Background

The Association was formally established in Auckland in 1997 as the New Zealand Technical Writers Association (NZTWA) by a group of technical writers who had been meeting informally for some time. The NZTWA was renamed TCANZ in August 2002 to reflect the broader role performed by technical communicators.

Objectives

The objectives of the Association are to:

• Establish a legitimate forum for technical communicators in New Zealand
• Promote technical communication as a profession
• Promote technical communication training within tertiary institutions in New Zealand.

Members

Our members are people who are involved in paper-based or online documentation as:

• developers
• students
• teachers
• managers.

Activities

Branch meetings

Local branch meetings are held in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington on a monthly or occasional basis. The meetings are advertised on this website and provide excellent networking opportunities. Non-members of the Association are welcome to attend, but are encouraged to join to take advantage of membership benefits.

Meetings are usually held as either round table discussions or as presentations.

Round table discussion meetings are held in a bar or cafe and participants discuss a specific topic of interest. The topic is identified in advance and the sessions are informal and last up to about two hours.

Presentation meetings provide useful insights into the use of tools or techniques of general interest and usually follow a standard format:

• networking
• instruction or information talk by a member or outside speaker
• questions and discussions.

Training workshops

Several times each year, half or full-day training workshops are held in topics of direct practical use to professional technical communicators. Topics have included procedure writing, visual communication techniques and developing information for online delivery. Where possible, each workshop is held in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

Conference

Every alternate year, TCANZ holds a two-day conference. Presenters from Australia, Europe, the USA and New Zealand have delivered papers at previous conferences.