Antique typewriter keyboard closeup

Communications

Kristine Maas

Consultant

Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann, Doug Varone and Dancers in "Carrugi"

What to say & when to say it

When your audience is engaged—it’s art.

Partnership

You and your audience—simpatico.

Connection

You get your audience for 10 seconds—make it count.

PROFILE

Writing is a craft that brings me joy. I’ve always had fun doing it, and feel lucky to be in a profession I love. I get excited about creating communications that are clear and concise, and that meet the needs of the audience whether it’s to inform, educate, direct or even uplift. I avoid the use of jargon and I know when to inject humor and when to stick to business in my writing.

Through my corporate experience, I’ve gained in-depth communications planning, strategy and implementation experience through hands-on learning. I supported senior and mid-level executives and managed small to large-scale communications projects.

I’m naturally curious, love to learn, and am known for building successful partnerships. My colleagues have called me whip-smart, funny, organized, creative genius and super-cool-even-in-a-pants-on-fire situation. I have to admit, that last one was a pretty sweet compliment!

My core competencies in a nutshell

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATOR

20+ years of experience engaging audiences through compelling internal and external communications.

STRONG WRITER & EDITOR

Committed to delivering clear, concise narrative that inspires engagement, builds brand integrity, aligns to culture and drives results.

ADEPT COLLABORATOR

Known for building successful partnerships with stakeholders, diverse teams and the C-suite.

MAKING IT CLEAR

Skilled at producing explanatory materials that convey complex ideas in clear language for a broad audience.

KEEPING IT REAL & ON TIME

Proven ability to organize and manage demanding projects under tight deadlines with grace and humor.

“Kristine is a strategic, creative, results-oriented communicator who drives stakeholder engagement. Her intellect and out-of-the-box thinking provide a unique perspective. Kristine partnered with me to create effective presentations to the Board of Directors and many other communications, adeptly managing people and details.”

“It would have been enough that Kristine was capable and personable. What a bonus to find she possessed an exceptional sense of humor, an amazing intellect and organizational brilliance. She quickly earned the respect of our entire staff…”

PORTFOLIO

From reports to articles to catalogs, these samples of work met client goals with flying colors.

I would be happy to provide additional samples of my work upon request.

1

Kaiser Permanente 2013 annual report


ROLE: project leader and lead writer

CLIENT: Kaiser Permanente

AUDIENCE: employees, members, thought leaders

GOAL: communicate performance, recruitment aid, marketing tool

2

Website pages


ROLE: writer

CLIENT: Sharp HealthCare

AUDIENCE: health care consumers, employees, caregivers

GOAL: inform, educate, promote

3

In Focus publication


ROLE: coauthor

CLIENT: Assoc. for Advancement of Medical Instrumentation

AUDIENCE: clinical/biomedical engineers, healthcare professionals, researchers

GOAL: inform readers about nation’s largest joint replacement registry

4

Affordable Care Act, employee intranet articles


ROLE: author

CLIENT: Kaiser Permanente

AUDIENCE: employees

GOAL: inform, update, call to action

5

Direct mailer


ROLE: writer

CLIENT: Blue Shield of California

AUDIENCE: members

GOAL: inform members of new health plan options

6

Participant profile on public website


ROLE: author

CLIENT: Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley Executive Education

AUDIENCE: consumers

GOAL: feature success story, promote, engage

7

Miadora fine jewelry catalog


ROLE: lead writer

CLIENT: Miadora

AUDIENCE: consumers

GOAL: promote new product line

“Kristine is a brilliant writer with impeccable attention to detail and excellent communication skills. She has deftly maneuvered tight deadlines, ambiguous project goals, and has a remarkable talent for taking on the client’s voice and crafting a moving narrative from fragments. She possesses superior creative and analytical talents that have been invaluable to us at Berkeley ExecEd. We’re so grateful for her talents!”

“Kristine is a gifted and driven communications professional, and always delivers fresh, thought-provoking perspectives to any project. She’s really the dream colleague: highly skilled, endlessly creative, deadline-oriented, stress resistant, egoless, and quick to find the humor in any situation. Working with Kristine is a privilege and an inspiration, and I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity.”

CLIENTS

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Copyright © Kristine Maas 2014-2024. All Rights Reserved.