> anyone's ability to practice technical communication. I've > been a TC for 35 years, and a darned good one at that. But > there are some things I know I would suck at if I tried, and > some things that I just don't
Having a familiarity with something and being good at it are two different things. You don't have to be an accountant able to produce a project with a favorable ROI, but you should be conversant in that area, because chances are, if you've been writing for more than 7-10 years, you've been asked to justify the purchase of an expensive new tool that you REALLY want. You don't have to be a DBA, but, as asked earlier today, a writer said she'd recently been asked to document her company's database and didn't know what case to use for entity names. You don't have to be a Project Manager, but chances are, you've had to plan a long-term writing assignment and would have been more effective knowing the basics of project mnagement. You don't have to be an expert on outsourcing, but one day your boss might come to you with the question "So, you think our work could be done in Peking or Bangalore?" and you don't want his followup question to be "Why are you sweating?" John Posada Senior Technical Writer "I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is." ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
