Richard Kastelein
Groningen, Netherlands
+31 (50) 526-8004
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www.expathos.com

• Chief Networking Officer (CNO) for Sparkling Media based in London, UK.

• Advisory Board Member and Social Media Strategist for Zephyrnet Financial Intelligence based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

• Publisher of Free Press Group which includes Atlantic Free Press, Pacific Free Press, Empire Burlesque, Gorilla Radio, AFPkudos, and Safehost Netherlands.

• Managing Director of V.O.F. Expathos – focusing on Information Architecture or the construct and analysis of user experience in relation to delivery of information on the net.

• Managed the marketing departments of two Caribbean-based multinational marine supply and service companies. Duties included company re-branding, heading team to redevelop 200-plus page print and online catalogues. Developed new sales and customer programs to secure developing markets in the region such the megayacht market and secure 'bread and butter' clientele such as the world cruising community.

• As an editor of several publications, management duties included 'the buck stops here' roles – directing freelance writers and photographers and ensuring deadlines were met. Quality copy was produced to create successful publications.

• Skippering crewed sailboats over oceans over 15 years entailed many critical management skills including emergency and lifesaving training, ensuring of adequate food stores and water, storm preparation and coordination of crew (morale, competence, and compatibility) for transoceanic voyages. - Software

• Graphic design software knowledge includes Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Distiller, Pagemaker, and Indesign. I have also worked with Quark Xpress, Coreldraw, Corelpaint and Corel Ventura. Macromedia for website design and management skills include Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX and Flash MX. Coding skills include PHP and HTML.

• Open source community/publishing software I have worked with includes phpNuke, Postnuke, Mambo, Drupal, Joomla, phpBB, Pligg, Loudblog, XOOPS, b2evolution, WordPress, osCommerce, Activecollab, PunBB, SMF, Moodle, Coppermine, Gallery, MediaWiki, WikkaWiki, and PhpGedView.

socIAL MEDIA

•Well versed in Social Media Strategy - and how companies and commercial ventures can best utilize new communication methods and software (Open Source and Proprietary) to build on their internal workflow. External Social Media skills include Brand enhancement via social media as well as brand watch and analyses using Radian6.

Writing

• Key media skills include a solid writing ability ranging from editorials, reviews, hard news or investigative reportage. Career highlights as a writer include a term as one of the Caribbean's first restaurant reviewers, investigative reports on human smuggling, the rise of the Chinese mafia, the rise of tourism crime, and complicities between the cocaine trade and police in the Caribbean. I also worked in the Canadian Native Press where I interviewed Roberta Bondar ( Canada 's first woman astronaut), and disseminated the Charlottetown Accord for a predominantly Native and Inuit audience in Canada 's Northwest Territories. Was also one of the first seafaring journalists in the world to write about hitchhiking around the world by finding rides on yachts… an article I sold extensively in the eighties and nineties.

Prepress/Production/Design/Coding/Database/Server

• Skills include advertising, logo and publication design, fine-tuning and editing of digital images, layout using all top DTP programs, in-depth knowledge of colour formats (CMYK-RGB), DPI, bleeds etc, and ripping film on film setter for press. Last publication worked on was converted to PDF and sent through the internet via FTP to printery in Florida for printing and binding. I have also designed scores of websites over the years – since 1997. In 2003 I turned to database driven sites and have developed a wide array of skills in the relationship of PHP and SQL. Since starting my own hosting company in early 2007 with co-located servers in Groningen’s Zernike Park – I have also expanded my skill-set to Linux and general server operations.

Experience

2002 - 2007
Online Community Publisher - Webmaster
Groningen, Netherlands
• Create and design online communities

2002 – 2003
Senior Publicist
Godfather Media
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Guided Public Relations for Godfather Records Artists, Producers and Engineers. Concert promotion in alliance with R&R Productions included Joe Bonamassa, Nigel Williams and Shaggy. Utilized pan-Caribbean media contacts to push events successfully.

2002
Supplements Editor - Investigative Reporter
Today Newspaper
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Conceptualized, designed, laid-out, reported, photographed and headed all of Today's supplements including a weekly entertainment magazine, Carnival, World Environmental Day, and the visiting of the Dutch Royalty etc. Also broke major investigative stories on human smuggling, the Chinese mafia, the rise of tourism crime, and the cocaine trade and police in St. Maarten.

1999 – 2002
Marketing Director
Island Water World
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Spearheaded re-branding of company… a complete overhaul of Island Water World's image and presentation to the public. Designed and led catalogue effort with over 20,000 products in 200 pages in print – and online in PDF at islandwaterworld.com. Implemented new marketing strategies focussing on the bigger boat market with a Megayacht Program and the strengthening of companies' relationship with cruising yachtsmen in the form of a Cruising Club Discount Card Program.

1997– 2002
Owner
Caribbean Webwizards
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Owner and operator of company specialising in website creation and production. Designed, managed and marketed over 20 websites in this period for a number of clients in the Caribbean region.

1999
Managing Editor
What's ON Entertainment
St. Martin, French Antilles
• Start-up and lead position of successful biweekly entertainment magazine focussing on nightlife, activities, music and art and culture on the island of St. Maarten. Duties included writing articles, photography, and herding of freelancers for What's On. Highlights included articles on parachuting, eating out once a week as a roving restaurant critic and in-depth articles on Caribbean musicians.

1998 – 1999
Marketing Manager
Budget Marine
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Upgraded and added to 300 page marine parts catalogue and designed website for leading chandlery in Caribbean. Also created all signage and handled basic merchandising duties for 10 stores in the Caribbean.

1997 – 1998
Content Producer
Erlington Trust
Editor
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Content producer and editor for offshore media projects of Erlington Trust, a St. Maarten-based investment company. Duties included creation of glossy 60 page magazine called "Such is Life", and the management of www.suchislife.com, an early Caribbean web portal… also involved in extensive internet research projects for the company.

1994 – 1995
English Editor
St. Martin's Week
St. Martin, French Antilles
• English Editor and photographer for St. Martin's Week, a weekly bilingual newspaper based in Marigot on French St. Martin. Included covering the tourist and English-speaking 'expat' communities as well as working in production with photo-editing and layout. 199 – 2002 Contributor All at Sea
St. Martin, French Antilles
• Regular contributor for the Caribbean's largest boating publication, All at Sea. Wrote feature articles based out of St. Martin. 1992 – 1993 Staff Reporter Slave River Journal
Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada
• Staff Reporter and photographer for the Slave River Journal, a weekly newspaper based in Fort Smith, N.W.T. covering Native issues (Charlottetown Accord), culture and small town life in the Canadian Arctic.

1989-2002
Freelance Writer
England, Canada, United States
• Freelance writer/photographer/researcher for publications including BBC World Radio, Great Expeditions Magazine, Pacific Yachting, Cut-To Entertainment, and Southern Cross.

Facts

DOB – September 18, 1967 – New Westminster, BC, Canada
Married with three children - Dual Citizen of Canada and The Netherlands

Education

1992 - 1993
Western Academy of Photography - VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Diploma in Photography-Journalism