Re: Re[2]: one-person

[Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>]

Eric Ray invites the rest of us to jump in:


>      What do those of you who didn't start in this sort of
>      environment think about that? Obviously none of us
>      started in both environments...what does it look like
>      from the other side of the street?

The people who have responded so far about being the only technical
communicator at a company have cited job satisfaction, exposure to all
facets of the work, minimal dillution of praise (when things go right)
and so on as reasons why they are happy. I am happy for them.

I have never been the only one. I entered this profession at a
relatively late stage of my, ahem, career-path, and had a bunch of
experience in *other* professions wearing numerous hats.

Being a one man band might be good for folks with that youthful pizzazz
still evident in their respective steps. Us old guys prefer the sedate
pleasure of mooing along with the rest of the herd.....NOT.

Even though there is a certain amount of support from the other writers
here, I still have ample opportunity to wear a wide variety of different
hats. However, they are hats I choose to wear, championing causes or
performing work I choose to pursue, in addition to my project and
committee work. That's nice.

It's also nice to face problems with the knowledge that others have
faced them before, and can offer advice. Peer reviews are *very* nice -
it is a pleasure to be able to grow *and improve* as a writer by having
*better* writers analyze my work.

Having staff editors and proofreaders is a *joy*. Well, sometimes it not
actually a joy, but overall it's better than doing it myself.

Working on teams effectively is a tricky skill. Managing teams is a
trickier skill. Writing books by myself as a member of a group, which is
one of many writing and editing groups, can be a little lonely, but
nothing like being the only one (I imagine).

I *do* get to write in a variety of forums. Let's see; I had a reference
manual out in April, a technical report out in August, am currently
planning a usage guide due out first quarter next year (did some figures
last week using xfig ), have a journal article out for technical review,
have contributed to an internal set of GUI standards and guidelines
currently out for technical review, serve on a committee studying
marketing of online products, a task force studying price policy in
general, and a committee producing internal doc for capturing screens.
Additionally, I peer review a *bunch* of stuff, am working on a time
budgeting and tracking system for project managers, and also am studying
ways to get example code and executables from manuals online for users.
This seems to be enough variety for me 8-).

Hey, I forgot my contributions to this list (such as they are; I know,
some of *you* wish you could forget my contributions to this list too
8-).

I sort of like having the support of other writers. We've got a couple
of ringers here too, though, just like every place else. But my company
both encourages and rewards initiative and innovation, so I still have
the opportunity to make things up as I go along. I think it's a good
mix. And if things get dicey, I can usually scare up some help. Also, if
things get dicey for some other writer here, I can pitch in and help out
too. If I want to.

On the whole, although some situations are better than others, you
usually get out of any job about what you put into it. Doesn't matter if
you're the only one or not. And there are plusses and minuses to each, I
guess.

Ok, I'm finished.

|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer | "Hardcopy is the ultimate backup!" |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA|   -John Sanders                    |
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| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|