TechWhirl: Technical Communication Recap for August 17, 2012

[TechWhirl Admin <admin -at- techwhirl -dot- com>]

*This week’s update on technical communication and the TechWhirl community
is supported by Platinum sponsor Adobe & Technical Communication Suite
4<http://bit.ly/TryAdobeTCS4>|
http://adobe.ly/scpwfT*



Seems to be another lazy hazy summer week on the TechWhirl email discussion
list, while quite the opposite is happening on the website.  That’s not to
say nobody on the discussion list is talking, since there are some
hardworking folks who apparently never take a vacation, but always stand
ready to answer questions about which tool to use, how to make the tools
work together, and ways to make that technical communication resume stand
out.



The resume… it is certainly one piece of marketing content that every
technical communicator has to create, no matter if they usually hold their
noses when in the general vicinity of those “marketing types.” At the same
time it is a piece of technical communication content:  you develop clear,
cogent messaging, tailor it to meet the needs of a specific audience, and
look for ways to get useful feedback to improve it.  Perhaps we should just
settle on the resume being a perfect example of multi-purpose,
multi-channel content.



For those hiring managers and others who look at technical writers and
marketers with the same bleary-eyed confusion, Yehoshua Paul (making his
debut as a TechWhirl author) provides a useful, and hilarious checklist for
telling the difference between the
two<http://techwhirl.com/technical-writing-humor/the-big-diagnosis-how-to-tell-a-technical-writer-from-a-marketing-writer/>.
And we know quite a few Whirlers who could probably add a few items to that
checklist, so feel free to post a comment.



At the other end of the spectrum, technical communication folks are often
challenged by legacy content scattered all over the organization.  Data
Conversion Laboratory (DCL) was founded by Mark Gross to handle document
and data conversion challenges, and Chris Goolsby sat down with Mark to
talk about those
challenges<http://techwhirl.com/business/interviews/technical-communication-data-conversion-and-the-entrepreneurs-evolution/>,
what’s changed and what’s going to happen down the line.



As always, we invite you to take a minute to vote in our weekly technical
communication poll<http://techwhirl.com/business/polls/technical-communication-poll-content-consumption-preferences/>,
which asks the pros how they like to take their content—and we’re not
talking so much rare or well-done, as medium—or media, depending on how
varied you like your content.  Since we have to create technical content in
a variety of media, we thought it would be fun to find out how we prefer to
consume it.  Then post a comment or head back over the email
discussion list<http://www.techwr-l.com/about-technical-writing-discussion-groups.html>and
start a new thread. Chat, vote, consume… it’s a nice way to spend a
Friday.



Have a great weekend

-The gang at TechWhirl
In Case You Missed it: This Week @ TechWhirl

*New features and articles on http://TechWhirl.com <http://techwhirl.com/>**
:*


   - Tech Writer This Week for August 16, by Craig Cardimon |
   http://bit.ly/TGYvmi
   - Technical Communication Poll: Content Consumption Preferences |
   http://bit.ly/P2PCQO
   - How to Tell a Technical Writer From a Marketing Writer, by Yehoshua
   Paul | http://bit.ly/MZFKLU
   - Technical Communication, Data Conversion and the Entrepreneur’s
   Evolution: Interview with Mark Gross, by Chris Goolsby |
   http://bit.ly/N8cQEy



*Tech Comm News on http://News.TechWhirl.com <http://news.techwhirl.com/>:*


   - PleaseAuthor Offers Component-based Authoring and Content Reuse for MS
   Word | http://bit.ly/Pu9osl
   - SDL Brings Enterprise-Class Social Media Listening to Small and
   Midsize Businesses | http://bit.ly/RPmIXo
   - Acrolinx 2.9 Expands Authoring Tool, Reporting, Terminology Support |
   http://bit.ly/PilJwg

Social Media and the Chance to Follow TechWhirl:

   - Our Google Plus Page – what’s happening behind the scenes |
   http://goo.gl/SO0R4
   - Will you be our Friend? Please, you know you want to click |
   http://goo.gl/tDrW7
   - Want all this TechWhirl goodness a few characters @ a time |
   http://goo.gl/itjDg
   - Updates from TechWhirl delivered to your email in box |
   http://bit.ly/tjshxU
   - Or, try our RSS feed (great on Flipboard) | http://goo.gl/msLzu

SPONSOR-Luv

We want to send a very special “thank you” to our sponsors for their
support.



*Platinum*: Adobe Systems
Incorporated<http://www.runaware.com/clients/adobe/techsuite/>

*Gold: *ComponentOne Software <http://bit.ly/doc-to-help>,* *Madcap
Software<http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/flare/overview.aspx#whatsnew>
**

*Silver*: Society for Technical Communication (STC)
<http://www.stc.org/>, Vancouver
Island University <http://pr.viu.ca/techcomm/>


-- 



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