TechWhirl: Technical Communication Recap for September 7, 2012

[TechWhirl Admin <admin -at- techwhirl -dot- com>]

*This week’s update on technical communication and the TechWhirl community
is supported by Platinum sponsor Adobe and their Technical Communication
Suite 4<file:///C:/Users/Connie.ConnieGiordano/Google%20Drive/Content%20Development/Weekly%20Update/Previous%20Editions/Technical%20Communication%20Suite%204>|
http://adobe.ly/scpwfT*



Career development is one of those topics we refer to as “evergreen.” We in
technical communication never tire of discussing all the aspects
surrounding how we spend most of our waking hours.  Indeed, the TechWhirl
email discussion list has at least two high-flying threads related to
careers: Yehoshua Paul started a fascinating and pretty lively discussion
on “Having fun with your resume - good idea/bad idea?” and the venerable
DoughtyTechWriter is struggling with “Desperate Tech Writer to Happy
Analyst?”



One of the interesting subtexts to Doughty’s thread concerned whether folks
who have transitioned from technical writing to other areas still hang out
in a technical communications community. Happily the answer is yes, folks
who also do user experience design, content strategy, business analysis,
technical marketing, policy and procedures, and proposal development all
chime in regularly on a host of topics.  Which lends at least anecdotal
credence to my belief that technical communication interacts and overlaps
with so many other areas of an organization, it’s hard to believe you ever
really leave it.



And this partly explains why we kicked off our “Career Upgrade” month with
a poll question that asks “Are You Changing
Careers?”.<http://techwhirl.com/business/polls/technical-communication-poll-are-you-changing-careers/>The
totally unscientific results thus far indicate that despite many chats
and rants to the contrary, an awful lot of folks in technical communication
enjoy their career choice and plan to stick with it. We also featured a
great piece from Roger Renteria which asks, and answers, “Is Distance
Learning Worth It?”<http://techwhirl.com/careers/education/professional-development-in-tech-comm-is-distance-learning-worth-it/>



If you haven’t visited our jobs site—jobs.techwhirl.com, now’s a great time
to check it out… we’ve been adding new positions regularly, and include
some helpful tips on job search strategies.



Over the next month, we’ve got a lot planned to assist with your technical
communication career upgrade, including guidance on making the switch to
independent consulting, the difference between leadership and management,
identifying and dealing with burnout, and more.  And oh yeah, we’re getting
ready to go on the road to LavaCon 2012 <http://lavacon.org/> in Portland,
OR, so our TechWhirl team is gearing up (Rachel Houghton, Lois Patterson
and Michael Munkvold), and we’re continuing with our Fast 5
Interviews<http://news.techwhirl.com/fast-five-discussions/>with some
of the great speakers and panelists who’ll be there.



Have a great weekend!

-The gang at TechWhirl
In Case You Missed it: This Week @ TechWhirl

*New features and articles on http://TechWhirl.com <http://techwhirl.com/>**
:*


   - Tech Writer This Week for September 6, by Craig Cardimon |
   http://bit.ly/OSqcX5
   - Professional Development in Tech Comm: Is Distance Learning Worth It?,
   by Roger Renteria | http://bit.ly/OSqcX5
   - Technical Communication Poll: Are You Changing Careers? |
   http://bit.ly/NK9jkU
   - Hey Technical Communication Laborers-Take the Day off! |
   http://bit.ly/Um19y2

* *

*Tech Comm News on http://News.TechWhirl.com <http://news.techwhirl.com/>:*


   - Enigma and DCL Partner on Manufacturers’ Digitized Product Information
   | http://bit.ly/Qeb4af
   - MathFlow 2.0 for Arbortext and XMetaL Available from Design Science |
   http://bit.ly/R5fekC
   - M-Files 9.0 ECM Enables Document Collaboration Via Microsoft SkyDrive
   | http://bit.ly/Re2bYx
   - TechWhirl Fast 5 Discussions | http://bit.ly/TWFast5

Social Media and the Chance to Follow TechWhirl:

   - Our Google Plus Page – what’s happening behind the scenes |
   http://goo.gl/SO0R4
   - Will you be our Friend? Please, you know you want to click |
   http://goo.gl/tDrW7
   - Want all this TechWhirl goodness a few characters @ a time |
   http://goo.gl/itjDg
   - Updates from TechWhirl delivered to your email in box |
   http://bit.ly/tjshxU
   - Or, try our RSS feed (great on Flipboard) | http://goo.gl/msLzu

SPONSOR-Luv

We want to send a very special “thank you” to our sponsors for their
support.



*Platinum*: Adobe Systems
Incorporated<http://www.runaware.com/clients/adobe/techsuite/>

*Gold: *ComponentOne Software <http://bit.ly/doc-to-help>,* *Madcap
Software<http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/flare/overview.aspx#whatsnew>
**

*Silver*: Society for Technical Communication (STC)
<http://www.stc.org/>, Vancouver
Island University <http://pr.viu.ca/techcomm/>

-- 

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