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Subject:Re: Has technical writing fallen from grace? From:Daniel Friedman <daniel -dot- friedman42 -at- gmail -dot- com> To:Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> Date:Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:03:59 -0400
I don't remember tech writing ever being mentioned in mass media, let alone
being a "fad" career. I've ran into many people in social situations that
have never heard of tech writing or even considered that it is a
profession. I've heard responses like "I guess someone has to write
manuals" or "that's a new one, and I'm a bartender so I meet people that do
just about everything."
I think the more important issue is the standing of tech comm in the tech
sector itself. On the one hand, there are companies that put a lot of
importance on good documentation to improve customer experiences and reduce
support costs, and there are companies that think that documentation is not
necessary because their products are so "modern" and "intuitive" that there
is no need for external documentation. Trick is to spend your time going
after the first group of companies. The second group may have some people
that can be educated that tech writing in 2014 isn't all about developing
"manuals" or "books" but about making content work for the company by
developing and presenting it in a way that is best for the customer, but
you'll likely just be swimming upstream.
On Sun, Oct 26, 2014 at 12:36 PM, Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> wrote:
> Mass media has a traditional fondness for occupations average viewers can
> be told are easy for them to get a foot in the door into. That results in
> a flood of love for whatever the current "fad career opportunity" happens
> to be. Remember how glamorous real estate was during the housing boom?
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
>
>
> On 10/26/2014 7:56 AM, Craig Cardimon wrote:
>
>> Then perhaps techcomm has fallen from favor with the mass media.
>>
>
>
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