RE: Death knell for quality content?

Subject: RE: Death knell for quality content?
From: poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net
To: "Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:21:26 +0000

I recall interviewing for one writing position some years ago (early 1980s) and being told point-blank that they had gotten several hundred resumes, I was one of the two finalists, and WOULD have gotten the job offer BUT the hiring manager said (paraphrasing here) that his wife's friend's nephew's uncle's friend is a veterinarian but also does his church newsletter, so they're going to hire him. (Why someone would give up a much more financially lucrative vet practice, I don't know.)

This has happened again over the years; the last time was three years ago while being called in for two interviews for a tech writing position and then at the last minute being told by the VERY unhappy HR manager that the marketing vp "has a friend" he wants to see get the job. The HR manager was furious because I clearly was the best choice for this position, but the HR person couldn't fight the inside power structure; the tech writing position started as a short-term contract job, but then was converted to full-time permanent and I ALMOST got it. Oh, well.

-- Ken in Atlanta
------ Original message from "Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>: --------------


> Michael Ronquillo said:
> >If you think of other occupations, it's quite sad
> >that the role of a writer can be practiced by virtually anyone.
>
> This concerns me too. When I tell people I write for a living, I often
> get replies along the lines of, "Oh really, I am something of a
> wordsmith myself; I wrote an article for the Cub Scouts newsletter." Can
> you imagine the analogue? To a Ferrari engineer: "Oh really, I am
> something of a grease monkey too; I just changed the oil in my Ford
> Pinto." To a physician: "Oh really, I am something of a healing arts
> practitioner too; I recently gave my dog a suppository for worms." Or
> even worse, to the widow: "I am so sorry for your loss. My pet gerbil
> just passed away."
>
> Leonard C. Porrello
> SoleraTec LLC
> www.soleratec.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
> om] On Behalf Of Ronquillo, Michael
> Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 7:59 AM
> To: hls_ut -at- comcast -dot- net; Lauren; john -at- garisons -dot- com;
> techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Death knell for quality content?
>
> I hope that the rise of mediocre writing won't phase the superb writers
> out. If you think of other occupations, it's quite sad that the role of
> a writer can be practiced by virtually anyone. I certainly hope our
> industry won't lose its value and be cheapened.
>
> Michael Ronquillo
> Technical Writer - Equitrac
> 1-800-472-9532 x2334
> mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of hls_ut -at- comcast -dot- net
> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:37 PM
> To: Lauren; john -at- garisons -dot- com; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Death knell for quality content?
>
> All this makes me think of annual equipment reviews and
> comparisons published in Ski Magazine, Skiing, etc.
>
> In a subsequent issue, a letter to the editor is invariablly
> published wherein a reader complains that none of the
> reviewers is "regular" person. "How can a regular Joe
> like me relate to reviews written by insiders?"
>
> (Regular Joe skis only a handful of weekends a season
> and seldom ventures off intermediate groomed trials.
> He buys used equipment for his kids and his wife still
> uses equipment from 1990.)
>
> The magazines' answers are always--correctly--that a "regular"
> person has not developed the ability to perceive and effectively
> communicate about the meaningful characteristics of ski
> equipment. A "regular" person has much less understanding
> of why various performance categories matter and cannot
> effectively rate equipment using those catagories to provide a
> means of comparsion.
>
> If you want clearly articulated, objective (hopefully) and useful
> information, you need to involve people who know what
> they're doing. You need SMEs and writers and editors with
> appropriate knowledge, vocabulary, grammar, style etc. Anything
> else is merely an opinion, which should be viewed with appropriate
> skepticism.
>
> --
> ---------------hls_ut -at- comcast -dot- net
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Lauren"
> > > From: john -at- garisons -dot- com
> >
> > > Is this really what we are going to start getting? Content is
> > > king ... but
> > > if people really believe that crappy content is just as good
> > > as quality
> > > content, we are in a heap of trouble.
> >
> > I think that what is happening is that people want to see articles
> written
> > by people like themselves and not articles that seem like they were
> written
> > by an expert or an outsider looking in. The average person has
> average
> > writing ability and will make grammatical and other writing errors.
> So,
> > content that is less than perfect is more palatable and approachable
> than
> > content that is polished.
> >
> > It isn't a looming "heap of trouble"; it is a change audience's
> perception
> > of documentation. Writers will need to adjust their writing styles to
> > appeal to the audience that wants informal, familiar documentation.
> This
> > does not mean that the quality of the content must change, but that
> the tone
> > of the documentation should change.
> >
> > Users may accept poor quality now because of its approachability, but
> when
> > users become educated in the weaknesses of such documentation, they
> will
> > want quality. The compromise between writers and audiences may be
> that
> > quality documentation should be approachable to a broad audience, so
> it
> > should possess some familiarity for that audience.
> >
> > Lauren
> >
> >
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.


Follow-Ups:

Previous by Author: RE: MS Word's "Automated summary" feature -- come on now
Next by Author: Contracting
Previous by Thread: Death knell for quality content?
Next by Thread: Re: Death knell for quality content?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads