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Subject:Isolation and the tech writer From:Christine Davis and Ron Sering <cdavis -at- CARBON -dot- CUDENVER -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 9 Jun 1998 13:18:57 -0600
I don't know which is worse. I just finished a job where there was very
little communication, less teamwork, and I was the only tech writer. At
least my hours were flexible and I could wear sandals and cutoffs...
On the other hand, I've worked at a place in the past that could have been
secretly owned by Moonies. Meetings were de riguer - and why you're at it,
they thought, why not make a it a BIG meeting? Why have three people in a
conference room, when you could have a dozen? There's all those chairs to
fill up....and people would come around to "see how you're getting
along," and smiling, always smiling. They use "open" office
architecture, where everyone sits around like Craft Time in
Kindergarten in one big open area....bleh. But I did feel like I was part
of something...
I'll take isolation, I suppose. You can at least go seek out company or
maintain email relationships. But it's hard to chase hardcore meeting
junkies out of those conference rooms.. Seriously, there are ways of
getting around the loneliness. STC meetings, for one; I am getting to
where I really need that companionship. And if you can pretend that
these words on a screen are an actual conversation, you can talk with
people all day long. Perhaps that is one of the appeals of TECHWR-L
