Four Lakes President Keith Hoffman interviews STC Executive Director Susan Burton
Listen by clicking the link above. No iPod required. Susan discusses the big things happening with STC, gives an overview of the annual conference in Minneapolis, and shares her view on the future of the technical communication profession.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Great contribution Keith.
I'm wondering what she means when she says that they're trying to get the organization on a firmer financial footing. Will they cut staff? Will their efforts result in members getting less, for example less pages in their publications? And frighteningly, will they ask us to pony up more?
I like her emphasis on "our powerful story" and hope that it succeeds. I believe technical communicators can provide wide-ranging anecdotes that show that our professional community has made powerful contributions, if not the critical difference in whether a concept or product was successful.
I'm wondering what she, and you, mean when you refer to the "traditional writer." Maybe that's me in my job, and your admonition about the demise of that position makes me wonder if my craft will henceforth be deemed useful. That terminology needs further explanation.
I also wonder how technical communicators can "position themselves" to be more relevant, such as in product development. From all I've read as written by practitioners in this field, and from my own experiences over more than ten years, it's not about that but rather about getting acceptance as relevant participants. More times than not, the work of technical communicators has been an afterthought. If management doesn't recognize its importance, how can we successfully "position ourselves" in some other way?
Finally, she talked about interactions with users as if that's in our control. Never been in my technical communication career. To me, that's an ideal worth working toward, but in a practical sense it's up to the employer to determine how connected we are. And in most cases, we're not -- not even given an opportunity to connect.
Bottom line, from me at least, is thanks for doing this interview. Without this kind of thing, there's no way we can ask good questions and pursue our goals of being good, and relevant, technical communicators.
~ Bill Fetzner
I won't speak for Susan, but I'll give you my thoughts on a few of your questions.
Regarding the 'traditional writer'. My experiences have shown me that many companies no longer view technical writers as just that. They want communicators. People who can jump back and forth between online and print, marketing and technical, etc. It's more about disseminating information than it is about being a 'writer'. My opinion is that 'traditional technical writers' will become more like editors, and employers will look more toward 'communicators'.
As for the topic of interaction with users. This is timely, as I have an article coming up in Intercom about Web 2.0 and its impact on writers. Basically, the shift toward user interaction is already under way, whether employers want that to happen or not. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc. are opening up dialogue with users and readers, giving them a voice they never had before. This interaction, and the collaborative nature of the 'new' Web 2.0 Internet is changing every writer's relationship with their reader. To me, it's not about your employer signing off on it. It's already happening, and you either have to recognize and capitalize on it, or be left scrambling when your competitor does.
Also, Dan Alexander of the University of North Carolina points out on his blog, writing is changing.
http://sites.unc.edu/daniel/2006/07/web_20_and_writing_outcomes.html
"To write today you need to
Conceptualize networks,
Find and move materials,
Make rights decisions.
Edit images,
Edit sounds,
Use a movie or authorware program,
Compose prose,
And what else?"
That about sums up the current state of writing.
I must be in a very stodgy company. I'm still fighting the old tech writing battle, where communication within the company is poor, communication with the outside world is restricted to Marketing (and occasionally the upper levels of Engineering), and the tech writer is seen as more of a last-gasp way to get the money after the product is delivered. In short, the typical tech writing environment, with no process in place to ensure that the documents get produced effectively and efficiently.
With that age-old perception of tech writing, there's nary a thought about the tech writer being able to contribute anywhere else in the business or product cycle. There's no pressure from anywhere else to make that happen, customer demand, blogs, wikis, podcasts, or whatever notwithstanding. There's no perception that those things have anything to do with our business, and it's not clear to me that they do either.
I can't blog at work because our use of the Internet there is closely watched, as it is in most companies. Now we understand that the US Supreme Court is laying down rules as to how employers are to safeguard email traffic, so communcations between employees and with those outside the company will be more closely scrutinized as well.
Wikis? How do you find that concept affecting sales, design or production, which of course make up the process of producing goods.
Maybe you're talking about communications within personal service companies, where communications is essentially job one. But that's hardly the case for companies that sell you something that you use somewhere else.
Where we're so far apart on perceptions, I suggest that your notions might need an explanation of context, or else my situation might need an upgrade. Both?
Well, I'm not sure there's a magic wand that takes care of the communication issues that plague most companies. Those battles will always be fought, and no amount of technology will change that.
Your second point is the one that is going to require a change in thinking. It's important to look at what is going on right now with the web. The users, the people who are going to buy your products, are being offered a voice. Through blogs, wikis, podcasts, heck, even myspace.com or facebook.com. They expect they'll have a voice, and are going to demand it from people they buy products from. Take a look at Amazon.com. The consumer is given a voice. They can rate a product, discuss any problems they've had with it, and sound off about your company. Or, visit www.lovemarks.com. That site is a prime example of giving your customers a chance to talk about your company or product.
