RE: know your ... who?

["technical writing plus" <doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

Methink that this mantra means know what your readers are like in the sense
of knowing what the audience is like -- and not that the writer should know
them personally. Altho there is a benefit to the latter. But it can hardly
ever be arranged, of course. 

Yours was a humorous message though.

Jim Jones

-----Original Message-----
Whenever people (on this list and elsewhere) earnestly utter "know your
readers/users", I have to chuckle.

On the days when I need a break from the techy stuff, it amuses me to
wonder how I would go about knowing them. 

I will never meet them. I will never talk to them. I will never
correspond with them via e-mail. 

If/when they visit our location, they are business people and very
senior engineers, not the technical grunts (who stay back home in
Europe, India, Korea, Australia, Japan, working in their labs and server
rooms), and they meet with selected staff members here for specific
business purposes.

With one exception that I know, none of the customers has a branch
office in my city. Well, the banks and some governments do, but ...

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

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.