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heather rule

Twin Cities, Minn. 55304
612.306.6106 • [email protected]
@hlrule • www.heatherrule.com • #WrittenRuleOfSports

Experience

In-game social media coordinator, Mpls., Minn.
Minnesota Twins
March 2021 to February 2024
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball’s American League.
Major League Baseball Advanced Media
June 2015 to February 2021
MLBAM distributes content through all forms of interactive media for 30 MLB teams.
Watched all Minnesota Twins baseball games and updated the team’s Twitter/X account @Twins with scoring plays, stats, graphics, GIFs and videos. Posted box score graphics to team social media.

Helped grow the @Twins Twitter/X account from 302,000 followers to more than 700,000.
Established use of the #TwinsWin hashtag for content surrounding Twins victories.

Freelance sports writer
December 2010 to present
Bylines published with:

Writes about various sporting events including multiple Minnesota boys’ and girls’ state tournaments, Minnesota Wild games and PWHL women’s hockey. Writes feature stories and profiles about athletes.

“Working with Heather and around her for several years, I am lucky to witness her work ethic, knowledge, and ability to tell stories.” – Nathan Wells, freelance sports writer

Minnesota Hockey Magazine
Minnesota hockey coverage at various levels reaches at least 40,000 readers through digital platforms and print editions.
Executive editor
St. Paul, Minn.
September 2023 to present
Assigned hockey feature stories for the website and four magazine issues throughout the season. Managed nine writers/columnists. Edited, published and shared stories on social media.

Published more than 120 stories and photo galleries to online and print publications.
Helped expand coverage for more consistent weekly content on the website.
Created a calendar/Google documents/spreadsheets to keep content assignments organized.

Features, Minnesota Wild beat writer
St. Paul, Minn.
February 2015 to September 2023
Covered state high school hockey tournaments and Minnesota Wild games. Produced game coverage and feature stories for online and print publications.

Wrote a feature story on Olympic goaltender Maddie Rooney during her high school career.
“Skilled, versatile and hard-working performer.” “… ability to repeatedly deliver clean, professionally-written copy while meeting or exceeding deadlines.” – Brian Halverson, past

Fergus Falls Daily Journal
The Daily Journal was a six-day-a-week printed newspaper with a 6,200 circulation that provided area news to residents in Fergus Falls and surrounding communities in Otter Tail County.
News reporter
Fergus Falls, Minn.
February 2013 to August 2014
Covered the crime and city beats, along with general assignment reporting and photography. Updated the newspaper website and sent out daily email updates. Copy edited pages daily.

2015 Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists Page One Award winner: 3rd place for Arts & Entertainment Story (Newspaper).
Exposed questionable closed city council meetings related to the Minnesota Open Meeting Law.
Provided the sports editor and reporter with a tutorial on maintaining their Twitter accounts.
Created breaking-news website updates during the Boston Marathon bombing, and then interviewed a local runner via text messages for a story.
Maintained strong and trusting relationships with sources.

Albert Lea Tribune
This 24/7 news outlet provides local news to Albert Lea and nearby residents.
Sports reporter (part-time)
Albert Lea, Minn.
January 2013 to February 2013
Covered local prep sports. Interviewed players and coaches and wrote stories. Took photos at local sporting events. Published stories and photos on the website. Wrote weekly news features.

Dedicated around 30 hours/week to the position that started as 10 to 20 hours/week.

Post-Bulletin Co., LLC
The Austin Post-Bulletin was a six-day-a-week newspaper with about 7,800-circulation providing coverage to Austin and surrounding communities in Mower County.
News reporter
Austin, Minn.
March 2011 to December 2012
Reported on the city, education and general assignment beats. Also took photos and covered spot news.

Caught the local HRA in violation of Minnesota Open Meeting Law and wrote a series of stories.
Assisted a co-worker with setting up her Twitter account and gave her a tutorial on usage.
Maintained strong and trusting relationships with sources.

Star Tribune
The Star Tribune is the state’s No. 1 local source for news, information and events. It’s read by 1.4 million adults weekly in print and online editions.
Sports copy aide (part-time)
Mpls., Minn.
December 2009 to February 2011
Answered phones and recorded sports results. Entered box scores onto designated websites. Created weekly stats leader lists for the print editions.

“Heather did a great job and was very dependable… She is suited to a variety of different tasks and can be trusted with all of them.” – Michael Rand, supervisor.
Covered the 2010 girls’ tennis state tournament and adapted soccer state tournament.

North American Membership Group (currently SCOUT Media)
Digital media network SCOUT operates web, print and television properties focusing primarily on male enthusiasts. Its multi-platform delivery includes more than 300 web destinations and a 21-million-deep customer list.
Website content manager
Minnetonka, Minn.
January 2009 to December 2009
Maintained five magazine websites. Edited and loaded articles with photos. Organized member profiles and updated them online daily. Updated website polls and surveys.

Supervisor Tony Capecchi, about Heather: “Her work ethic was exemplary… No matter how many projects were thrown her way, Heather always completed them, without complaint, at an extremely high level.

Sports blogger
June 2009 to present
Thoughts from the Stands
Thoughts from the Stands is a sports blog that started to keep up Heather’s writing skills. It has more than 128,000 total page views.
Composes blog entries typically ranging from about 400 to 800 words sharing opinions and results about sports including baseball, hockey, IndyCar racing and high school athletics.

