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Subject:Re: Research interviewing tips From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- FS -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Wed, 26 Nov 1997 15:31:10 +0800
Michael Wing <mjwing -at- INGR -dot- COM> said:
> I limit interaction with Marketing to only what is absolutely
> necessary;^). I don't want to turn my documents into on-line advert-
> isements, links to Marketing sites, and I especially don't want them
> infesting my documents with overworked, trite-by-pumped-up phrases
The Marketing people should have useful information about the target
market for the organisation's products or services. The engineering
people will know a lot of technical detail about your leading edge
bow-and-arrow, but the marketeers know who you plan to aim it at.
Maybe they're aiming at former Netware sites that have changed to NT.
Maybe sales are flat in the U.S. but going through the roof in Asia.
Maybe there's a sudden shortage of UNIX system administrators, so your
new end users probably know less about UNIX than your old ones did.
These are examples of things that good tech writers might need to know
and good Marketing departments should be able to tell them.
(Of course not all Marketing departments are good.)
Regards
---
Stuart Burnfield "I have measured out my life with
Functional Software Pty Ltd coffee spoons" mailto:slb -at- fs -dot- com -dot- au -- T.S. Eliot