Global Pragmatica LLC®

Erin L. Vang, PMP, CSPO
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+1.415.997.9671

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A certified Project Management Professional® (PMP®) and Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) with 35 years experience in agile software development and a variety of management, technical, and leadership positions. Strengths include:

• Expert JMP Scripting Language (JSL) programmer
• Extensive experience in quality assurance, documentation, localization, project and program management, and business management
• Diverse facilitative leadership experience
• Proven program management skills

EXPERIENCE

Global Pragmatica LLC, Helena, MT, and Oakland, CA
Principal Pragmatist, 2008-Present.

Global Pragmatica LLC® offers custom JMP scripting, JMP integration with R and SAS, and JSL support, as well as facilitative leadership and analytics guidance with domain expertise in content strategy, localization, software development, program management, and international, cross-functional, virtual, and distributed team management.

Develop a variety of analytical applications using JSL. These applications range from simple, readily-developed and -implemented to powerful, abstract applications that anticipate and automatically respond to changes in the data. The objective for each script is to maximize usability and insights while minimizing the need for maintenance.

Clients include well-known Fortune 500 companies in consumer products, pharmaceutical, automotive, analytics, and electronic device industries. (Business relationships protected by non-disclosure agreements, but references available upon request.)

Example JSL Projects:

• A system for designing ballots delivered by web to iPads for convenient, portable use; collecting experiment design and results data; analyzing results within and across experiments, samples, and voters over time
• A “theory of constraints” dashboard for cleaning, consolidating, and analyzing factory reliability data, estimating and reviewing parameters, exporting parameters to ExtendSim®, and importing ExtendSim® simulation results to JMP for comparison and analysis
• A dashboard and reporting tool for importing and exploring monthly consumer feedback data and comparing trends in feedback data over time.
• A dashboard for exploring, subsetting, analyzing, and reporting on historical R&D and QA product data exported nightly from a proprietary database.
• A calculator for visualizing and converting color values among several dozen color measurement systems and for exploring a primary color space.
• A calculator for modeling color, grind density, and packing volume of consumer products whose inputs and processing methods are highly variable.
• A batch process for importing and manipulating global pricing data and generating country-by-country reports of trends and comparisons, with conversions of local currencies.
• A toolbar for reshaping, renaming, and organizing process data for efficient analysis.
• A text mining tool that integrates analyses from JMP and R into a single dashboard and unified, customizable report.
• A method for performing iterative regression analysis on complex biological data.
• A dashboard for importing, cleaning, exploring, and reporting on clinical trials data for pharmaceutical therapies in preparation for submission to FDA et al. for approval.
• A virtual laboratory that allows users to model materials and analyze predicted test properties using JMP’s exploratory graphics and SAS’s statistical modeling in an approachable single-window interface. Virtual material creation and testing enables researchers to simulate time-consuming, expensive experiments in minutes with zero material, labor, and opportunity costs. Client: multinational chemical manufacturing company.
• A novice-friendly interface for importing SPSS and SAS datasets and associated SAS program files into JMP using JSL’s text-processing capabilities. Client: multinational consumer products company.
• A virtual laboratory for optimizing and scaling mixture operations and visually exploring modeled mixture parameters in a flexible, single-window workflow that makes complex analytics approachable to production operators and physical chemists alike. Client: multinational consumer products company.

Dolby Laboratories, San Francisco, CA
Senior Manager, Technical Communications, 2014–17. Manager, Technical Publications, 2011–14. Consultant, 2011.

Led a multi-year content strategy shift to structured authoring in DITA, built a community-service infrastructure model that included innovative “structural editor” and “information architect” service roles. Got corporate terminology management off the ground. Built and managed an international, distributed team of fifteen full-time writers and several contract writers located in Wrocław, Poland; Nürnberg, Germany; San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California USA. Designed a localization program for Dolby R&D.

Predictum Inc., Austin, TX
Senior Consultant and Program Manager, 2008.

Consulting and JSL-based tool development. Program manager. As program manager I not only wrote designed products and wrote code but also managed client relationships, tracked requirements, and coordinated teamwork.

