In addition, we were delighted to see one of our grads, Noor Hussain, win the Distinguished Service Award for Students for his outstanding contributions to the Toronto chapter—for inspiration, enthusiasm, creativity, and quiet dedication to the Toronto STC community in organizing networking events and encouraging student participation.

One of our faculty, Bernard Aschwanden, was recognized with the Rennie Charles Award for his leadership and support in the tradition of Rennie Charles, much cherished by the Toronto technical writing community for the “ideas, support, advice and mirth” he shared with them.

Other recognition and Community Service Awards made at the STC Toronto AGM can be found on their site.

Congratulations to all award winners! It is this level of dedication that has made the STC Toronto Community truly one of excellence.

Unfortunately, the latter is often the only thing of value that is offered them when a company seeks student labor to do something they would ordinarily have to pay a professional to do. I advise students against doing something solely “because it will look good in your portfolio!”. They have many opportunities to create something for their portfolio through school projects and co-op placements.

What is more valuable to them is a legitimate work experience, not an exploitative one. Students have up to date skills that they are bringing to the employer, skills that they’ve paid a great deal in money, time, effort, and often stress to acquire. They should be paid for their time. Our co-op employers not only pay students a fair wage, but they provide other opportunities such as on the job training, mentoring, and occasionally bonuses.

Exploiting students because you have a tight budget is simply not acceptable. Be creative; pay them something and sweeten the pot for them. Can you provide bus passes or free products/software? Will they get extraordinary access to senior people in your company to learn things we cannot teach in school? Will you commit to giving them a reference, and refer them to other companies for better paid work?

Make it worth their while to help you out, and you will not only get top quality work from eager and motivated people, but you’ll be establishing a valuable relationship as well. See the opportunity as an investment in their future AND yours. Your reputation will grow as well. In this climate of widespread social media, you want people as connected as students to say good things about your company and help build good will. You can’t put a price on that, and it’s worth every penny.

To summarize, we’re doing the same things, really, just a little bit differently, and with “funner” toys!

Attendees tweeted about sessions they were in, driven by their affinity for tech gadgets and their habit of being early adopters. iPads and smart phones were in abundance. The sense of community had already been engendered by pre-conference contact via Zerista.

Superb conference organization had the keynote by Tim O’Reilly on Sunday evening, with an information-packed slate of sessions starting first thing Monday morning.

If the Summit is any indication, there is much for technical communicators to be optimistic about in the coming years. We are establishing footholds in the User Experience (UX) arena, where we have long labored. We are being recognized as the content experts that we always have been. And we are leading the way in adapting to new realities as technology changes and improves.

It’s a great time to be a technical communicator, and the future looks very bright indeed.

Most people contact a web development firm that may or may not include a technical communicator on the team. Web developers are necessary for building a website. Their job is to make the website work. They code the HTML, XML, Javascript, or Flash, they build the links, they ensure the page loads quickly and that the meta information is correct.

A web designer might be the first call you make when thinking about your new site. Their job is to make the website look pretty. You want an up to date look and feel for your site, you want the colours to be attractive, and the overall design to be inviting. Designers create or modify CSS and page templates, create the visual images needed for the site, and give the entire site a pleasant, uniform look.

The efforts of those two professionals give you a site that looks nice and works well. There are no broken links. Images don’t overlap. The site is attractive and functional.

But does it do the job you need it to do? Can customers or potential clients find the information they need? Does the user interface (UI) support the user in achieving their goals? Is it usable?

If you had called a technical communicator first, that individual would not only project manage the site’s development and co-ordinate the activities of the web developer and web designer, but they would ensure your content is well written and makes sense. They would ensure any user of the site is able to navigate to what they want easily, and is prompted to take the right action. They would ensure your website meets the objectives you have for your web presence. They would review and improve the work of the designer and developer, pointing out any potential bugs before the user sees them. And they would keep you from spending money on bells and whistles that may make the website cool but contribute nothing to the value the site offers visitors.

Getting a good website requires having each member of the website triad — the technical communicator, the web developer, and the web designer — work together to make a site that does what you need it to do. Whether you want your site visitor to buy something, pick up the phone for an appointment, or just get necessary information quickly and effectively, the way your site merges functionality with design in a way that leads the visitor to take that action is largely the result of the technical communicator’s skill in unifying the development and design efforts.

