Re: Thoughts on respect

Subject: Re: Thoughts on respect
From: "Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 21:36:40 +1000


Andrew Plato wrote:

> 2. Focus on the core. Most companies don't care about fonts, documentation
> processes, information mapping, or STC conferences. They want good,
> meaningful content. Everything else is secondary and unimportant.

I personally have found this not to be true. Just goes to show that
you need to consider a variety of points of view.

With 20+ years in technical writing, I have found the following to be true:

1. Companies don't care about 'fonts' perhaps, but they do
want their publications to look appealing and professional,
and they may rely on you to know how to achieve that look.
In some cases, looks will take priority over content. You need
to learn how to balance conflicting priorities. At a minimum,
you will need to understand the basics of graphic design,
typography, and preparing materials for publication.

2. Documentation processes will often be a major issue. It
depends on the organization. I'd suggest that the more successful
the company, the more attention is paid to process. The days of
the cowboy are numbered.

3. Information mapping and other structured writing methodologies
are useful tools.

4. STC conferences can be beneficial.

5. People who claim to know what "most" companies "care about"
are talking through their hats.

--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


References:
Thoughts on respect: From: Andrew Plato

Previous by Author: Respect: Another approach
Next by Author: Re: Robohelp (on the Developer's Side)
Previous by Thread: Thoughts on respect
Next by Thread: OT--Need Adobe Acrobat Guru


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads