This page includes testimonials for my work as a writer, editor, and digital marketeer. These testimonials can also be found via my LinkedIn profile.
Lancaster University
‘Mike is incredibly hardworking with a phenomenal range of technical, editorial and creative skills. He has proved absolutely invaluable to the team and has quickly developed a reputation within the University that has led to more and more teams inviting him to lead on projects. I’d certainly recommend taking any opportunity you have to work with Mike.’
Luke Davis, Head of Internal Communications
‘At my time at Lancaster University, Mike was my academic tutor. He is one of the best tutors they have – he genuinely cares about all his students and tutees (every student in the marketing department wanted Mike to be their tutor) and supported me in my personal projects. He is a very smart, professional and kind tutor and lecturer. I’d recommend him for his work ethic and how much he cares about the people he works with and the depth and broadness of his marketing knowledge, Lancaster is very lucky to have him!’
Nikita Nielsen, former student, now at TBWA
Canterbury Christ Church University
‘I met Mike when he joined CCCU as a Faculty Web Editor and we went on to work closely together on a range of major projects, one of which was a full redesign and rebrand of the University’s web presence.
In the two years that he had this role, Mike not only excelled at the core elements of his job, including content migration, copywriting, stakeholder and project management, but undertook many other tasks beyond the scope of his role and championed our work to his Faculty. I think this highlights one of Mike’s core strengths, which is his ability to adapt to changing work priorities and successfully deliver projects critical to his employer’s success.
As a colleague, I always found that Mike was keen to share his knowledge with others. He was hardworking and efficient, never failing to meet deadlines and always able to juggle, with aplomb, the often conflicting demands of various stakeholders. Mike was a very valued member of our community of digital specialists and his legacy, in the form of a much more focused and relevant Faculty website, as well as a comprehensive web-writing style guide, remains to this day. I very much enjoyed working with Mike and I have great expectations of his future career.’
Ian Williams, Senior Web Developer
‘Mike has an insightful and intelligent approach to work which makes him a pleasure to work with. He has a rare ability to translate technical information in a way that is appropriate to his clients’ level of understanding and marketing needs. He has a keen eye for detail, is self-motivated and takes great pride in his work which ensures it is always of the highest quality.’
Juliet Need, Marketing Manager
‘I often work closely with Mike on creative and complex issues and have found him to be extremely knowledgeable, capable and somewhat of a perfectionist! He is always ready and willing to assist – often with issues outside of his remit – and I often seek out his expertise when I am presented with certain challenges. All in all: a pleasure to work with.’
Dom Sullivan, Operations Manager (Business School)
‘I am the Programme Director for the BSc policing in service at Canterbury Christ Church University. Mike helped me develop a blog for staff and students at the end of 2014. Mike was fantastically helpful, organised and proactive in his approach and also very patient with a beginner like me. The blog has been a huge success for the university and more widely in police circles and I couldn’t recommend Mike more highly. He has helped me develop themes for the blog and set up search terms to enable people to find relevant subject matter. I am quite sure that this would not have been such a roaring success without Mike’s time and input.’
Emma Williams, Programme Director, BSc Policing (In-Service)
EK Communications Ltd (EKC)
‘Judging by the work that I’ve seen Michael produce, I am convinced that he can write about an impressively broad range of subjects.
‘He has an amazing knowledge base from reading everything from classical literature to popular science to clinical journals, and is a keen analytical thinker.
‘Michael’s work ethic is second to none, his sense of professional responsibility is steadfast and he willingly guides colleagues through their work when help is needed.
‘His intellect and skills make Michael a valuable part of any team, and it has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside him.’
Faye Rhodes, Writer/Journalist (now Director of Copy at Havas SO)
‘I worked with Mike for just over two years at EKC, a PR company based in Kent. Mike is one of the most reliable, skilled and hard-working people I’ve ever met. A talented writer, he can turn his hand to any topic or medium with ease. Together with exceptional organisational and communication skills, Mike always meets the brief and the deadline. In fact, he often exceeds expectations.
‘When training new starters, Mike is patient and encouraging. His subordinates gain confidence quickly and flourish under his guidance. A true team player, he will go above and beyond on every project to make sure it succeeds.’
Liz Nicholls, Writer/Journalist
‘Having worked with Mike for over a year, I have found him to be a knowledgeable and forward thinking individual. When I first joined EKC he was set the task of training me, and under his guidance I learned quickly and was soon contributing as a fully functioning member of the team.
‘Mike is always glad to help out others and will make himself available should anybody in the office require his assistance.
‘He has gained a reputation at EKC for his attentiveness, hard work and enthusiasm for any project that he undertakes. His writing covers a range of topics but is always fresh, compelling and written to a high standard.’
Dan Good, Writer/Journalist
ChangYou.com
‘I have had the pleasure to work with Michael Ryder, and can easily say how great, strong and dedicated he is. His knowledge is vast and thorough; deadline and detail oriented, precise, efficient, proactive and ambitious.
‘Not only was he a key person in the team; he also was a great and strong open minded, friendly and helpful person who cares for everyone who surrounds him in and outside of the company and never hesitates in giving a hand to anyone.
‘His work was always a pleasure to read, and made a massive difference to the game community. I can honestly say that Michael’s work transformed our regular newsletters into something worth reading and looking forward to, and considering this is a newsletter we are referring to, that is an incredible feat!’
Soner Ali, QA / Turkish Localisation
‘Michael is a pleasant, self-motivated individual who backs up all of work with quality of the highest order. He is able to deliver assets and content on time, every time and you can be sure to get exactly what you asked for, plus more.
‘His grasp of the English language coupled with his knack for creative writing allowed him to re-vamp the entire website from scratch, thus giving it a complete new look and feel for Europe. He also took charge of developing content for events, the forum, the game and media where necessary.
‘Michael’s positive attitude towards work and his colleagues make him a joy to be around and if our paths ever cross again, I would be honoured to work alongside him again.’
Jonathan Lopera, PR Manager
LeNurb Magazine
‘Mike was one of my most trusted writers and a rock in the editing process. He ran a close election campaign against me and to his credit, when he was not successful, he chose to work with me which I was delighted with. It is a true credit to his personality and temperament that he didn’t sulk like others in the race but chose to help me improve student media.
He was diligent in his editing and was able to add a blend of professional journalism that as an Engineer I was lacking.
Aside from his work as sub-editor his writing was funny and breezy, able to paint a good picture of the anecdote he was relaying. His was always the first article in and was pretty much set into the layout as “Mike’s Page”
A true professional and I wish him all the best!’
Ben Moxey, LeNurb Editor