From the President

November 2016

This month I've got a little bit excited about a few things, including the idea that academics might ask practitioners for advice on what needs researching in our field. I'm also pretty thrilled that we have some new talent contributing to the newsletter, and of course I'm buzzing from all the new ideas I've gleaned from conferences and workshops in October.

Research? Ask Industry!

Four times a year, we publish evidence reviews. Earnsy Liu rolls up her sleeves, sharpens her pencil, and investigates a question of interest to practitioners of technical communication. It's always a challenge. The questions we ask ourselves often don't have research-based answers. So I was astonished and pleased to see this article in STC's latest Technical Communication journal: https://www.stc.org/techcomm/2016/11/01/reflections-on-research-examining-practitioner-perspectives-on-the-state-of-research-in-technical-communication/ (Volume 63, Number 4, November 2016).

Of course, it's written in an academic style, so I still haven't quite worked out what it says, but the main thrust is that academics in the field of technical communication should talk to industry.

"All interviewees noted the need for research to facilitate industry practices. In some cases, the need was to obtain information to craft new practices; in others, it was to confirm existing practices were still effective".

Yes please, can we have more of that!? And while we're on the subject, I urge all technical communication academics to use plain language in all their writing.

Read Earnsy's latest article – this month she has tackled readability.

New "Featured TC" writer for TechCommWire

Thank you to Jim Costello of Auckland University, who responded to our call for an interviewer. Jim's recently submitted a PhD thesis on workplace e-learning, and found the interview component of his study very enjoyable. In his first interview for TechCommNZ, Jim spoke to Nicola Cogswell, Portfolio Content Manager at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

Conferences

It's been a month of conferences, and we've prepared a report for you which may leave you wondering why TechCommNZ board members get to have all this fun. We sponsor conferences and get our brand "out there" in order to:

  • Promote the services of our members
  • Attract new TechCommNZ members
  • Educate people about the field of technical communication
  • Remind our colleagues working in related fields that technical communicators are specialists in their own right, and an essential part of the business mix
  • Find exciting speakers for our own member events

Workshops

It was a joy to have Dave Gash and Rahel Anne Bailie here presenting workshops in early October. A miscommunication about the Wellington session of Content Strategy was disappointing (we didn't realise that at least some participants needed to take laptops), and we apologise for the inconvenience this caused. Most of the feedback was very positive – we just need to allow a wee bit more time for complex subjects.

Regards,