diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b93fa1efc..c0e189c4e 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ notifications:
 env:
   global:
     - BINTRAY_REPO_OWNER=ibm-cloud-sdks
-    - BINTRAY_REPONAME=ibm-cloud-sdk-repo
-    - BINTRAY_PKGNAME=com.ibm.cloud:sdk-core
+    - BINTRAY_REPO_NAME=ibm-cloud-sdk-repo
+    - BINTRAY_PKG_NAME=com.ibm.cloud:sdk-core
 
 branches:
   except:
@@ -59,4 +59,4 @@ deploy:
 # Ask bintray to sync the just-deployed artifact to maven central
 after_script:
 - '[ "${TRAVIS_TAG}" != "" ] 
-  && build/sync2MC.sh $BINTRAY_USER $BINTRAY_APIKEY $BINTRAY_REPONAME $BINTRAY_PKGNAME $TRAVIS_TAG'
+  && build/sync2MC.sh $BINTRAY_USER $BINTRAY_APIKEY $BINTRAY_REPO_OWNER $BINTRAY_REPO_NAME $BINTRAY_PKG_NAME $TRAVIS_TAG'
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 08230b5ce..3b7a728ab 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -14,6 +14,25 @@ If you want to contribute to the repository, here's a quick guide:
   4. Commit your changes  
   5. Push to your fork and submit a pull request to the **master** branch
 
+# Creating a release
+
+To create a release from the most recent commit in the master branch, follow these steps:
+  1. In your local copy of the repo (a clone, not a fork), checkout the master branch:
+     ```
+          git checkout master
+     ```
+  2. Add the tag (this example creates the 1.2.0 tag):
+     ```
+          git tag 1.2.0
+     ```
+     Note: specify the appropriate three-level version # (1.2.0, 1.3.1, 2.0.0, etc.)
+  3. Push the tag to remote:
+     ```
+          git push --tags
+     ```
+     This will trigger a tagged build in Travis, which will perform the deployment steps to deploy the build outputs to bintray (and maven central) and the github project's `Releases` page.
+
+
 # Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
 
 By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
diff --git a/build/bintray-config.template b/build/bintray-config.template
index 26b941d3f..def1c799c 100644
--- a/build/bintray-config.template
+++ b/build/bintray-config.template
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 {
   "package": {
     "vcs_url": "https://github.com/IBM/java-sdk-core.git",
-    "repo": "${BINTRAY_REPONAME}",
+    "repo": "${BINTRAY_REPO_NAME}",
     "issue_tracker_url": "https://github.com/IBM/java-sdk-core/issues",
     "subject": "${BINTRAY_REPO_OWNER}",
     "website_url": "https://github.com/IBM/java-sdk-core",
-    "name": "${BINTRAY_PKGNAME}"
+    "name": "${BINTRAY_PKG_NAME}"
   },
 
   "version": {
diff --git a/build/sync2MC.sh b/build/sync2MC.sh
index e6e19e12a..695bf7294 100755
--- a/build/sync2MC.sh
+++ b/build/sync2MC.sh
@@ -4,25 +4,26 @@ if [ $# -lt 5 ]
 then
     echo "
  Syntax:  
-      $0 <bintray-user> <bintray-apikey> <bintray-reponame> <bintray-packagename> <bintray-packageversion>>
+      $0 <bintray-user> <bintray-apikey> <bintray-repo-owner> <bintray-reponame> <bintray-packagename> <bintray-packageversion>>
  Example:
-      $0 user1 A1098765 my-bintray-repo1 my-bintray-package 0.0.1
+      $0 user1 A1098765 my-bintray-org my-bintray-repo1 my-bintray-package 0.0.1
 "
 
  exit 1
 fi
 
-subject=$1
+user=$1
 apikey=$2
-reponame=$3
-pkgname=$4
-pkgversion=$5
+subject=$3
+reponame=$4
+pkgname=$5
+pkgversion=$6
 
 #set -x
 
 urlstring="https://api.bintray.com/maven_central_sync/${subject}/${reponame}/${pkgname}/versions/${pkgversion}"
 
-basicauth="${subject}:${apikey}"
+basicauth="${user}:${apikey}"
 
 echo "
 Executing curl command..."