Yolanda Arrington Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc, Us

Vienna, Virginia, Us

I'm on the content team embedded within the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance where I highlight the agency's life-saving efforts around the world.

Who better to represent you than you? Again I'm the chief, cook and bottle washer but this time, for my own brand. Businesses (small and large) hire me to create content, ranging from social media strategies and managing crowd-funding campaigns to writing tweets (...because, who has time to do that? I do!). I finally made this official, purchasing Dot Connector LLC in December 2016.

Reston, Va, Us

I took my writing talents over to the Defense.gov website, where I was on the team responsible for keeping the site fresh with content (photos, articles, press releases, quizzes and other special features).

Reston, Virginia, Us

Same job as before, just under a different contracting company! I curated and created social media messaging for the Department of Defense.

Baltimore, Md, Us

Back at it again! After a year away, I returned to help make the public aware of scientific and technological advancements within the Department of Defense as the content editor for its Armed with Science platform. I also served on a rotating cycle of co-managers for the DOD's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.

Atlanta, Georgia, Us

People spend the day in front of their computers, glued to their screens, or attached to their mobile devices. They're scrolling for the latest headlines, the funniest stories, and the most recent updates on breaking news. Rare gives them all of that. As a content editor, I curate trending news stories and videos, and make sure they're digestible for mobile devices and social media consumption.

Sometimes you think you can bring something new to the World Wide Web. Sometimes you get with your friends and stop talking about what's missing and just do it! I'm one of four bloggers for and co-founders of the Witches’ Brew entertainment/news/pop culture blog. We write about any and everything and do so with a fresh voice. I'm also the resident "Tech Witch" and "Research Witch" so I do the stats, analytics and a bit of HTML coding. I'm totally into that stuff. FYI, we're not really Witches.*The site is defunct as of Feb. 2016, but we're still thriving on social media!

Baltimore, Md, Us

Someone has to keep the public updated on what's happening at the Department of Defense. That's what we web content managers do! I moved across the hall from social media, so to speak, and onto the content management team. I populated and edited content for the Defense.gov website and created captions and summaries for articles, photos, and special reports.

Baltimore, Md, Us

Making the public aware of scientific and technological advancements within the Department of Defense! That's what the DoD's Armed with Science blog does. Armed with Science makes science, tech and space fun. My job was to create and/or find content that highlights the work the military is doing to advance science and other STEM areas.

BeautifulBrownGirls.com is a positive online space where women of color get the latest information on everything from health to fashion. I got to test out hair, skin and beauty products and tell the world how they worked for me. Occasionally, we got to give some of the (unused) items away. It was a win-win for lucky readers and it kept this product junkie blogger's writing skills fresh and creative.

Reston, Virginia, Us

Everyone has a social media account or two these days. The MHS works to make active duty military personnel and their families healthier, by way of spreading news via the Health.mil blog and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. My job was to keep the message simple, catchy and to the point, making health news easier to digest. I created content for 8 social platforms across the MHS and another DOD health program, "Operation Live Well." I also worked on the metrics team to help the MHS better target its message.

There's tons of news that affects the nation's military that never makes it onto the front page of your local newspaper or the lead of your local newscast. The Pentagon Channel put those stories at the forefront for the military audience. I helped curate and write news for morning and afternoon newscasts and line produced the broadcasts, as needed.

Arlington, Va, Us

As a freelancer, you have to be ready to tackle anything. I'd never really manned (or "wo-manned," in my case) an assignment desk by myself, but I'd worked in a newsroom long enough to know the nuts and bolts of what good producers and writers needed from the "desk," as it's called. I filled in at the desk: assigning camera crews, rolling on live feeds and monitoring breaking news. I also filled-in as the associate production manager from time to time, which basically means if someone needs to "go live," I make sure we have a studio or satellite shot at the ready. I also enjoyed the occasional "half-n-half" iced tea/lemonade mix from the legendary Weenie Beenie restaurant across the street.

