Craig Bamford

Technology Journalist and Copywriter

I'm a technology journalist and copywriter, with my current "niche" being the growth of the Canadian private space sector.

Currently I work as the Startup and Business Reporter for SpaceQ (formerly Space Quarterly), the leading publication on the Canadian space sector and space industry. I provided content marketing and journalism for RE$EARCH MONEY, a specialist publication on research and innovation policy.

I've also done scriptwriting, ghostwriting, and web-focused copywriting for clients in both Canada and the United States.

Portfolio

Journalism

SpaceQ
12/09/2019
Questions Raised After Bankruptcy of CDL Graduate PTScientists

An example of my investigative journalism at SpaceQ. This was a feature-length investigation of the bankruptcy of PT Scientists, a high-profile graduate of the Creative Destruction Lab's new Space stream that nonetheless went into bankruptcy seemingly out of nowhere. I worked with confidential sources, SpaceQ's editor and publicly available material to piece together what may have happened to PT Scientists, and the potential issues in the CDL process that may have allowed for it to...

SpaceQ
07/16/2019
Pioneering Ryerson Rocketry Students in Conflict With Engineering School Administration - SpaceQ

This is one of my most popular pieces, discussing Ryerson rocketry students and their conflict with Ryerson administration over a plan to build their own rocket engine. The piece attracted a fair amount of attention, getting more readers in a few days than a SpaceQ story often manages in months. It also attracted the attention of other Canadian aerospace student groups, who started working with the Ryerson students to resolve common issues with administration.

SpaceQ
02/12/2018
The Billion-year Arch Library Riding Along with Elon Musk's Tesla in Space

This ended up being one of my most successful pieces for SpaceQ so far, with excellent view counts and share counts. The piece examines the "Arch Library" that was sent along with the Tesla Roadster into space by SpaceX. It was based on a mixture of interviews with Arch Foundation principals and research into their project. The piece was an early example of how I summarize information from a variety of different tech-related sources and relay it to general audiences.

SpaceQ
12/28/2017
Gaming Becoming a Respected Narrative Medium Led by Canadian Success Story BioWare

Before I started at SpaceQ, I had history of writing about computer and video gaming, including on my own site and on others'. I leveraged that to create this early piece for SpaceQ, which discusses the work of Edmonton-based BioWare's Mass Effect series, and how it reflects Canada's growing stature as a big player in the gaming market.

Technical Writing

Centre for Social Innovation Intranet
05/14/2019
Multimedia Driver Installation Instructions

Created driver installation instructions on the CSI Intranet on behalf of the Centre for Social Innovation's technology team. I first determined the proper installation procedures for each of CSI's three Toronto locations, which involved a variety of differing copier/printer stations and network topologies, for both Mac and Windows platforms. I then created simple step-by-step text instructions, ensuring that they'd be readable and understandable by non-technical audiences. Next, I...

Content Marketing

Innovation This Week
ITW: May 31, 2017

I created and edited Innovation This Week, providing a variety of content and channeling its free readers to the paid RE$EARCH MONEY newsletter, and contributed to it as the creator and editor of its "Notables" section which brings together free stories from throughout the Web to the audience and funnels readers to relevant R$ coverage. ITW continued until 2019. The attached entry is from May 31st, 2017, and features "Notables" stories about Zero Emissions Vehicles, Angel Investment, and...

Shirley M. Knight & Associates
02/15/2018
Pixar Studios and Polarity Management "Management Magic"

One of the blog entries for Shirley M. Knight's website, this was based on a LinkedIn post that she had put up previously. This "polarity" model is key to her consulting practice, so it needed to be done right. While retaining the basic flavor of Shirley's writing, I changed the layout so that it flowed better, and emphasized the innovative nature of her polarity model. I ensured that the metaphors she used remained consistent and easy to understand, and incorporated both images and...

Copywriting and Website Design

Necesse Naturals
Necesse Naturals

One of my ongoing relationships is with the all-natural skincare company Necesse Naturals. I've provided them with their front page website copy, as well as product descriptions and other promotional copy.

Supplementary Content

RE$EARCH MONEY
An Opportunity to Excel: Advancing Canada's New Innovation Agenda

I was asked to put together the online promotional material for the 2017 RE$EARCH MONEY Conference: "An Opportunity to Excel: Advancing Canada's New Innovation Agenda". Prior to the conference, I brought together images of the participants, incorporated and edited their biographies, incorporated and (slightly) edited panel descriptions and laid out the icons for each of the conference partners. After the conference was complete, I also incorporated supplementary materials, including...