TechWhirl: Technical Communication Recap for March 29, 2013

[TechWhirl Admin <admin -at- techwhirl -dot- com>]

TechWhirl celebrates 20 years of conversation, debate, and knowledge
sharing during March, having started as the first email discussion list for
technical writers back in March of 1993. Our technical communication recap,
including this week’s technical communication
poll<http://techwhirl.com/technical-communication-poll-vital-conversations-technical-writing/>shows
how some questions, and the ensuing debate, seem to be eternal. Like
the “Purpose of Tech Comms
Today”<http://www.techwr-l.com/archives/1303/techwhirl-1303-00252.html#.UVW08BzCaSo>thread,
started by Steve Janoff, which asks whether technical communication
has a chance in the face of instantaneous searches, user forums and such.



At TechWhirl, we believe that it’s already a part of technical
communication, and managing the flow of communications between
organizations and their stakeholders requires more than the ability to ask
questions and write procedures or reference material. It’s why we have
other recurring discussions on the roles, the skills, and the trends that
make up this industry. Just as in so many other areas of business—and
life—the rule “adapt or die” seems to come into play. Mark Baker, who is
often referenced in this thread, wrote a popular and comment-generating
piece for TechWhirl about a New Doctrine of Technical
Communication<http://techwhirl.com/its-time-for-a-new-doctrine-of-technical-communications/comment-page-1/>,
which is recommended reading for those wondering how to adapt to search
engine optimization, curation versus creation, customer experience, mobile
and other trends.



While you’re at it, take a look at Craig Cardimon’s Tech Writer This
Week<http://techwhirl.com/tech-writer-this-week-for-march-28-2013/>curation,
and go vote in the poll. And if you haven’t seen our Fast
5 interview with Jennifer White and Mike Hamilton of MadCap
Software<http://techwhirl.com/fast-5-madcap-flare-9-madworld-2013/>,
it might help you decide where to spend your tools and conference dollars
this year.



Our TechWhirl archive (http://techwr-l.com) of technical communication
discussions is updated every day, and you can actually go all the way back
to the first posts back in 1993 to see what was coming up in conversation
during the dotcom boom and since. It’s fascinating, and helps us look
forward to what the next 20 years will bring.



Have a great weekend!

-Connie and the gang at TechWhirl
In Case You Missed it: This Week @ TechWhirl

*New features and articles on http://TechWhirl.com <http://techwhirl.com/>**
:*


   - Tech Writer This Week, March 28, 2013, by Craig Cardimon |
   http://bit.ly/XJr17t
   - Technical Communication Poll: Recurring and Vital Conversations on
   Technical Writing | http://bit.ly/YRYKec
   - TechWhirl Fast 5: MadCap Flare 9 & MadWorld 2013, by Connie Giordano |
   http://bit.ly/11wWUqv

*Technical Communication news on
http://TechWhirl.com/news<http://techwhirl.com/news>
:*


   - MindTouch Launches Product Experience Platform: LightSpeed Framework |
   http://ow.ly/2vNcsQ
   - evolphin software Launches Zoom 4.0 for Content Management / Workflow
   Automation| http://ow.ly/2vLSff

Social Media and the Chance to Follow TechWhirl:

   - Our Google Plus Page – what’s happening behind the scenes |
   http://goo.gl/SO0R4
   - Will you be our Friend? Please, you know you want to click |
   http://goo.gl/tDrW7
   - Want all this TechWhirl goodness a few characters @ a time |
   http://goo.gl/itjDg
   - Updates from TechWhirl delivered to your email in box |
   http://bit.ly/tjshxU
   - Or, try our RSS feed (great on Flipboard) | http://goo.gl/msLzu

SPONSOR-Luv

We want to send a very special “thank you” to our sponsors for their
support.



*Platinum*: Adobe Systems
Incorporated<http://www.runaware.com/clients/adobe/techsuite/>

*Gold: *ComponentOne Software <http://bit.ly/doc-to-help>,* *Madcap
Software<http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/flare/overview.aspx#whatsnew>
**

*Silver*: Vancouver Island University <http://pr.viu.ca/techcomm/>

-- 



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