Wrote three 14-part series with movie commentary for the movies “A League of Their Own,” “The Rookie” and “Angels in the Outfield”
Comments from readers: “Very thoughtful and heartfelt. Excellent job!” “This was heartfelt. Your article was very meaningful for me.” “Perfectly said.”

The Aquin newspaper – University of St. Thomas
September 2005 to December 2008
St. Paul, Minn.
This student-run, 12-page newspaper was published weekly with the latest news from around campus.

Sports editor
September 2007 to December 2008
Provided editorial direction and managed three staff writers weekly. Compiled sports briefs for each edition. Assigned sports previews, recaps and feature stories. Copy edited stories using AP style.

Paid position with an average of 15 hours weekly.
“She took initiative to improve her writers’ skills by pointing out common mistakes and suggesting improvements.” – Michael Wilcox, Aquin editor.
Created a document about the details of writing a good sports story for writers’ reference.

Staff writer
September 2005 to May 2007
Wrote 650 to 800-word stories weekly covering news and sports on the St. Thomas campus. Conducted at least three interviews per story with students, coaches and faculty. Built relationships with sources.

Always submitted stories to editors by the Sunday evening deadline.
Chose a variety of sports stories to write about, fueling the passion for sports reporting.

PART-TIME FREELANCE WORK

Freelance writer
May 2023 to present
MN Cities Magazine
League of Minnesota Cities, St. Paul, Minn.
The mission of the League of Minnesota Cities includes promoting excellence in local government.
Writes in-depth feature stories focused on Minnesota cities and newsworthy projects or topics they have going on in their areas.

Interviews with city sources revealed tips and practical information for other cities to learn.

Children’s book author
September 2016 to present
Red Line Editorial
Mendota Heights, Minn.
Partners with schools to better prepare students for their future in college, career and life.
Writes non-fiction sports books geared toward children in elementary and middle school.

Researched sports topics before writing a total of 12 children’s books.
Multiple books are available for students to check out at the Crooked Lake Elementary School media center in Andover, Minn.

Freelance writer
April 2020 to present
Otter Tail Lakes Country Magazine
Fergus Falls, Minn.
The magazine is an annual publication focusing on the people and venues showcasing all Otter Tail County offers for residents, tourists and visitors.
Writes brief feature stories highlighting tourism and attractions in Otter Tail County for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 magazines.

30,000 copies are distributed to more than 500 regional locations, including the Mall of America.

Let’s Play Everyday podcast panelist
September 2021 to May 2022
Let’s Play Everyday Sports Network
Mpls., Minn.
The home for sports podcasts, covering hockey, football, local sports and more, featuring host Tim McNiff along with rotating panelists.
Joined Tim McNiff and two or three other sports-minded, rotating panelists once or twice a week via video platform to discuss the biggest local and national sports stories of the day.

Discussed the Minnesota Vikings, Twins, Wild, Timberwolves and Gophers with panelists Jessi Pierce, Darrell Thompson and Andy Greder, among others.
Shared my expertise on niche sports areas, like high school sports and IndyCar racing

Social media manager
November 2015 to January 2020
Fox Nutrition and Diabetes Services
Andover, Minn.
Fox Nutrition & Diabetes is a small business assisting people with healthier eating habits, weight management and overall diabetes care.

Updated and monitored Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ pages with links, articles and photos.
Copy edited and published provided content for monthly e-newsletters via iContact.

Blogger
February 2015 to May 2017
StoryTeller Media + Communications
St. Louis Park, Minn.
StoryTeller is an inbound marketing and video production company that focuses on telling stories.
Wrote 450 to 500-word blog entries for StoryTeller clients, mostly Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Used internet research to learn more about set topics, like event planning, to write informal blogs.

Marco Andretti Examiner
March 2010 to October 2010
Examiner.com
Examiner.com was a news and entertainment network with more than 20 million readers per month.
Watched IndyCar races and wrote three stories per week (66 stories total) about IndyCar driver Marco Andretti using the Examiner publishing tool. Polished stories with copy editing, choosing photos and adding text links.

Attended the Mid-Ohio race to draw on the experiences and take photographs for the stories.

Copy editor
November 2009 to June 2010
InsideHockey.com
This website covers all NHL teams, as well as NCAA hockey, the AHL and ECHL.
Copy-edited stories and published them to the Inside Hockey website. Made sure the writing structure was sound for hockey stories.

Fact-checked names and statistics for stories posted within separate four-hour time frames.

Color commentary broadcaster
November 2008 to February 2009
Minnesota Sports Broadcasting Network
St. Paul, Minn.
MSBN Sports Network runs broadcasts online for multiple sports from youth to college and the pros.
Broadcasted seven St. Thomas women’s hockey games as a color analyst. Worked alongside play-by-play commentators to create informative broadcasts.

Used knowledge gained by watching hockey to comment on the plays as they developed.

Sports intern
Summers, 2007 and 2008
Sun Focus newspapers
Osseo, Minn.
The Sun Focus published local news for residents in Blaine, Spring Lake Park and Fridley.
Wrote sports stories weekly. Interviewed coaches, athletes and community members. Composed season previews, profiles and stories on 5K community runs.

Covered large events including the Senior PGA 3M Championship and Schwan’s USA Cup.
The sports editor said the stories required less editing than those from more seasoned reporters.

skills

education

University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, Minn.
B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication, English minor

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