RE: Appropriate -- so inappropriate!

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Paul Hanson wrote: 
> Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 4:02 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Appropriate -- so inappropriate!
> 
> I have it so good. You all should be jealous of me.
> 
<snip>
> 
> I am unashamed to say that I take what the SMEs give me and make it
look
> pretty.
> 
> That said, I think I'd separate the statement below as follows:
> 
> They typically don't care to understand the products and technology
they're
> documenting <-- not me.
> preferring to simply edit and <make "look pretty" the information they
get
> from SMEs and other sources. <-- yes, because the source material I
get is
> often totally awesome! 
<snip> 

I _am_ jealous. If you're getting awesome source material, I bet you
thoroughly understand the products and technology -- you'd have to
really _want_ to remain ignorant not to. :-)

> At my first TWing job, my manager criticized me for lack of industry
> knowledge in one of my performance reviews. She knew that in addition
to
> TWing, I was writing music reviews, which I would show her when the
local
> newspaper published a new one. She told me that when I wrote about
music,
> there was passion and a complete understanding of the CD I was
reviewing. I
> demonstrated that I could pick and choose what was important and what
was
> unimportant. I had a mastery of the subject. That same mastery, she
told
> me, is what I should strive for in my TWing. Get all the possible
> information you can get and then filter what is and is not needed.

" No knowledge is useless, with the exception of heraldry." 
-- Samuel Johnson
 
;-)

Richard


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------






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