On the Write Road

Future trends. Structured content. Wikis. Book sprints. What do these buzz words have in common?  These were all topics I learned about while at the Society for Technical Communication (STC) Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia this year.

Since I hadn’t attended an STC conference in years, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. The conference was worth the money for two reasons: I met and networked with fellow technical communicators from all over the world and learned what the future of technical communication entails. 

Future Trends

One very interesting presentation, I attended was called The Future of Technical Communication: Remixby Barbara Giammona. In 2003, Barbara conducted a survey of 28 participants. In 2004 she published her findings in a research article in STC’s Technical Communication. Five years ago many writers had left the field and the outlook for our profession was gloomy. Because of these findings, Barbara concluded that we as a profession should do the following:

• Become part of the development and innovation processes.
• Launch a public relations campaign for our profession.
• Improve our professional societies.
• Become better business people and managers.
• Repackage ourselves for the future.

 In 2008, she sent this same survey out again and then presented her findings at the STC conference. Because times are even tougher now then they were five years ago, Barbara thinks her

“conclusions from five years ago still hold up today–with a little remixing to account for the changing times.”

Here is what Barbara thinks we should be trying to do in the next five years:

• Information Gratification–gratify our user’s need for personal, immediate content by understanding how “real” people are delivering and receiving information in their everyday lives.
• Value, Value, Value–show a company that its information is an asset and that we as communicator’s are the guardian of that asset.
• Solutions–start being an information solutions provider.
• Advocacy–advertise to others in a company that you contribute to the company’s bottom line and are a valuable asset.

Current Trends

Single-sourcing and Content Management

Barbara found many on the survey were using single-sourcing and content management systems to author and produce their documentation. In addition, she found that

“the delivery of paper manuals with products has been replaced by the delivery of online materials in various formats.”

Wikis and Collaborative Tools

Five years ago not many writers were using wikis to create documentation. Today several survey participants indicated that they were involved in collaborative authoring using a wiki.

Outsourcing/Offshoring

Outsourcing technical communication work continues. The demand for offshore writers from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Hungary, Germany, China, and Canada is growing.

Summary

I think the conclusion is that as technical communicators we must continue to evolve with the times. Those that do will continue and succeed and those that don’t will have to look for a new profession. (See more of my opinion on this topic in Are Technical Writers an Endangered Species?

If you would like more information on Barbara’s findings, see her article “The Future of Technical Communication: Remix” in Intercom (the magazine of STC) dated May 2009.

When I told my partner Adrienne that I was writing a column about kudos, she said, “Great! What’s a kudo?”
“A kudo,” I replied, “Hmmm. Kudos … words of praise for a job well done.” Is that all?

What?

My Random House College Dictionary circa 1980 defines kudos as “praise; glory.” I turned next to Wikipedia which defines it as fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement. Extending kudos to another individual is often done as a praising remark.

Where?

Where do they come from? Kudos for you as a technical communicator may traditionally come from bosses or project managers. On the TechProse Web site, I found a different twist. The kudos, also called testimonials, came from its consultants. Joy Montgomery, an East Bay STC member, starts her Web site, Structural Integrity, with kudos from the vice president of Operations. And the QES Corporation Web site displays kudos (which it calls letters) from their satisfied customers.

How?

How do you get people to write kudos? I’ve been gathering kudos for our Web site, and I can tell you one thing: Be sure to get your kudos right after doing a project or, perhaps, in the middle of a project. When you’re hot you’re hot, and when you’re not you’re not.

You may want to trade kudos with a boss or a peer. Luckily for me, I was able to e-mail the project manager from one of my last big projects. He was also looking for kudos for his work, so we agreed to trade.

You should also create an easy way for people to praise your work. Here are three suggestions:

Send out a simple three- or four-question survey. For example, Survey Monkey lets you create a free online survey. Include a free-form question about the documentation. Would you recommend Write on Time Solutions (WoTS) to a friend or associate? If so, what would you tell them about working with WoTS?

Provide an easy way for customers to e-mail their kudos to you. For example, on its Web site, QES Corporation solicits responses from satisfied customers, and includes a link to generate an e-mail message.

And, finally, since we are in the writing business, we can offer to write our own kudos. The lead writer at my last contract asked me to write the kudos, and he put his name to it.
No matter your source, be sure to ask for permission to post the kudos.

Why?

