Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
December2011/January 2012
| Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter December2011/January 2012 |
Having recently reinvented myself as a taxi driver, I'm very aware of the need to find work where we can find it in this grim economy. Being a writer, of course I'm writing about it. Whether I'll be paid for my writing is a question for the future. What form should it talk? Blogging, short stories, a book. . .we'll see. In the November meeting of STC-SF, Judith Herr and Gina Gotsill presented some ideas that challenge us to shift our thinking if need be and go into new directions.
It seems all of us have had an interesting and varied path to becoming tech writers. Judith and Gina shared a bit of their history and the influences which led to becoming writers. We learned that Judith was influenced by Julia Child. While traveling with her husband and living in Belgium for three years, a love of cooking helped her to survive in a different culture. In another three year stint, this time in Malaysia, she taught cooking classes. So her writing career started with cookbooks and documenting food and culture. She was a Research Associate at a Naval Research Lab and "Miss Classified" for the Austin American-Statesman. She has been a community organizer in Austin, TX, and served as a Public Health Nutritionist and Mass Media Coordinator for the Louisiana Health Department in New Orleans. In the 11 years she was in New Orleans she was also Management Consultant/Troubleshooter for the new Tulane University Hospital rollout, Assistant Director of Food Service and Dietetics at Mercy Hospital and the Director of Training, Hotel Dieu Health Care Hospital. She was an Assistant Director for a large consulting firm, Director of fund raising for the American Cancer Society, and she is now the president/principal of her own company Well Chosen Words.
Gina, a confessed "math phobic," but a good writer, started as a Journalism major with a BA in Feature Writing and a Masters in New Media. After a short detour as a funeral director, she wrote news and promotional copy for a paper. She enjoys reporting and knows what readers need; that all writing starts with fact-finding, organization and creativity. She's been a journalist, a copy writer, a writer for the web and an editor. In 2010, she co-authored the book Surviving the Baby Boomer Exodus. She's been doing voice-over work since 2008, and at Tech Prose she is the marketing and proposal manager since 2010.
The women have different takes on what's hot in the job market today. For Gina, Change Management is how employees learn what's going to change and why. This writing is for an internal business audience. The workplace of the future will constantly change with the adoption of new software, systems, business processes or new leaders. As tech writers, we are used to interviewing SMEs, describing how people work and how a new software, system or business process will be implemented. How will changes benefit the employees? What's in it for them? Because of her background in marketing, she sees writing opportunities in emails, white papers, web copy, social media, organizing a market campaign, and even event planning. In marketing you explain what the company stands for, define who the company is and show what's happening in the company. There are starting to be opportunities for managing a company's Facebook or Twitter account.
Judy's background in management leads her to recognize opportunities in directing projects, teams, groups of volunteers, or whole departments. Become part of the management by being valuable to them. Be confident. Hone your skills of leading, managing and motivating; perhaps starting with volunteers at your favorite charity. Do you have the skills of persuading, cajoling, charming, or collaborating? Then there may be a management position for you.
To explore more possibilities, check out these websites. . . .
Sherry Ashley, currently a cab driver in Orinda, CA