TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Docs for profit From:"Lumsden, John (GSP)" <LumsdenJ -at- gspinc -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 21 May 2001 11:24:51 -0400
TechWhirlers,
A couple of project managers with large egos are demanding that I publish a
couple of sets of documentation the way THEY want it rather than the way my
staff and I think it should be published. No amount of
reasoning/logic/argument has changed their minds. Since "He who pays the
piper gets to call the tune", I have little choice but to cave in to their
demands. The results will be documentation that, in certain places, is not
done in accordance with good technical writing practices.
This is a situation that many of us seem to encounter. It occurs to me, that
it will continue to be this way as long as documentation is not a profit
center. The archives contain some posts about calculating the cost or value
of documentation, but I didn't see anything about documentation departments
making money for the company. So I'd like to know, are there are any
documentation departments out there that are operated as profit centers? If
so, what is the business model used? Does it result in less interference
from those who would tell you how to do your job?
I'm on digest, but will be happy to summarize any replies directly to me.
John Lumsden
Manager of Technical Communications
Gerber Scientific Products
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by Information Mapping, Inc., a professional services firm
specializing in Knowledge Management and e-content solutions. See http://www.infomap.com or 800-463-6627 for more about our solutions.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
