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> re: ... yes, you do have to get along with him [SME], but no, you do not
> have to do things his way (unless your boss tells you so)
>
> Pretty naive statement, I'd say. Whatever happened to "the customer is
> always right?" Sounds like the motor vehicle department. The tech writer's
> customer is always the SME. The external customer belongs to the SME, i.e.,
> the team or person designing the product. I don't think this formula varies
> from company to company.
Pretty narrow view of tech writing, I'd say. For me, it's the other way around
-- my document *is* the product and I invite/hire SMEs to help me create it. I
can and do override them when necessary (which rarely happens, but sometimes I
do have to say "sorry, we can't do that"). I doubt I'm the only one in this
position.
Tracy
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Tracy Boyington tracy_boyington -at- okcareertech -dot- org
Oklahoma Department of Career & Technology Education
Stillwater, OK http://www.okcareertech.org/cimc
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