SAS Institute, Cary, NC
Sr. International Program Manager, 2007-08. International Program Manager, 2005-07. Localization Project Manager, 2001-05

Was responsible for all outsourced R&D work (chiefly localization) and also internal R&D project management, reporting to Director of Software R&D. Determined new target markets and localization projects in partnership with Sales & Marketing management. Built JMP localization program, including conversions to Unicode and XLIFF. Delivered five major localized software releases (end-user statistical and graphic analysis application on Mac, Windows, and Linux) and numerous ancillary projects, most recently in six languages, was always on-time and on-budget, handled all aspects of project and program management. Managed two direct reports and virtual, distributed teams with colleagues in North Carolina, vendors in the US and abroad, and translation and review teams in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, and China. Served on corporate terminology management steering committee.

Technical Writer, 1997-2001.

Completed StatView version 5 documentation and was ad hoc product manager for StatView release and rollout upon acquisition by SAS. Wrote highly regarded JMP Scripting Guide version 4. Converted docs and help from Microsoft Word and RoboHelp to single-source FrameMaker and Web Works Publisher system.

Abacus Concepts, Berkeley, CA
Documentation and Localization Manager, 1994-97

Produced all major technical publications for Abacus Concepts products including StatView, SuperANOVA, and MacSpin.

SYSTAT, Evanston, IL
Quality Assurance Manager, 1991-94. Lead technical writer, 1988-91.

Built and managed department responsible for Quality Assurance of statistical analysis and scientific graphics software. Developed numerical validation and performance test plans for DOS, Windows, and Mac products targeted to markets ranging from students to business users to research professionals. Coordinated beta-testing and product release. Chaired the interface design committee. Reported to Vice President/General Manager and assisted V.P./G.M. in project management.

Lead technical writer in charge of all major publications produced by SYSTAT. Wrote, designed, and illustrated several books. Led acclaimed revision of four-volume user manual sets for upgrade versions of professional-level statistics and graphics packages for Mac and DOS. Reported to Director of R&D.

Northwestern University Computer Music Studio, Evanston, Illinois, 1988.

Assistant to Systems Engineer, Technical Writer.

KFJM-FM radio (NPR affiliate), University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, 1987.

Announcer and Operator. Programmed, produced, and hosted an afternoon classical music program. Hold FCC Radiotelephone Operators license.

St. Olaf College Academic Computer Center, Northfield, Minnesota, 1984–87.

Documentation Assistant, full-time summer staff, 1986. Documentation Assistant and Head Consultant, part-time work study staff, 1984–87.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Principal horn, Helena Symphony Orchestra, Montana. 2017–

Member, American Federation of Musicians, Local 6; past member, Local 153, Local 10-207. Freelance hornist with numerous Montana and San Francisco Bay Area orchestras, chamber ensembles, opera companies, and dance organizations.

Past member of Scrum Alliance; Tekom Europe e.V., European Association for Technical Communication; American Anthropological Association, Society for Anthropology of Consciousness section; Project Management Institute; Women in Localization; Association of Women in Mathematics.

BOOKS

Contributor of “Project management” entry. Gallon, Ray, The Language of Technical Communication. Laguna Hills, CA: XML Press, 2016.

Principal author, JMP Scripting Guide, JMP version 4. 2000. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, 2000.

Revised StatView Users Guide, StatView Reference, StatView version 5. Berkeley, CA: 1997.

Author, Using StatView Formulas, StatView version 4. Berkeley, CA: 1995.

Revised four-volumes of documentation for SYSTAT 5. Evanston, IL: 1991.

Author, user documentation, FASTAT version 1. Evanston, IL: 1988.

Author and/or editor of a wide variety of software introductions and references for the St. Olaf College Academic Computing Center and the Northwestern University Computer Music Studio.

AUTHORED COURSES

Author and trainer, “Get comfortable with public speaking.” soap! Kraków, Poland, May 2018.

Author and trainer, “JMP Scripting: From Basics to OMG,” Minnesota and Southern California JMP Users Groups, June 2010.

Author and trainer, “Advanced JSL: Associative Arrays,” JMP Discovery Conference, Chicago, September 2009.

Author and trainer, “Advanced JSL: Regular Expressions,” JMP Discovery Conference, Chicago, September 2009.

Co-author and trainer, “StatView Software: Introduction to Data Analysis using StatView”, SAS Institute, 1998.

ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS

Speaker, “Show me the money! Finance 101 for tech communists.” Tekom tcworld, Stuttgart, Germany, October 2017, soap! Kraków, Poland, May 2018.

Copresenter with Sarah O’Keefe (Scriptorium), “Mistakes were made: the client-vendor relationship.” Tekom tcworld, Stuttgart, Germany, October 2017.