So, these vehicles for interaction already exist. As a company, if you choose to ignore those by not offering a blog, or some other form of interaction with your user, I think you're setting yourself up for some trouble. Ask a company how they'd respond to a community style blog attack on your brand. If the blogging community ganged up on you to tell you they don't like your product, a "Press Release" or "Message from the Company" ain't going to cut it. They want to hear from the decision makers themselves, or the employees. They want dialogue and response, not marketing speak.
And make no mistake, a blog attack can have serious impact. Ask the Kryptonite bike lock company. They still have not recovered from the bad blog PR they received when it was discovered some of their locks could be picked with a pen.
http://www.forbes.com/home/free_forbes/2005/1114/128_2.html
And if I'm producing a product, establishing an online community around that product is where you provide the value. If you produce hardwood floors, find a kitchen design company, or a remodeling company, and create an online "do it yourself" blog that allows your target audience to ask questions. Provide them with unbiased information. Give them access to your expertise. That's how you can create a dedicated community that loves your product.
I see where you're going with your praise for blogs, Keith, but am not convinced that they've got the power you claim everywhere, much less offer jobs for tech writers.
Many of us use them, but astute observors and everyday communicators are by no means typical of Internet users. I can well imagine that somebody selling a vital or hot consumer product would search for advice and opinion. But in the industrial world, designers, product managers and engineers are more likely to connect at conventions or through orthodox industry channels. They're less likely to carry MP3 players, and might suspect that a wiki is some kind of Indian lodge.
But assuming that the typical tech writer works in a consumer product business (doubt that's true), what's the likelihood that management would be happy to see him/her blogging away his time and downloading iPod presentations? I dare say there would be some suspicion there (maybe envy, which could be a killer too), and can't imagine how that proposal to do that might be successfully presented to management.
How would you go about selling yourself as a blogger, wiki-user and iPod conoisseur to a prospective employer who is desperate for a good writer who can demonstrate a committment to and expertise with user documentation?
Well, knowing your audience is obviously the key in how you interact with them. You say that the people in the industrial world don't carry ipods, and that's probably true. I don't have an ipod either. But I produce podcasts, I blog, I contribute to wikis, etc.
I think it's important to look at what's coming. You can probably tell that I work at a technology professional services company. So clearly, they're more open and in front of the latest and greatest. However, I truly believe that it's only a matter of time before you start seeing more and more user interaction, regardless of the type of company you're in.
You mention that designers, engineers, and product managers are more likely to connect at conferences. Well, I consider that opportunity in an untapped market. If your company was the first to produce a podcast that connected these people, how powerful would that be? A tech writer can do that, and the technology to do it is free.
And I agree, your employer doesn't want you blogging all day. However, what if you company produced the blog and posted new information on it every week? A message from the CEO? Engineer? Designer? Product Manager? Now your audience gets first hand information from the people they want to hear it from. A tech writer can do that work, and many already do.
What about audio interviews in a monthly newsletter? We did this with our CEO, and our clients loved it. A tech writer can do that, and it's also free and easy.
http://www.berbee.com/public/Newsletter/newsletterMadison.aspx
We also produce several podcasts, including video 'case studies', audio interviews, and web seminars. Tech writers can do that as well.
And while none of this reqires an ipod, we also post them to iTunes, reaching a new audience who may then come to our website after seeing or listening to our podcast.
So how do you go about selling this to your employer? Tough, tough question. For us, it was all about what we could measure. We were allowed to try a few things out to see how they were received. Our videos are now off the charts when it comes to hits on our website. Great response. Our podcasts and audio interviews are now gaining serious steam. We haven't yet been able to connect the dots with sales, but all of exposure helps.
As a tech writer/documenter, how do you know if your manual is any good? Do your users tell you what makes sense or what doesn't? Would a company sponsored user feedback blog help? An online forum? What if you produced all of you documentation in a wiki style interface, and allowed your readers/users to contribute in certain spots? Would that help generate very happy, and loyal, customers? If you could interview an engineer or designer, and share that knowledge with your customers, would bring about a new level of interaction and enhance the customer experience?
It's hard to put straight ROI numbers on these things, but it's all about improving the customer experience. The technology is out there to help give them better access to the decision makers, and remove the 'man behind the curtain'. Consumers are becoming more and more savvy, and the next generation of buyers is just going to expect that things like podcasts, blogs, and wikis are part of life.
Nor sure whether to call you a visionary or a promoter. Your claiming the former personna, but the evidence you give and my own experiences to date suggest the latter. Seems to me that your promotion of audio and video presentations smacks more catching new customers than of satisfying existing ones.
