Re: INDUSTRY COMPETITIONS

Subject: Re: INDUSTRY COMPETITIONS
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 09:56:52 -0800


Anna Langley wrote:

What value is there really in
peer awards? I think for us it increases our credibility.

Granted, an award may make your company and your writers feel good. However, unless the judges are using your documentation in the way that it's intended, or have specific experience in your industry, their critiques will be of limited use.

In fact, I wonder whether an award will attract any business at all. In my observation, if people don't know anything about an award - and let's face it, tech-writing awards are going to be obscure to most non-writers - then they mostly just ignore it. It doesn't have much of an effect.

Generally, customer feedback is much more useful than an award. Customer feedback shows that the people who actually use your documentation appreciate it, and informed praise always means much more than uninformed praise. I think your writers can get just as much praise and internal justification from customer feedback as from awards. As for credibility, a few quotes and case studies will go much further than an award.

--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

"Here's to you, whoever you may be,
You who held me up while I was sinking in the sea,
If you were in Kiltartan, and me in Katmandu,
I still would not forget you, and I'd do the same for you."
- OysterBand



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RE: INDUSTRY COMPETITIONS: From: Anna Langley

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