Re: Back cover of technical documents

["Banttari, Ananda" <ABanttari -at- SDSI -dot- COM>]

Jon Herrera asks about being in charge of the back
covers of documentation books....

This is something that can be either easy or a real pain,
depending on your company. My suggestions:

1. Find out exactly who in Sales and Legal are responsible
for up-to-date information. Ask them to add you to their
contact list for change-of-information notices.

2. Whenever you print the cover, make sure you get
"sign-off" of a proof from the Sales and Legal people.
Go to them with a proof (not a copy of the proof, but the
real thing), and a sign-off list that you have created. The
sign-off list should include each Sales and Legal person
involved, you, your manager, and possibly others (like
Marketing, perhaps, for the "short description of the
company). Each signator should date their sign-off.
Let them all know that any one person can veto the
proof with sufficient cause.

My reasons:
1. You have a better chance of preventing problems.
2. There might be someone in Sales or Legal who
feels like some of their power or control is being
threatened. Giving them veto power reassures them.
3. If anything does go wrong, you pull out your sign-
off sheet. "All of these people reviewed it, and they
didn't see anything wrong, either."

Our corporate HQ just moved; my observations are
based on dealing with move-related issues, which include
most of the ones Jon was talking about. (If anyone
reading this is faced with a corp. HQ move, email me
off-list and I'll tell you my war stories ;-] and how to prevent
annoying -- and sometimes costly! -- issues.)

--Ananda Banttari
Technical Publications Specialist
SDS
ananda -at- sdsi -dot- com