RE: Capturing info during meetings with SMEs

[John Posada <JPosada -at- book -dot- com>]

>What is the better way to capture info exchanged 
>during meetings with SMEs when taking notes is not 
>fast enough? Is the use of a voice recorder useful? 
>Are people comfortable with that? What are your tips and experiences?

Natalie...if it means anything, I've been trying to figure this out for more
than 10 years. The best I can do is to suggest what I do. instead of trying
to get everything in the session, schedule shorter multiple sessions. I
always schedule in 30 minute increments. Because it is established that
there will be multiple meetings, you remove the pressure of "we gotta get
this done."  Besides...you aren't there to transcribe as quickly as
possible...you're there to understand it so you can write about it and you
cannot do this without questions.

I also find that a major help is to plan these sessions beforehand. Email
the SME in advance (I use almost a week), let them know what you need to
cover, and what they need to bring/have access to. Most of my guys need
access to their source files in VSS.

The first session gathers information. The subsequent sessions spend the
first 10 minutes reviewing the previous session...you're going to need a
review anyway, so why not build it into the meetings...then you don't worry
that you never get your review documents back.

John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
Barnes&Noble.com
jposada -at- book -dot- com

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