Web content also needs to be optimized for search engine results (SEO), something a good web writer or content developer can accomplish as well.

Usability for a website means that the visitor can accomplish the goals they had when they came to the site. If customers leave without buying because they couldn’t figure out how to navigate to the product they want, or they get frustrated because they cannot read the faint gray type on the web page, your site has failed, no matter how much money you spent on it. If you are hiring a creative agency, make sure they have someone with technical communication skills assigned to your project.

Technical communicators save companies money, time and headaches no matter what jobs they are asked to do. Helping make websites that work is just one of them.

Bad Websites – poor usability, interfaces, navigation or content
Good Websites — great usability, pleasing interfaces, efficient navigation, and purposeful content.

In this presentation, Beth talks about the many roles technical communicators can fill, the types of work they do, and the value they add to any organization. She likens them to “Swiss Army Knife” employees, able to use their multiple skills to do a variety of jobs.

“As one of the 50 Best Careers of 2011, this should have strong growth over the next decade.”

“Suggested job searches: Editor jobs | Technical Writer jobs | Medical Writer jobs | Grant Writer jobs | Senior Technical Writer jobs | Proposal Writer jobs”

That’s why having a trained technical communicator on staff is a great idea. A technical communicator is vigilant about ensuring specifications will result in a usable (meaning something that helps users achieve their goals) product. They also user test prototypes and products in the development and construction phases to make sure usability is adequate.

Recently, an organization that shall remain nameless (but I’m sure you can guess) redesigned and rebuilt its computer consoles. For a user population with an average age of late 40s, they got pretty much everything right except perhaps the most important thing: the ON button for the computers.

Oh, there is one. It’s just so small and hard to see that they needed to create a label pointing to it. And still you have to hit it with a pen or a nail file to get it to turn on. Bad. Very bad. Obviously a technical communicator was not involved anywhere in that process.

In this picture, the buttons are very tiny, as you can see. From an adult’s viewpoint, standing, with this “control panel” covering the computer that sits in the bottom of the cabinet, it is very difficult to see, as well. Therefore, it is easy for someone to press the wrong button, too. Let’s hope there are no negative consequences!

That organization is left with two choices: pay a lot of money to re-do the work, or put up with the high level of user frustration that results. Neither choice is desirable. With a technical communicator’s eye on that re-design, this would have been avoided, because the techwriter would have questioned the size of the button given the intended user base. Indeed, every techwriter with whom I’ve shared this story has asked the same question: “Why did they do that?!”.

That’s how a technical communicator adds value to your organization — they prevent you from making costly mistakes that increase support costs. Just ask the help desk techs who have had to go turn on these computers.

TECC Timetable – Fall 2010 – 1^st half

* This course is delivered primarily online.
** In second half of semester, CPP100 and TCN709
drop off the schedule.

TECC Timetable – Fall 2010 – 2nd half

** Note the change of day and time for TCN707
in second half

They often contact me before they apply to the program so that they can have questions answered. I administer a writing test and give them an orientation after they have applied, but before they have been accepted. I have taught 5 out of the 10 courses that they take during the program. I am the person they come to with all their problems — usually academic, but sometimes personal as well. I get to know them very well.

These students represent a range of ages and backgrounds. Many of them are career changers, some even in their 50s and 60s. Others are already working in some aspect of the profession but need to update their skills to become more competitive. And the third group that is typical of our applicants are younger people right out of university who need a valuable additional qualification to differentiate themselves from everyone else in the university graduating class.

Our program is very much hands-on practical writing, editing, content development, publishing and dealing with technology. Our grads are prepared to go into any company, organization or institution and be productive from day #1. They are industry-independent, a grad being as likely to go into Aerospace as Food Manufacturing or work for a non-profit organization.

In our profession they get to marry their love of technology with their love of writing and make something truly useful to others. User documentation, interface design, web content, policy writing, procedures, marketing, anything that has to communicate a message simply and clearly is our province. I tell them that if it has to do with information, communication, or technology, we should have a hand in it somewhere.

I suppose most teachers come to love their students or we wouldn’t be teachers. We get a kick out of seeing them grow and change, we like to see how they develop confidence and competence. But these particular students hold a special place in my heart. Many of them struggle greatly during the first semester. The older students may have been out of school for a very long time and now have to get back in the groove. Others are not as comfortable with computers as they need to be, and they struggle to acquire mastery of these very important tools of their trade.

