Category: Industry News

Aug 20

Lessons from Linda: Language is Fun

Years ago, I had the fortune to meet someone I believe to be a 20th Century Renaissance Man (if there could be such a mixture): Stephen Jay Gould. In 2000, Dr. Gould received an STC Honorary Fellowship. (I led the committee who championed him to the STC Board of Directors.) A gentleman of grace and charm, he joined our conference in Orlando at Disney World where I had the honor of meeting him, dining with him, and introducing him to our members. It was one of the great experiences of my life. To this day, I treasure those few hours as ones that helped me recognize the beauty and benefits of good technical communication.

Aug 06

Letter from the UK: Writing Manuals for Paul Revere

One of the things we have a lot of, here in the UK, is recorded history. Over the weekend, I discovered our family is directly related to Henry Copland (1706-1754). Henry was an engraver and rococo designer of furniture, and, it turns out, he was also the co-author of a book called A New Book of Ornaments. This book was a manual for other engravers and furniture designers, such as Paul Revere, on how to create items in the Rococo style.

Jul 23

Linda’s Lessons: When is Good Enough Good Enough?

We often hear that something is “good enough.” I used to consider that phrase derogatory. In fact, working as often as I have within the government, I have always hated the phrase, “good enough for government work.” As a proud professional, I like to think that my work is error-free. I know most writing and editing rules and I try to follow them, yet sometimes, mistakes happen! As a new technical communicator, I had little flex about what was right and what was wrong. Back then, I had the luxury of working in a job where my talents were appreciated and the company didn’t focus on next quarter’s share prices. Combine that environment with my brand-new, college-degreed book-learning, and my only choice was to strive for perfection.

Jul 11

Letter from the UK: User Documentation as a Marketing Tool

Life would be so much easier for technical communicators if user documentation wasn’t seen as expense, and, instead was seen as a way to generate income for the organisation. So I was very interested when I heard Michael Priestley, enterprise content technology strategist and lead DITA architect at IBM, mention the value of user documentation as a sales tool in his presentation at the Congility 2014 conference.

Jun 02

Villegas Views: 2014 STC Summit was HOT!!

My perspective this year was different since it was my second Summit. While there were some things I knew to expect, I had some new experiences, too. My anxieties about meeting people were lessened, as I knew a lot of attendees. I made an attempt to say at least a “hello” to everyone I knew. (If I missed you, I’m sorry! Next time!) I made new friends as well.  From a social aspect, this year was easier because I had befriended so many people from last year’s Summit. I never had to be by myself, and there was always good conversation going on around me.

May 30

From Mashable: "10 Crazy Jobs That Will Exist in the Future"

Late last month the website Mashable put up a blog post titled “10 Crazy Jobs That Will Exist in the Future,” with entries such as “nostalgist” and “rewilder” and “end of life therapist.”

Nestled in the 10, however, were a couple positions that don’t need to wait for the future—and really aren’t that crazy, either. They’re just part of technical communication.

May 15

Letter from the UK: Mapping Technical Communicators

Sarah Maddox will be soon speaking at the STC Summit on API Technical Writing: What, Why, and How. She recently posted an article on her blog on how she has used APIs to create an interactive map showing technical communication events around the world. This in turn prompted me to look at whether I could create a map showing the location of Technical Authors around the UK. You can see the map here: Cherryleaf Survey—Location of Technical Authors map.

May 14

Talking Usability: What I Learned as a Competition Judge

I was in a meeting with a client reviewing my user guide for use in training users on a new system in development. The client asked why my user guide did not have the same layout and design as the legacy user guide. Before I answered, my mind flashed back to earlier this year when I was a judge in the Society’s international publication competition, better known as the STC International Summit Awards.