Why do you gather kudos? You gather kudos so that you can use them to market yourself. Sometimes it’s as simple as keeping e-mails that praise your work, your team’s work, or your company’s work. You can publish your kudos on your Web site, in your resume, and on social networking sites like LinkedIn, so that your customers can see the breadth of your work

So, let me end with this: How was my writing? Send your kudos to mbrumis@writeontimesolutions.com.

Have you heard all the buzz about the new theme called Thesis for your WordPress blog? Thesis is creating a lot of excitement because it is a theme that is totally customizable  and  offers strong search engine optimization (SEO). Why is this so cool? Well, because before Thesis, most bloggers only had the choice of getting a generic theme and making changes to it or getting a designer to create a custom theme for you.  With Thesis, you get a basic template in which you can build the theme look and layout you want using either the simple WISWIG menu or by changing the css or php pages.

Thesis Features

Here are some of the features you can select in the Thesis Design Option menu:

• layout (one, two, or three columns)
• sidebar placement
• side bar and content section size
• framework size (page or full size)
• fonts and font sizes
• feature box creation and placement
• post images and thumbnail positions

Here are some options you can customize in the Thesis Options Menu:

• site title
• archive page
• tagging
• syndication feed
• home page meta description
• post features such as author name, date, comments, categories
• RSS feed
• contents and placement of text for navigation menu
• multimedia box
• header and foot scripts

custom.css and custom_functions.php

If you want to make more changes, the designers have created dummy custom.css and custom_functions.php files for you to customize. To make changes without touching your custom/custom_functions.php, they have created a plugin called Thesis OpenHook. By unhooking or hooking layout elements you can change the layout of your blog.

Blogs Using Thesis

Many blogs are using Thesis now. Here are some blogs with beautiful designs using this theme:

Lisa Firke Wild Keys
Sarah Klass
Breadtopia
kristarella.com

Caveat

There is only one caveat to using this theme: if you are someone who is not comfortable designing and changing a blog design then this theme may not be for you. As I said early, you start with a bare theme so you will have to design and build your layout yourself. The good news is when you buy the theme, you get access to the DIY forum where you can find answers to your questions. In addition, there are plenty of other developers who have written articles on how to do certain customizations with Thesis. I am not an expert designer but I thought I did a nice job creating my new blog about horses called Riding Over the Hill.

Thesis Price

Thesis cost is relatively cheap: $87.00 for personal use (means you can only use this theme once) or developer’s option for $164.00 (means you get Unlimited use of the theme on any number of sites that you own and can remove the attribution link in the footer.)

 If you are interested in finding out more about this new theme go to http://diythemes.com/

Now a days a lot of writers are in an “in-between state” or what Shelley DeLuca of Freelancing:Bizia calls the state of “meanwhile.” DeLuca writes that Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary gives two meanings for the word as an adverb: 1) during the intervening time, and 2) at the same time.

For some, this is a waiting period caused by circumstances.  We may be waiting for something specific like a new client or job caused by a layoff or downturn in a certain business sector. Or waiting to make a decision because our profession is changing. For example, now some technical communicators must decide do they want to learn new skills to stay in the profession or do something else.

For a freelance writer running a business, it may be a time to rethink his or her business strategy in the current economy. In an article written by Michelle Rafter, Grant Plowman, owner of Interactive Media Publishing, a Medford, Oregon, e-learning tools company, suggests that freelancers review their strengths and weaknesses using an assessment technique called SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

If you are in this state, what should you do? Sit around and worry or do something useful?  I vote for being proactive. Here are my five recommendations:

1) Spend more time networking – Plan a lunch with someone you haven’t seen in a while or attend meetings with a professional or business club. The time you spend networking will make you feel productive and will boost your mood. In addition keeping in contact with others is a powerful marketing tool.

2) Update your skill sets – Take a local class on something you have an interest in learning. You can enroll in a writing, web, or business course. Not only will you be learning something that you can add to your resume but you will also be networking with others.

3) Pump up your sales and marketing – This type of economy means you will have to work harder to get new business. The clients are out their but you will have to search to find them. I like to think of it as a Where’s Waldo game. The client is Waldo hidden in a sea of people and distractions.

4) Think creatively – Your old way of finding clients may not work anymore. You may have to look in new industries or use new marketing tactics.

5) Start an exercise plan - Exercise helps you both physically and psychologically. You can join a gym or take pilates or yoga classes. If you don’t want to spend money, start a walking routine. I try to walk every day for about 40 minutes. My 40-minute jaunt helps clear my head, gets me out of the office, and keeps me fit.

What are you doing if you are in this state? Please tell me what has worked or not worked for you.

Photo by: SmilingStrong