Panelist, “Working with content.” MeetContent, Wrocław, Poland, March 2016.

Speaker, “Where do tech comms managers come from?” Tekom tcworld, Stuttgart, Germany, October 2016. TCUK Conference, Wyboston Lakes, England, September 2016.

Speaker, “Rockstars, not typists! Expanding your influence in tech organizations.” Soap Conference, Kraków, Poland, November 2015. TCUK Conference, Wyboston Lakes, England, September 2016.

Co-presenter, “Kaddish in Two-Part Harmony: Sacred Space vs. Sacred Time in the Blogosphere,” Mira Z. Amiras, Ph.D. and Erin L Vang, BMus, MMus. Invited session, American Anthropological Association, Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC, November 2011.

Moderator/Facilitator, numerous panel discussions and technical roundtables in the localization industry (see http://blog.globalpragmatica.com), 2009–11.

“JMP Scripting: Advanced Techniques” poster, WUSS 2011 (Western Users of SAS Software annual conference), San Francisco, October 2011.

“Automated Reporting:  JMP® Graphics and JSL for Benchmarking Dashboards” poster, Karen Copeland, Ph.D. and Erin Vang, PMP, JMP Discovery Conference, Denver, September 2011.

“North America from the outside in and the inside out,” Multilingual magazine,  September 2010.

“Getting Started in Localization Project Management,” Localization World, San Jose, October 2009.

“VirtLab: JMP and SAS are Complementary Components of a Virtual Laboratory,” JMP Discovery Conference, Chicago, September 2009.

“Point/Counterpoint: Communication,” with Tina Wuelfing Cargile, Multilingual magazine, April/May 2009.

“Some advice on vendor selection”, McElroy Translation newsletter, 2009.

“Point/Counterpoint: Let the interoffice games begin!” with Tina Wuelfing Cargile, Multilingual magazine, Index 2008 & RD, 2009.

Getting Started: Localization Program Management, ENLASO newsletter, January 2009.

“Point/Counterpoint: Which constraints keep you up at night?” with Tina Wuelfing Cargile, Multilingual magazine, October/November 2008.

“Point/Counterpoint: Two Approaches to Project Management for the Translation/Localization Industry,” with Tina Wuelfing Cargile, Multilingual magazine, July/August 2008.

“Point/Counterpoint: Two Approaches to Project Management” with Tina Wuelfing Cargile(McElroy Translations) and Beatriz Bonnet (SYNTES), TranslationWorld, Montreal, March 2008.

64-Bit JMP for Linux, Linux Journal: Issue 149, Sep. 2006, p.82-85.

“Edward Tufte Book Review: Lessons for StatView Data Analysts from the Challenge Disaster,” white paper published by Abacus Concepts and SAS Institute, 1997-98.

EDUCATION

1988, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Master of Music summa cum laude, horn performance and literature.

1987, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN. Bachelor of Music magna cum laude, majors in horn performance, music history, and mathematics.

CERTIFICATIONS AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

Scrum Alliance® certified scrum product owner® (CSPO®), May 2015.

Facilitative Leader, Roger Schwarz & Associates, Inc., four-day workshop, May 2007.

Project Management Professional® (PMP®), October 2004, Project Management Institute.

Certified in Kerzner Approach to Project Management Excellence, October 2004.

SAS Public Speakers Bureau, Speaker Bootcamp certification, March 2004.

National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), Five-Day Leadership Training Institute, November 2003. Qualified to lead the NCBI Prejudice Reduction Workshop and the Conflict Resolution Process.

Interaction Associates, certified in Essential Facilitation, August 2003, June 2004.

Pragmatic Marketing courses in product management: Practical Product Marketing, Working With Development, and Analyzing Market Opportunities, March, June 2002.

COMPUTER EXPERIENCE

Operating Systems: Mac OS X, OS 8-9, and Systems 4-7; Windows 3.1, NT, 2000, XP Pro, 10; Linux SuSE, Red Hat, Fedora, and ubuntu; Unix BSD and Darwin

Languages: JMP Scripting Language, R, TeX and LaTeX

Statistical Software Packages: JMP, SAS, R, StatView, SYSTAT

Extensive experience with a wide variety of software for authoring, content management, publication, typography, translation memory, and project management including XML and DITA, TMX, XLIFF, Xquery, Xpath.