Why I re-upped with STC
I just renewed my membership in the Society for Technical Communication (STC) for the 33rd straight year. It was an easy decision. Here’s why. When I joined STC, in the days before the Internet, it was...
View ArticleHalfway there: Technical communication trends in the 2010s
In a couple of weeks we’ll have reached the midpoint of a decade. Five years ago we turned our calendars to 2010, and five years from now we’ll stand at the threshold of 2020. It’s fun to look back...
View ArticleClosing the #techcomm technology gap
The Library of Congress houses more knowledge than any other institution in the world. But is knowledge really knowledge if nobody can read it? This week James Billington, the Librarian of Congress...
View ArticleContentHug: Technical communication’s present and future
Vinish Garg recently interviewed me for his ContentHug website. We talked about the evolution of technical communication, the role technical communicators can have in disruption, and what I’d wish if I...
View ArticleRethinking RTFM
RTFM. Read the [bad word] manual. As in, “I don’t know how to do this.” “Did you look at the instructions?” “No.” “Well [rolling eyes], why don’t you read the….” RTFM has been a byword among technical...
View ArticleSTC: Growing in Numbers and Relevance
In the runup to the 63rd annual STC Summit, now underway, I posted some thoughts on how the event has shrunk since the late 1990s. The post drew a lot of insightful comments about the Summit and about...
View ArticleWhy is it so important that STC survive?
Mark Baker, commenting on my post about STC and its future, asked me a question: Larry, I have to ask why you think it is so important that the STC survive per se? Is it because it performs some vital...
View ArticleAn agile STC?
How well does the Society for Technical Communication (STC) provide value for its members? For others who are studying or working in tech comm? We had a lively conversation a few weeks ago on this...
View ArticleSurvey says: DITA’s benefits and challenges
What are DITA‘s biggest benefits? Its greatest challenges? The Content Wrangler is surveying DITA users, and last week Scott Abel — joined by DITA cognoscenti Rob Hanna,Mark Lewis, and Keith...
View ArticleArchitecting value
A month ago, I got a new job title: Information Architect. I maintain my company’s content infrastructure, training and supporting a writing team that has, through mergers and acquisitions, tripled in...
View Article