As an existing customer of all sorts of things, I'd love to be able to call or email the company and get a better response than the telephone tree or the form response. Far too often those means are vapid in content, and other times so frustrating as to make me swear to never buy that product again.
I don't rely on their websites either because, at virtually every turn of the page, they're trying to sell me something rather than serve me. Their podcasts can be tedious presentations that a good user manual, with its well-indexed, clear and unambiguous contents, is all I need. And blogging with them won't reveal who is at the other end or their credentials to give me reliable information. Nor do I want to add to their wiki that might better serve their industory and sales prospects than my personal needs. I just want to know how to use what they sold me with their clever presentations and sales hype.
I checked the FourLakes website to see how your visionary ideas hold up in job openings today. If I had found employers looking for people, ostensibly tech writers, to write scripts, organize A/V content, or do the stand-up presentations, I'd concede you're on to something. But not in the last several months has anyone come close to that on your website. Nay, they're looking for people to write -- and I don't mean star in -- good reference docs of all sorts. They're not looking for slick promotions but rather for solid clarifications, and as far as I know, that's still the kind of thing that tech writers learn to create and employers want to reward.
But I know you're talking more about "communications" that about tech writing, and I know that's been a buzz in the tech writing field for a long time. But as far as I can tell, tech writers are still, fundamentally, writers. And the writing we do is rarely script writing or for marketing purposes. It's more likely to be an attempt at honest, straightforward, clear and unambiguous communication, not the sort of thing we see daily in advertising or from the media.
Writing for the media generally requires a different art and set of skills than knowing how to use Framemaker or enable somebody to get instant help on their own terms.
Yes, I yearn like all of us to have a voice in the development and use of the products I use, but I'm not seeing yet how modern communcations for all its amazing capabilities has gotten me closer to that sort of perfection. If anything, it's pushed me as the consumer further out of the picture while providing a chimera of personal involvement.
A few things. You mention the job postings on our site as evidence that employers are looking for a specific kind of writer. That's true, to an extent. Here's my experience however.
I came out of college with an English degree and emphasis in tech writing right after the .com bubble burst. My first job was as a 'technical writer' at a transportation company. I did nothing but proposal writing. My second job as a 'technical writer' was at a large retail company. I worked on training materials, documentation, and videos. Then, I moved on to my current job as a 'technical writer'. At this job, I've done web content, marketing material, audio , video, documentation, proposal writing. You name it, I've probably done it. I was hired as a 'technical writer', but we're now all called "Communication Specialists". And frankly, I thought I was the only one experiencing this until Susan mentioned this exact phenomenon on the podcast.
My point is, at each of these stops, the 'extra' stuff wasn't in the job description. They wanted my writing and communication skills, and had me apply them in different ways. To me, that's what you're going to see happen more often. I certainly concede that pure 'documenters' will still exist. And I also concede on a regular basis that there are people in my company who are better documenters than I am. However, despite what the job descriptions say, I see many, many companies that are going to look to you to apply your writing skills in new ways.
You mention that a clear user manual beats a podcast any day. I agree. I'm not suggesting that a podcast or even a video will replace a user manual when it comes to simplicity or usability.
However, earlier you said you don't get any interaction with your users. So, how do you improve your product? How do your users interact with the product team? I'm assuming there is a feedback loop there somehow? That's where technical writers can take things to the next level. Use the technology to give your product users direct access to the product team, engineer, and designer. Make them part of the process the whole way. I'm guessing current customers would love to hear a product manager talking about all of their improvements suggestions in a podcast or on a blog. Or what about if your current customer was able to ask the product manager a question on a podcast? This podcast is then distributed to all customers and they all get access to the same information straight form the horse's mouth. That kind of social networking type reach is what I'm talking about. It's about making connections.
This is where I think things are changing. Web 2.0, in the words of Ian Davis of Talis, “is an attitude, not a technology. It’s about enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services. By open I mean technically open with appropriate APIs [application programming interfaces], but also, more importantly, socially open, with rights granted to use the content in new and exciting contexts.”
That last part is key. Content is changing right now. People are expecting to be able to reuse it, re-position it, improve upon it, and have a say in it. It's happening as we speak. And I think that goes beyond industry.
The million dollar question is how do we, as technical writers, give our users that kind of access? And, how do we get our employers to sign off on it? I wish I had an answer there.
And I contend that the consumer's voice has never been more prevelant than it is right now. Before I buy any product now, I visit amazon or cnet to see what other people are saying about it. You, the consumer, get to rate a product, talk about likes and dislikes, and make recommendations. One thing I've heard a lot of lately is that car salesman will not really try to negotiate with someone who comes armed with web information. In other words, you can't be snowballed because you are walking into the auto dealership with the same knowledge the salesman has. And you got that from the collective intelligence on the web.
Post a Comment