As a gadget, techie, social media girl, I jumped at the opportunity to attend and blog about Digital Capital Week (DCWEEK). Now defunct, DCWEEK was a weeklong festival in Washington, DC that focuses on bringing together designers, developers, entrepreneurs and social innovators of all kinds.

Another return to RLTV, this time to field produce interviews and write packages for veteran broadcaster John Palmer for the program, "Primary Issues" which centered on the 2012 election. Cokie Roberts and Sam Donaldson returned as hosts for the program which addressed issues voters of 50 care about as 2012 approaches.

Syracuse, New York, Us

A great singing lady once said "I believe the children are our future." I believe young journalists are the future of our industry too, so I do my part to "teach them well and let them lead the way." Every summer, I work with Master's Degree students in the Broadcast Journalism program at Syracuse University. These students spend their summer in Washington, DC learning all the ins and outs of how this great city works. They report that news to smaller market stations across the country but not before I get a chance to copy edit their work and make sure their video matches the story.

You didn't think the Fourth of July was just about hot dogs and fireworks, did you? There's actually something to watch on July 4th. It's called "A Capitol Fourth" and it's produced from the U.S. Capitol. The concert airs nationally on PBS stations. Capital Concerts has produced the concert for decades and this year, I helped update the website (http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/), researched SEO, analyzed keywords and found updated photos to add to the 2011 site. I'll still have a hot dog on the holiday though.

Us

This was another of my freelance gigs. I signed on to be a field producer but was unknowingly upgraded to ENG Production Manager of T-Mobile's "Live Rising" concert in Baltimore. I organized and managed a crew of four people and scouted landmark locations for B-roll filming. Basically, I kept our 12-hour day on schedule.

Norman, Ok, Us

This was a short project but I got to learn quite a bit about how government contracting works. Mainly, I learned sometimes things don't go as planned with a contract but you'd better make a great lemonade out of it. I did. I researched, wrote and contributed original content for a website prototype for the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

I liked them so much I went back to work for RLTV during the 2010 Midterm elections. This time, I got to work with some fancy people, namely: Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson and the beloved, late John Palmer. I got to do a little social media too but my main jobs were to write, research, produce and field produce segments about issues facing people over 50 during the election.

Occasionally, I like to get my freelance on. I was the "Script 3rd," which is a fancy way of saying "Script Production Assistant" for the "Spirit of America" variety program at Ford's Theatre. Basically, I made copies and made sure the celebrity hosts had the right copy in their scripts. If I failed at my mission, the show would have been disastrous. Luckily, everything went well. The President seemed to have a good time too.

What a great program, with a great mission, named in honor of a great man. I volunteered to help research and produce interviews for short biographical films about three honorees at the first annual Rob Brown Scholars Awards Dinner.

London, England, Gb

Chief, cook and bottle washer in the inaugural U.S. office of a London-based production company. I did everything from scout office space, load and unload a storage unit, guard a U-Haul full of pricey equipment, roll a 5 ft. long plasma screen storage case down 7th Ave in New York City and book a film crew in Afghanistan in the middle of the night on the eve of elections (from my hotel room in Las Vegas). Oh, I field produced, wrote and put together about 75, five-minute corporate and documentary-style films for public and private sector clients. The only thing I didn't do was edit. We had a great guy for that. He was also instrumental in getting that storage box down Midtown Manhattan.

Working at RLTV was more than a job. It was a mission. A passion. Not only was I there when the start-up network flipped the switch to millions of viewers, I also helped create and give life to show segments ranging from how to live well in retirement to pole dancing for seniors. It was some of my finest work.

Five years of the overnight shift! I challenge you to that. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, this is where I learned how to handle deadlines and write and produce news for TV: four straight hours of TV every morning. The morning show is the best training a budding journalist can get.

Aside from collegiate internships, this was my first gig in journalism. It was still an internship, but they paid me. Score! I got to watch the carefully choreographed dance between House lawmakers and the journalists who cover them, right inside the U.S. Capitol. Oh, they paid for me to go to the 2000 Democratic National Convention too! Another score.

Bs, Broadcast Journalism

Education record