Marketing Intervention -Reply

[Bill Sullivan <bsullivan -at- SMTPLINK -dot- DELTECPOWER -dot- COM>]

>I recently had the opportunity to see these covers (needless to say,
I'm not happy with them).  I am wondering if anyone else has
encountered this type of situation within their environment.

Yes, I have.

>Also, there is speculation that our Documentation Department will be
moved from within the Development organization to Marketing after the
first of the year.  I am opposed to this move, as I feel technical
documentation and product development go hand in hand.  Opinions?

Maybe the question should be: Why has it taken your company so long
to pick up on this trend? Companies outside the government contract
realm (and perhaps within it, I don't know) need a big sales
department to sell the product, and a marketing department to write
product literature, and all sorts of materials that come under the
heading of marcom, or marketing communications. They also need a
technical support department.

The way it is where I work, and perhaps in your shop too, is that I
need the time of the software developers so I can get the info I need
to write the software documentation. The marketing dept also needs the
time of the software developers, and marketing also coordinates with
sales and technical support. From the point of view of the
developers, who are always looking ahead to the next product and
trying to get the bugs out of the present one, it makes no sense for
them to talk to me and to marketing. So I work with the marketing
people. We all occupy cubicles in the same area. Sometimes the
marketing person and I meet with the developers together. Sometimes
we work independently. I use the marketing person as a source,
although not necessarily a source that does not require
double-checking.

I must admit I did not come to this working relationship easily. I
was skeptical at first, as you seem to be. I think what I perhaps did
was reevaluate all of my strengths, weaknesses, and job desires, and
rethink what I could be doing in my job. I could care less about
legwork, correspondence and meetings, and I am happy to let my pal
the marketer handle as much of that as she wants. My strengths and
interests lie in creating better documents. One of the chores I added
was to help devise some training in marketing communications for our
marketers. Another was to acquire the task of editor for marketing
materials, including our web pages. The marketer and I have developed
a good, close working relationship, and we have become good personal
friends, too.

Bill Sullivan
bsullivan -at- deltecpower -dot- com
San  Diego, California