Technical Communications Recap for June 8, 2012

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

*This week’s update on technical communication and the TechWhirl community
is supported by Platinum sponsor ComponentOne & their Doc-To-Help Help
Authoring Tool <http://goo.gl/QcMWA> | http://bit.ly/doc-to-help*



Those of us who have been around the email discussion
list<http://www.techwr-l.com/about-technical-writing-discussion-groups.html>
long
enough often find ourselves reminiscing about the “first time” we heard
debate or flame war on one subject or another.  In the midst of all the
news that made it to the list (and a lot that doesn’t, just because we
can’t twist a topic quite that far), Brian Henderson made note of Wednesday’s
Dilbert comic strip <http://dilbert.com/fast/2012-06-06/> in which Tina the
Brittle Tech Writer does battle with Dilbert.  Some of the truly veteran
Techwhirlers reminded us that Tina came to be a named character and
semi-permanent fixture in Dilbert’s world because of the email list, back
in the last century -1995 to be exact.  Eric Ray was good enough to
forward Scott
Adams’ reply to the
list<http://www.techwr-l.com/archives/9812/techwhirl-9812-01562.html#.T8-Kv89zI7>when
the topic came up again in 1998.  It’s fun to think of TechWhirl as
the genesis of a cultural icon.



Well-trained but seriously disrespected… it’s a feeling that many of us
have shared, and commiserated on over the years.  So what can we do to
overcome? As June proceeds we hope to have some answers, or at least some
lively debate around the soft skills we need in technical communication to
“survive and thrive.”  We started with our weekly
poll<http://techwhirl.com/business/polls/technical-communication-poll-skills-to-survive-and-thrive/>,
which has already generated some discussion, and has identified a key skill
that we overlooked – the ability to interview.



Leah Guren sat down for a chat with TechWhirl’s Julie
Grady<http://techwhirl.com/business/interviews/a-refresh-perspective-on-practicing-technical-communication/>,
and we recap the outstanding thought leadership event presented by
Adobe<http://techwhirl.com/business/technical-communication-in-the-next-decade-think-adaptive-and-deliver-multi/>just
before the opening of the STC Summit.  Both articles are full of all
sorts of tech comm goodness, and they remind us that those skills we need
to thrive in our careers and organizations are in abundance and willingly
shared throughout the technical communication community.



Please feel free to share your own experiences: drop us a note via the
email discussion
list<http://www.techwr-l.com/about-technical-writing-discussion-groups.html>,
a comment on this post, or a direct email.





Enjoy your 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 June 7, by Craig Cardimon |
   http://bit.ly/Lv0KGn
   - Technical Communication Poll: Skills to Survive and Thrive |
   http://bit.ly/JWL9Ax
   - Technical Communication in the Next Decade: Think “Adaptive” and
   Deliver “Multi-” (Adobe STC Pre-Conference Session Summary), by Connie
   Giordano | http://bit.ly/Mpdf9n
   - A (Re)Fresh Perspective on Practicing Technical Communication: An
   Interview with Leah Guren, by Julie Grady | http://bit.ly/LepNxk



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


   - Data Conversion Laboratory’s ‘Convert On Demand’ Fuels New Revenue
   with Dormant Content | http://bit.ly/LzG8ZA
   - Usability Professionals Association (UPA) Rebrands as UXPA |
   http://bit.ly/LEwK9j
   - Gliffy Releases Diagramming Plugin for Confluence Enterprise |
   http://bit.ly/NEumAZ
   - Techspray Products Feature QR Codes that Link to Safety, Technical
   Documentation | http://bit.ly/JOdEAf

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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