It is not uncommon for a technical writer to be thrown a prototype of a new piece of software or hardware and asked to write the instructions for it, as well as contribute in all phases of its development. In the end, we find that we know more about this product than anyone else because we’ve seen it from all sides. Often, we are the only people in the company who know exactly how a product is supposed to work, and we get to see the big picture as well as all the details.

This can seem like a huge responsibility for students who are acquiring new skills and are uncertain about their futures.

I always ask them to keep in touch after they graduate. Many do. I have seen them marry, have children, move into management positions, become known in the industry for their excellence, and I have even hired a couple of them to come back and teach for us.

Some even further change their careers, using their learning experience in technical communication as an important stepping stone to something else that they want to do. Even the few who decide the program is not for them continue to let me know from time to time how they’re doing. They invariably say that the opportunity to confront what they really wanted to do occurred when they started the program.

I think you can tell how satisfying it is for me to meet and get to know these interesting people. It is truly my dream job, and one I never would have aspired to, thinking that I just wasn’t up to the challenge. But I guess the very circuitous pathway from where I started to where I am now was the route I needed to take. I am certainly glad I did!

Technical communicators:

• Facilitate communication
• Translate technical language into plain language
• Document processes and procedures
• Communicate technical & scientific developments to a lay audience
• Help turn information into knowledge

The techwriter gets to know the market (audience, users) and works with marketing and sales to provide information that assists them in reaching the market with clear, easy to understand information. This is particularly important if complicated scientific, medical or technical information is involved, or if you need to explain policies or procedures. As experts in plain language writing, techwriters help demystify things like contracts and difficult procedures.

If new products are in development, technical writers work with the development team to document every aspect of the new product or service. This information then becomes manuals of instruction, training materials, and website content.

Technical communicators are very technically adept. We can quickly get up to speed with technologies we have never seen before, and we use a variety of leading edge technologies to communicate with our audiences.

When creating or improving a website, a technical communicator works with the web designer (who makes the site pretty) and the web developer (who programs the site and makes it work) to make the content and navigation easy to understand and usable (usability refers to the viewers ability to accomplish goals with the site).

Technical communicators are one of the few people in a company who interface with nearly every department within that company. We routinely work with customer support to ensure they have up to date information to help customers with problems. We work with quality assurance to perform user testing, standing in for the user with our expert knowledge. Consequently, technical writers can reduce customer support costs and help improve a company’s relationship with their customers. We work with marketing, to share information about the market or end user. We work with sales, contributing to sales literature and getting to understand the customer.

Technical writers are industry-independent. While you may find one with a specific background that is more relevant to your industry, a technical writer with a degree in Fine Arts is just as capable as one with a degree in Engineering when it comes to simplifying complex things. It is more important to look at the writing, editing, and consultation skills a techwriter brings to the table.

Further, technical communicators are skilled in project management, because they drive their own documentation projects in concert with any service or product development projects, and they have good people skills, being able to interview subject matter experts, as well as being able to develop rapport with a company’s customer base.

Technical communicators have skills in:

• Project Management
• Leadership
• Interviewing
• Publishing
• Human Resources
• Management & Budgeting
• General Business Skills
• Negotiation, Risk Management, etc.

(Add accounting to that and it’s pretty much an MBA!)

If your company has need of any of the following, you should have a technical communicator on staff:

• User guides
• White papers
• Marketing brochures, spec sheets, labels, signs, packaging, press releases
• Help files
• Error messages, interface tooltips and labels
• Installation instructions
• Usability testing
• Technology transfer
  
• Project documentation
• Technical reports
• Web sites
• E-Learning
• Corporate videos/documentaries
• Product demonstrations & trade shows
• Focus groups & customer advisory boards
• Single-Sourcing
• Knowledge management
• Content management
• Science writing
• Customer newsletters
• Beta testing programs
• Voice mail script writing
• E-mail response writing
• E-book publishing
• Mass personalization
• Meeting facilitation, especially video conferencing

Technical communicators are the Swiss Army Knife-employees you can plug in anywhere in your company and have them be productive and add value to your bottom line.

If you’re interested in hiring a technical communicator, contact me or communicate with the local chapter of the Society for Technical Communication in your region.