Mike McGrail

This portfolio compresses my 30-year communications career into a representative sampling of articles, blogs, case studies, news release, websites, podcasts and videos. They're drawn from 20 years in public relations and 10 in

the news media. You can also view my biography, resume and curriculum vitae by clicking on the images below. More samples of my work are available upon request. Thank you for your time and interest. Best regards, Mike

Resume

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

A R T I C L E S

Computer software that got the Apollo mission to the moon. Elevators swathed in smartphone glass. Equal opportunity for slum dwellars in Kenya. The best way to make billion-dollar decisions. Articles that I've written on these topics and others have helped my clients to define their brands and establish themselves as innovators in their industries. From highly technical to highly opinionated, I can write about the subjects clients need in the voices they want. Before my public relations career, I spent 10 years in the newspaper business writing news, features, commentary and business articles, several of which won awards in regional press association competitions.

Business and Technology Hospital elevators go lightweight, colorful and super-durable with Corning Gorilla Glass The same glass that covers smart phones and tablets makes a sleek, dent-resistent interior that matches a children's hospital's plan for guiding people around its one million square feet. Be decision makers, not excuse finders Management Review magazine asked Ingram Micro CEO Jerre Stead, who took the $16 billion corporation public, what goes into good decision making. He didn't mince any words. Software that put man on the moon turns 50 years old Lead feature for MSC Software in-house publication, page 10. High-end analysis software comes to the masses Technology once too complex for anyone without a doctoral degree to work helps design quality into new products from square one. Ford Motors applies new simulation technology to an old challenge Vibration is the sworn enemy of a smooth ride. Design World published this article I wrote for MSC Software about using simulation software to balance smooth rides and adequate power.

Commentary Fight terrorism by fighting poverty Written for Kenyan social activist Kennedy Odede, appeared in The Guardian. Africa's surprising future Written for Kenyan social activist Kennedy Odede, appeared on CNN.com and Clinton Foundation website.           Features Finding God -- before the movie This article about an alternative church that met in a shopping mall movie theater won an award from the New England Press Association. Singer Cat Stevens now raises voice for Islam -- and against Salman Rushdie When he was known as Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam sang about peace trains. After turning to Islam, he controversially supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie.

B L O G S

I am one of the primary contributors to the Brodeur Partners blog, which focuses on communications issues and popular culture. Before that, I wrote on environmental issues and sustainability, current events and the media for the Beaupre & Company blog. I've also written for client blogs about medical devices, utility-scale solar energy, and living with diabetes.

Going native: why we should be grateful for advertiser-created content  The storytelling chemical that rules your brain Of plastic bottles, grassroots, and reducing consumption How do I ignore thee? Yankees blow Levine's save in buried shirt debacle

The virtual human touch, video corononations, and other predictions for 2016 I'm really sorry, unless I'm not Big Three clown show  An inconvenient wrapper, or what Al Gore didn't tell you about Sunchip bags McMansions: new lives as multi-family homes?

N E W S   R E L E A S E S

Product launches, customer wins, partnerships, new hires, financing and awards are among the subjects of news releases I've done for clients in a wide variety of industries.

Dunmore Corporation creates highly engineered films thinner than human hairs but durable enough to protect sensitive components on space vehicles and solar panels. I wrote product and customer win releases for them. Ultra-thin film protects international space station mission Dunmore helps extend 38-year space mission. Dunmore was part of the revolutionary SpaceX missions. Space weather tests high-tech materials Foley Hoag LLP is a top Boston law firm. I wrote releases on court victories, new lawyers, and spartners' professional accomplishments. Boston Law Firms Join Forces to Challenge Charter School Cap Foley Hoag Partner Mark Barnett Joins Climate Change Conference Delegation Foley Hoag Ranks Among World's Top Arbitration Firms Former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley Joins Foley Hoag Foley Hoag Launches New Blog Examining Medicaid Law Healthcare Companies Unprepared for Whistleblower Lawsuits, Foley Hoag Study Finds MSC Software created the simulation technology that got the Apollo space missions to the moon. I worked on customer win and new product releases. Simulation software helps spinal disk replacement MSC supports engineering education in Mexico with technology donation MSC marks 50 years as one of software industry's founding companies

Hughes Network Systems is the largest provider of satellite Internet service in North America and one of the largest satellite technology companies in the world. I write corporate and customer win releases for their consumer and international divisions. Myanmar company selects Hughes as foundation for national satellite network Hughes wins award for top corporate social responsiblity program Energy company selects Hughes' Jupiter system to monitor oil well network COSMOS is analysis software that helps engineers know if their designs will work before they they're built. NASA and the Monterey Bay Aquarium were among the organizations that used COSMOS to design unique products. Mars Rover Robotic Arm, Tested with COSMOSWorks, Performs Flawlessly on the Red Planet COSMOSWorks Helps Monterey Bay Aquarium Design Scientific Instruments for Crushing Ocean Depths COSMOS 2005 Packs Hundreds of Advanced Design Analysis Features into Affordable, Easy-to-Use Format

W E B S I T E S

Great graphics and programming catch the eye. Compelling content seals the deal. I've written website copy to help raise money to preserve the oceans and care for injured combat veterans. Even when the subjects don't have that kind of emotional appeal, I've created stories around them to make them relevant to readers and persuade them to act.

