All Over Albany

RE: WORK Editing

Project: RE: WORK Editing -- RWE's mission is to help writers of every stripe express themselves superbly.

Who: Rhonda Rosenheck

Short bio
I build capacity in others. Wherever I look, I see potential and dive into the exciting work of helping to realize it. An entrepreneur by temperament and an educator by long career, I live to see people's best visions of themselves develop and come true. I was an entrepreneur through the 80s, and discovered my passion for teaching by taking a side job. I worked in education for over 30 years, co-specializing in the social-emotional development of students and in the professional development of faculty and staff. In the schools I headed, everyone got to stretch and grow. In that time, I:

+ Founded a high school and was brought in to close (gracefully) a failing K-8;
+ Taught teachers from San Jose to Istanbul in a 3D virtual world school;
+ Helped an urban private school decide whether to invest in growth; and
+ Led two schools into their second half century with revitalized educational visions.

Rechanneling creative energy

Limited by chronic illness, I retired from school life and began an entrepreneurial venture with a flexible workstyle. I launched RE: WORK Editing (RWE, "Your words, well received") in 2014. RWE's mission is to help writers of every stripe express themselves superbly.

I joined Troy's maker/innovation space, Tech Valley Center of Gravity (TVCOG), for camaraderie and the "creative collisions" that are part of their mission. I currently volunteer as an advisor to TVCOG's board. It is my hope that my involvement with TVCOG will be a springboard for new and innovative ideas.

Growing pains

As RWE's client list grew, I faced the dilemma of every artisan in demand: turn away work or grow? I chose growth. By growing, I get to employ others who need flexible work conditions, and get to provide novice editors a path to professional excellence. Currently, the business employs on a contract basis six junior and senior contract editors and one apprentice.

A description of the proposed project
In a 2016 survey, many RWE clients reported that they became better writers as a result of our collaboration; over 75% of respondents indicated that working with us reduced their stress and was even fun. In order to maintain this standard in serving more writers, I must develop a training program that goes beyond basic grammar and spelling skills. RWE seeks the All Over Albany Start-Up Grant to launch its training program for novice and junior editors.

My novices and junior editors need to learn:
+ Canadian, British, and American English norms;
+ The varied skills of line- and copy-editing, and proofreading;
+ The roles of voice, style, and genre in editorial decisions;
+ The soft skills of communicating so that authors feel respected, empowered and enlightened.

RE: WORK team members reside throughout the Capital Region and North America, and may be home-bound, so most training will take place online. Cognitive Advisors of Chicago, IL, consults with me to design RWE's Professional Learning Experience. The program plan includes expert videos, training exercises/assessments, and video games. My expert editors and I, along with programmers and user interface designers, will script and execute the instructional materials, exercises, and videos. Here's the link to the very basic, first training video we made:

Applicants to RWE watch this in preparation for completing their initial assessment. Since this first basic video, I have partnered with a creative writer/editor/designer with a background in broadcasting who will help add professional polishing touches to future videos.

The game plan

I hope to employ a team of talented gamers, through connections at Tech Valley Game Space, to prototype an editing game, working-titled, The Rabid RE: WORKer. This game will be designed with the potential, ultimately, to move beyond RE: WORK's training program into the educational market, where it can be used in high schools and colleges to hone students' writing skills. If executed and marketed well, it will become a second stream of income for RE: WORK Editing.

How would the grant money help?
The much-appreciated AOA grant would fund prototyping and testing of this game and the online exercises and expert videos, by paying the fees of local game developers, programmers, editorial experts, and graphic designers.

This year's entries are all so worthy. A vote for RWE is a vote to:
+ Help people learn to work well within an underserved market;
+ Realize mutual benefits among local collaborative and entrepreneurial ventures;
+ Develop training and offer professional work perfectly suited for caretakers, the home-bound, students, and those otherwise in need of a flexible workstyle;
+ Celebrate a women-owned and socially-conscious business; and
+ Raise the standard of written expression wherever we go.

Thank you for your consideration.