RE: Where do 'old' techwriters go to die? - is graduate school an answer?

["Giordano, Connie" <Connie -dot- Giordano -at- FMR -dot- COM>]

John,

For some folks it is an answer, for me it isn't, at least not now. Instead,
to remain challenged, I try not to limit myself to the tasks in my formal
job description. My motto since I've been in this field is "it's easier to
ask forgiveness than permission". I have lots of fun, creative and business
challenges in helping to design all information elements in an application.
I'd like to think it was visionary, and IMHO, there aren't enough
visionaries in any aspect of the high tech game, at least on the software
development side.

If you like the aspects of figuring out what the system should do, and how
to provide the user assistance in ways other than "traditional"
documentation, it's an avenue to consider.  Look for SIGs, websites,
conferences etc, that deal in information design, user assistance, and other
similar terminology. I imagine there are some grad programs under this big
umbrella as well.

My $.02

Connie Giordano
(who'd much rather be an envelope-pusher than a pencil-pusher) 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Eldard 

I want to apologize to those who might suggest that I am whining. I was
really just thinking out loud to the list and got a lot of great responses.
Thanks to all who responded on and off the list. I do go to conferences,
read the latest publications, use the latest technologies, but sometimes it
just doesn't seem like enough. Could I suggest that we are all just
exploring the same things again and again? Is it in our job descriptions to
be theorists and visionaries? Or are we just too busy getting the next
manual, web page, or help screen done? My next question is: for those of you
who are continuing your education beyond the Bachelor's program in
communications, would you suggest it as an answer to a need for challenge?