Re: STC Letter to the Editor

[Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

SteveFJong -at- aol -dot- com wrote...

> >To adjust the timeout interval, do this:
> >  1) Select Tune > Timeout Interval; the Timeout Interval window opens
> >      (Figure 3-4).
> >  2) Enter a value between 0 and 600. (The default is 30 seconds.)
> >  3) Click Enter to save the change, or Cancel to abandon the change.
> >The timeout interval is changed.
> 
> Now, it could be that the menu item or window name is wrong; it could be that 
> the data range or default is wrong; it could be that a confirmation message 
> appears that must be dealt with, or that the change doesn't take effect until 
> a restart. This is a QA engineer's level of knowledge, but I won't presume 
> the judges can't handle it; some writers can, some cannot. But it's a moot 
> point: judges can't assess accuracy because - they don't have the product.
> 
> A deeper level of understanding might lead a judge to say, "Hey! No one 
> should ever change the timeout interval" or "An appropriate timeout interval 
> for an Internet application should not exceed one minute," but that's deeper 
> even than the typical engineer's understanding. ("I dunno--the spec says zero 
> to ten minutes, so that's what I implemented.") That would be grand; but 
> then, that's more an assessment of the product, isn't it?
> 
> I do endorse the idea that accuracy is of paramount importance, but I 
> acknowledge that we're not in a position to assess it because we don't have 
> access to the documented products. User testing is a good idea, and I think 
> STC should do it. However, I would raise the entry fee to $10,000 8^)

This is all well an fine, Steve. 

STC should immediately change the name of all competitions to "STC Design and
Layout Competition" to more properly reflect what is actually being judged. Since
STC won't (or can't) judge material based on content - the overwhelmingly most
important aspect of all technical documents - then they need to be more honest
about what the competition is. 

This will also stop what really bothers me: people promoting themselves as
accomplished technical communicators because they prettied up somebody else's
text and won an STC award for that work. And STC award, in my mind, does not make
a person an accomplished communicator. It may make them an accomplished designer
or desktop publisher - not a writer. 

In most "writing" contests, if you merely dressed up somebody else's work, you
would be promptly disqualified. A writing contest must objectively evaluate the
content, this is even true of fiction contests. 

Therefore, the solution is simple: either STC should start judging documents
based on content and as such can retain the legitimacy of a "technical
communications" competition. Or they should change the name of the contest to
properly reflect what is really being judged (style and layout). 

As it currently stands, STC competitions are a sham. 

Andrew Plato 

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