3D/I Prepares for Hurricane Rita with E-Mail Continuity Solution
Applied Cytometry Systems Analyzes Cells 10 Times Faster on 64-Bit Platform
I’m really happy that these have been posted. True, they’re still in that rigidly-defined case study format so I couldn’t get too creative, but these are great stories and I had a lot of fun writing them.
First, there’s the 3D/I case study for Exchange Hosted Services. The flow of a Microsoft case study is Situation, Solution, and Benefits; and an approaching hurricane is one hell of a situation. If the company’s data center were destroyed, the company would lose millions of dollars in business – and they only had a few days to find a solution. I was also lucky enough to have a person at the center of the story instead of a company, which makes it much more engaging.
Also, 3D/I’s values are summed up in the acronym ICED PIG. I can’t tell you how glad I am that this made it into the final draft.
When I wrote the Applied Cytometry case study, I first had to learn what the heck flow cytometry is. The folks at ACS were tremendously helpful in this regard, as were Dr. Albert Donnenberg and Dr. Vera Donnenberg. Whereas some case studies are about saving time or money, this one was about using the heavy data capabilities of 64-bit computing to develop radical new cancer treatments. It’s a pleasure to be involved in efforts that genuinely transform the world for the better, even if it’s only as a lowly marketing copywriter.
Subsequent research revealed that in addition to being one of the world’s foremost cancer researchers, Vera Donnenberg is also a total badass. Whehn she defected from her native Czechoslovakia in 1987, she walked 300 miles in the dead of winter, neither sleeping nor eating for two weeks. Then she climbed a wire-topped wall into Italy while guards shot at her.
When she arrived in the United States she didn’t speak English. She got a job at McDonald’s, and from there (somehow) she became a clinical pharmacology technician at Johns Hopkins University. She earned a master’s degree in pharmacology within five years.
Oh, and also: Cancer researcher was her fallback career. She originally planned to be an artist.
I am not worthy!
Tags: 64-bit computing, Exchange Hosted Services, flow cytometry, Microsoft, copywriting, marketing
Wade Rockett 