SMEs will sometimes tell you that the information is the only thing that matters; spell checking and copyediting are unnecessary frills. Not that we had any doubts about this, but I recently stumbled across a study done at Clemson University that demonstrates that correct information is regarded as less authoritative if poorly written: http://cujo.clemson.edu/manuscript.php?manuscript_ID=142
Author Archives: Steven Jong
Certification: What took so long?
When I announced the start of the STC certification program at the Summit in Dallas last month, I used images of a marathon on my slides, in part because the Boston Marathon was held only a couple of weeks before, but also because of the long path we followed. Believe it or not, certification wasContinue reading “Certification: What took so long?”
At long last: certification!
As you’ve heard by now, at the STC Summit on April 30 the Board of Directors approved a business plan to begin a certification program for technical communicators. While this was the culmination of my three years as chairman of the Certification Task Force, it also represented the completion of a task that was firstContinue reading “At long last: certification!”
The risk of out-of-date technical information
Not keeping the docs up to date is potentially a huge risk.
Off to the Summit! (And I do mean “off”…)
Tomorrow I leave for the STC Annual Summit in Dallas, Texas and my last meeting as a Director at Large. I am finishing my term and rolling off the Board after Monday’s annual business meeting. It will be a little strange not being tremendously busy at the conference this time. (For the record, the SocietyContinue reading “Off to the Summit! (And I do mean “off”…)”
Bad piloting? No, bad manuals!
The amateur video is terrifying: a Lufthansa Airbus 320 carrying 132 passengers attempts to land at Hamburg Airport during a storm. Powerful crosswinds force the plane to fly crabwise. As it straightens out just above the runway, the left wing dips sharply and hits the ground: Fortunately, the pilots gunned the engines, got the planeContinue reading “Bad piloting? No, bad manuals!”
Can we fill in the blank? “All technical communicators _______”
STC has the biggest membership “tent” of any association of technical communicators, both by size and variety. But we’re by no means the only show in town. There are associations of medical writers, FrameMaker users, proposal writers, marketing writers, editors, and more. What, if anything, is the common thread that binds us together, and isContinue reading “Can we fill in the blank? “All technical communicators _______””
Steven Jong 