October Intercom focuses on perspectives, especially generational ones, with a theme borrowed from The Who, “Talkin’ ’Bout My Generation.” In four articles on generations, including Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, the authors provide their perceptions of how interpersonal and business relationships benefit when nurturing the differences in traits and skill sets between generations.
Through personal interviews, Paul Duarte looks at how Millennials (or Gen Y) have discovered technical communication, their changing views of the field upon entering it, their mentor-mentee relationships, and their advice for others. Danielle Villegas offers her perspective as a Gen X or what is known as the “transitional generation.” She emphasizes the experience and versatile skills Gen X-ers bring to the workplace. She also tackles the issue of ageism the generation faces, arguing that Gen X and Gen Y make the strongest teams when they combine their talents.
Johanne Lavallee and Joanne Vidal explain the strengths of their work relationship as Gen X and Baby Boomer colleagues. They specifically remark on the importance of shedding stereotypes and learning from the unique work styles of other generations. And from the business perspective, Chief Marketing Officer Oded Ilan at Iridize has written an article on Millennial employee training and effective onboarding practices.
Other content in this issue includes an article from Professor Jessica McCaughey on strategies for mentoring writers in business settings. She provides practical techniques from proven classroom strategies for helping employees improve their writing. Aaron Dawson also writes from an educational perspective—that of lifelong learning for technical communicators. He argues that technical writers can retool their inquisitive natures for ongoing self-improvement through three solutions: markup languages, storytelling, and ongoing competency. In addition, Jessica Kreger tells us how we can transfer our technical editing skills in the finance world; and Brian Lindgren provides us with several striking examples of where the use of numbers has been misguided in technical documentation.
This issue also includes an update from Technical Communication journal editor Dr. Sam Dragga; an interview by Scott Abel of cognitive scientist Dr. Carmen Simon; and a witty piece from STC member Tammy Van Boening.
I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as I enjoyed editing it. Please send your feedback to the us on Intercom Online.
