With Email for Dorling Kindersley.

Network of the World August 2000 - Feb 2001
Communities Director

Responsible for the creation and development of an internet community based around NOW's TV programming which was streamed and broadcast through digital satellite, and its web content aimed at global broadband users.

• Wrote specification for the technology platform and 'social infrastructure' required to start and foster the growth of a virtual community. Worked with a global team of consultants and 25 in-house staff to implement the strategy.
• Identified future technology and content partners for the business development team.
• Co-developed the content plan for a technology channel on the service.
• Developed a search engine strategy for the site.

Enformatica January 2000 - July 2000
Editorial Consultant, Knowledge Engineering team

Worked in a variety of roles for a small technology incubator whose products included IP-based multicast of business TV to corporate networks (Enfocast), web-based customs clearance and a magazine and newspaper advertising sales engine.

• Managed a team in the UK and Minsk to deliver NewsScape, a news headline aggregation service
• Defined a PR strategy for the company's current projects.
• Researched new opportunities and identified competitors.

NTL (was Cable & Wireless) July 1999 - January 2000
Editorial Consultant, Digital Television

Worked with the content management team of the world's first commercial interactive TV project (based on technology from Liberate, Andersen Consulting and C & W internal staff).

• Gained comprehensive understanding of the capabilities and limitations of interactive TV.
• Produced help text across multiple platforms - interactive TV, website and brochure.

Open University November 1999 - September 2000
Associate Lecturer

Taught T171 You, Your Computer and the Net.

• Tuition was almost entirely online.
• The 25 students were part time adult learners from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Freelance Journalist November 1998 - July 1999

Follow link for further details including links to selected stories.

BBC News Online January 1997 - November 1998
Broadcast Journalist

Produced news stories containing audio, video and Internet links for the most popular news website in Europe.

• Subjects covered included technology, business and world news.
• Worked in a fast-paced, 24-hour news operation, bringing together information from foreign correspondents, news wires, picture libraries and the Internet.

New Scientist July1995 - Dec 1997
Net Editor

Responsible for the launch, management and editorial content of this weekly magazine's web site.

• Launched one of the UK's first major commercial websites.
• Site was profitable, was one of the ten most popular in the UK and won several awards.
• Wrote about developments in technology and the Internet for themagazine and the site.

Personal Computer World March 1994 - July 1995
Cutting Edge Editor

Wrote and commissioned for the leading British monthly computer magazine. Managed contributions from an in-house reporter and an international team of freelance journalists.

• Founded, wrote and edited a new, 50 page editorial section - Cutting Edge.
• Created and wrote the first Internet column in a mainstream UK computer magazine.
• Created a website for the magazine and a popular site about the best British websites in late 1994.

Personal Computer World September 1991 - March 1994
News Editor

Solely responsible for the monthly 16-page news section, Newsprint.Researched and wrote news, reviews and features based on interviews andconferences here and abroad. Also managed contributions from an in-housereporter, the computer columnist for The Guardian and a US correspondent.

MacUser September1989 - September1991
Senior Reporter, Reviews Editor

Started writing news, features based on visits to major companies and reviews of new products for for the market-leading UK Macintosh magazine. Quickly gained an in-depth grasp of the major players and products in the industry and went on to be responsible for commissioning and writing sixpages of reviews and features fortnightly.

Which Computer? August 1988 - September 1989
Staff Writer

Wrote news, features, and product evaluations aimed at the non-technical executive wanting to gain an understanding of the direction of the information technology industry.

Woman's Journal May - August 1988
Researcher

Interviewed numerous celebrities including Cilla Black, Derek Nimmoand Joan Fontaine for articles on how they dealt with stress and on lifeas an expatriate, among other subjects. Also contributed library and cuttingsfile research for features.

Freelance 1988 - Present

Alongside the full-time work and contract work detailed above I was an active freelance journalist - largely writing about computing and the Internet.

Summary / Academic Publication / Employment History / Education and Training / Technology skills

Education and Training

London School of Economics Oct 2003 - Present
PhD Media and Communications Private Lives Lived in Public: Weblogs and Self Performance - supervised by Prof Robin Mansell

Also attended several workshops about teaching methods at both the LSE and the London College of Communications.

London School of Economics Oct 2002 - August 2003
MSc New Media, Information and Society - Graduated with distinction
An integrated and interdisciplinary education and training in the key social and institutional issues raised by contemporary media and communication and technological change. Courses taught in this Masters included contributions from:

Information Systems - Exploring the social, political and economic context of Information Systems and their global consequences.
Research Methods - Qualitative and quantitative methods (including interviewing, surveys and archive analysis) for use in media and communications research.
Sociology - The core course for the Masters, taught by Prof. Robin Mansell gave analytical perspectives on the social, organizational and economic processes within new media.
Media Studies - Theories and Concepts in Media and Communications and Dr Stephen Coleman's course in Citizenship and the Media, which examined the mass media social structures of communication from the perspective of their relationship to democratic citizenship.

Abstracts and bibliographies of papers written as assignments and my dissertation, Missing the grassroots? Factors shaping the political use of the Internet among UK activists are available here. Copies of the papers are available on request.

Rheingold Associates Nov 2000
Hosting and Facilitating Online Communities - a two week course which took place online.

IPC Nov 1996
One-day in-house Internet law seminar

PMA Training Sep 1991 - July 1995
Several one day courses on libel law, commissioning, editing and writing news and features

Reed Business Publishing January - May 1988
Pre-entry Journalism Training Course

Included writing experience with the South London Guardian as well as training in news and feature writing, interviewing techniques, sub editing, layout, business for journalists and journalistic law.

International Graduate Summer School, University of Oxford Jul - Aug 1987
Britain: Literature, History and Society from 1870 to the Present Day

Trinity College, University of Toronto 1984 - 1987
B.A. (English) 2:1 equivalent

Courses taken included Economics, Sociology, Computer Science and History as well as English.

Extracurricular activities included co-founding the University of Toronto Mensa Society, writing for the college yearbook and the university newspaper, and choral singing.

Summary / Academic Publication / Employment History / Education and Training / Technology skills

Technology skills

Web Software (Mac & Windows):
Familiar with Dreamweaver and FrontPage. Have created and maintain three websites myself: davidbrake.org, blog.org, and the unofficial Media@LSE group weblog, and several mailing lists.
Other Software (Mac & Windows):
In-depth knowledge of Word, several web browsers and email packages on both PCs and Macs.
Familiar with Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop, SPSS, InDesign and several other packages used over 15 years of software reviewing.

Other memberships, interests and skills

• Speaker at workshops for New Media Knowledge
• Freelance virtual communities consultant with Rheingold Associates
• A research associate for the iSociety project at The Work Foundation
• Member of e-mint (a network of UK virtual community builders)
• Webmaster of the Newington Green Action Group 
• Successfully encouraged the local council to work alongside several charitable organizations to improve a local park

Languages: English (native), French

Enjoy travel  - I have visited India, Egypt, Israel and Japan as well as much of Europe and North America.
For exercise I practice yoga and cycle.
Have sung with the London Philharmonic Choir and the London Symphony Chorus, now singing with the Crouch End Festival Chorus

Citizenships: British, American, Canadian
References: Available on request

To get in touch | Return to home page