"Peter Gold" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Honk if you joined this list because of that post.
HONK! Since we are all introducing ourselves, I'll chime in. I am a Technical Writer, managing documents for telecom test equipment. I've been working here for about 17 years. I started out - fresh out of college - as a Desktop Publishing Assistant. Back then the company was only about 30 people. I supported all of the company's documentation: data sheets, manuals, forms, etc. The Marketing folks were the manual writers back then, and I "prettied up" the documents. Over the years, as I read the documents over and over, I learned how the products work. So, I grew into a Technical Writer. In fact, for a little while, I even did some technical support and training. In my career with this company, I've seen acquisitions, mergers, and layoffs. I actually was affected by one of the last layoffs; however, after a little over a year, I was called back. (I like to say "they came to their senses and called me back." :-)) So, after about 4 company name changes, and going from 30 employees to over 2500, I'm still here. I am one of two writers in our Division/Business unit. Corporate-wide, I would guess there are probably 15-20 writers. In our group, we maintain User's Guides, Reference Guides, online help (typically HTML), and other documents for the products that the company designs and manufactures. These documents could be a two-page quick reference guide or a 400 page manual full of step-by-step procedures regarding the use of the product. I am located in Salem, Virginia (just west of Roanoke). The other writer is located in Germantown, MD (near DC). We use FrameMaker 7.2, WebWorks Standard, Acrobat Pro 5 and 7, and even <gasp> MS Word. Typically, we deliver the documents in PDF on a CD, and, if needed, single-source the content to HTML. On occasion, we also use a Translations agency to localize our GUIs and manuals to several languages. My workload tends to have hills and valleys, so in those times when my workload is light (the "valleys") I help out the Test Engineering group with design verification and system acceptance testing. Have a good weekend everyone! Yvonne Mills Technical Writer 2 JDSU-ComTest-TFS ______________________________________________ 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. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.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
