Re: Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication

[Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

I would prefer to be called a technical writer no matter what exact functions I perform. I think the word âcommunicatorâ is too vague
and open to misinterpretation. You could say that the booth babes at a
consumer electronics trade show are technical communicators. After all,
they are distributing what is supposed to be information about high-tech items. So technically, they are communicating.

I abhor the idea of using the word "engineer" in connection with what we do.The phrase "information engineer" sounds to me like delusions of grandeur. I have too much respect for engineering to apply the title to a job where the most important thing I may do in a day is decide what
size to make a screen capture in a PDF. 

Engineering is working in things that can be quantified and expressed in math. We work with color preferences and hyperlinks. When we finally come up with a formula that provides repeatable valid results for estimating minutes per page to create a help system, then we can call ourselves engineers. 

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