Re: Leading and Bleeding Edge?

[Lonie McMichael <loniemc -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Hello, Susan:

Thank you for the info! We tell students who want to stay in The Springs
that they basically have two options: non-profit and government work. On
the tech side, those going to non-profits tend to use Microsoft and
anything free.

For government work, I actually know of one company who is exploring Flare
for their mobile apps, but most do use XML and DITA from what our former
students and industry contacts say. I didn't know about the weed situation,
though it makes sense. I will tell my students. Now I know why one of my
former students hated government work so much!

We do have a cadre on students who want to work in Denver and Boulder --
companies who are more innovative and focused on UX from what we can tell.
We are trying to prepare them for those possibilities the best we can with
the resources we have.

If you or any of your colleagues are interested, we would love to have you
come to our senior portfolios sometime. Also, please think of us if you are
looking for an intern or a beginning-level tech writer!

--Lonie

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On Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 9:43 PM, Susan Post <simariepost -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:

> Yep. That's how I felt. But  government work is a world of its own.
> There's an international standard  for government docs (S1000D) that is
> DITA-like in its concepts, but my understanding is that we are still years
> away from implementing its recommendations, if at all. I had an interesting
> discussion with this one senior tech writer I referred to, and he said the
> powers that be are not interested in change for the sake of saving money,
> time, or effort; most often, the government customer is content to not rock
> the boat. Another issue is that senior level managers and leads often rise
> through the ranks in private companies because of prior military
> experience. I can guarantee the TW basics used in private industry are most
> certainly not taught to those in the military tasked with writing technical
> documents.  If you've ever seen the military standards for document
> production, you'd know what I mean.
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jan 4, 2016, at 8:55 PM, Tom Johnson <tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> I have not come across any senior level tech writers who've ever even
> heard of or worked with DITA.
> >
> > Wow, it amazes me to read this. I can't imagine meeting a senior tech
> writer who is so unaware of basic information about the field he or she
> works in.
> >
> > ---------------------
> > blog: idratherbewriting.com
> > twitter: tomjohnson
> > email: tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com
> > cell: 408-540-8562
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