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Subject:Fonts and other arguable issues From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Sat, 6 Jul 1996 09:28:00 EST
At 01:29 AM 7/6/96 -0400, you wrote:
>On Jul 4, 10:24am, dski -at- CAMEONET -dot- CAMEO -dot- COM -dot- TW wrote:
>But then, that was just what the client wanted and I was just an entry-level
>writer <out of context snipping>
The basis of this post was that the client insisted on using Microsoft's
styles. I know that most pure writers are stuck with whatever decisions have
already been made at higher levels, but my question is directed at those who
ARE at higher levels. How many of you (and be honest) immediately buckle
when the client wants something ill-advised or completely stupid, how many
protest, and how many push the issue hard? Clients often fall into decisions
rather than including professionals in the deliberations, and we've often
found that clients are quite willing to listen to alternatives if they're
expressed correctly. Which means "with due consideration to political
ramifications."
We often encounter clients who want us to use an inappropriate tool, for
example. Clients often insist that they want us to use Word, even though
Word's long-document characteristics are so primitive that it will double
our time, cost and trouble. And then they often balk when we try to push
Word to its limits to accomodate the needs of the long documents. There are
sometimes internal style conventions that work fine for memos, but make long
documents unreadable.
If a client wants you to do something that's absurd, do you walk, or do you
do it the client's way, knowing that your eventual user will be unable to
use the thing you've so lovingly crafted? To whom do we owe our final
allegiance? And to whom do we owe responsibility?
Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
FrameMaker support ForeHelp support
Makers of DuoFrame, giving you online help and paper
documentation from a single parent FrameMaker document.
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