Ocean Conservancy Educational, promotional and membership copy throughout site. Examples include: Vision for a Healthy Ocean Gulf of Mexico Sustainable Fisheries Life.Connected Customer stories for Hughes Network Systems' website. Operation Hat Trick Entire site, including mission statement, history and customer . Foley Hoag, LLP Contributed practice descriptions and edited SEO optimization copy. Park's Taekwondo School Wrote all copy, headlines, cutlines for Portsmouth, N.H. martial arts school.

Change the Cycle Wrote case studies of women's experiences with NovaSure treatment by Hologic. Beyond Trying "Everything" Lay the Solution From Routine, to Problem, and Back to Routine A Breaking Point That Lead to a Solution On the Road Again Now We Call My Period My 'Feriod' -- False Period Wheeler, Ring, Dolan & Dupuis Interviewed partners to author "about us" and "services" sections for Manchester, NH accounting firm site.

PODCASTS  &  VIDEO

My podcasting and video work for clients has focused mainly on customer case studies, though I did manage to work with a former Massachusetts attorney general and two crash test dummies along the way.

Lessons in Disaster Recovery. A New Orleans ATM transaction processing company explains in this podcast how my client's computer servers helped them ride out Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding withough dropping a single transaction. Crash Test Dummies Explain High-Reliablity Computing. A little humor is an effective way to make a complicated point. I recommended to my client Stratus Technologies using an animation that I produced featuring two dummies -- Crash and Burn -- explaining why Stratus' crash-resistent servers were essential building blocks for reliable corporate networks. Nokia Mobile Technology Replaces Paper Forms for San Diego Ambulance Crews. Collecting and exchanging patient data electronically improves care for emergency responders in one of the largest cities in the U.S. In this podcast, a paramedic describes how Nokia's IntelliSync software made their emergency medical services more effective.

Former State Attorney General Joins Boston Law Firm. When one of my clients scored a major coup in recruiting a former attorney general, I shot and produced a short introductory video of her.   Guesswork Doesn't Cut It in Power Plant Construction. Engineering firm Farnham and Pfile describes in this podcast how modeling massive construction projects in 3D computer models with Dassault Systemes software provided an edge over the competition.

C A S E   S T U D I E S

Customers are a brand's most credible evangelists. Making each customer's story unique was part of the challenge of writing for Nokia, SolidWorks and Hughes Network Systems, but it was also most of the fun.

Life.Connected was a HughesNet campaign to illustrate how satellite service allowed people to live anywhere they want and still receive high-speed Internet access. I interviewed HughesNet customers who lived in isolated but beautiful spots and stayed connected to the rest of the world. Shelley, the Carousel Carver Living Next to an Upstate New York Mountain. Navy Veterans Make a Home on the North Carolina Coast Food Advocate Lives Farm-to-Table Life The Yukon Quest sled dog race spans 1,000 miles of Arctic terrain. Hughes Network Systems' satellite technology provides the communications that keeps the racers and their dogs safe. I wrote case studies on the challengs of setting up satellite units in remote regions and keeping track of hundreds of people and dogs on the outer edge of nowhere. Connecting a Remote Race with the Rest of the World Vast Distance, High Performance

Nokia's cell phones are well known to consumers, but they and Nokia software also helped organizations as varied as medical centers and amusement parks operate more efficiently. The Netherlands' Largest Medical Center Speeds Lab Results to Physicians with Nokia Handhelds Palace Entertainment runs amusement parks all over the country -- most of which operate outside regular business hours. Nokia handhelds let the company's IT staff run the network from anywhere at any time of the day or night. SolidWorks took computer-aided design and put it on desktop computers for the first time. The incredible variety of products designed with SolidWorks made them a rich source of case studies. Remote Controlled Submersibles Search for Petroleum and Minerals In Ocean Depths They Don't Have Any Moving Parts, but Lots of Design Goes Into Coins

S P E E C H E S

Write the way the speaker talks. Understand what they need to communicate -- even better than they do. Know the audience. If you're going to put words into someone's mouth, make sure they're good ones.

Bridging the Digital Divide, delivered at the United Nation E-commerce Global Conference. Meet the New President of the Boston Bar Association, remarks written for law firm managing partner to introduce his colleague as incoming BBA president.