Self-confessed neophile to receive lifetime Honorary Fellowship

October 2014

There will be a very special guest at the annual TechCommNZ Conference in Christchurch on 13-14 October. TechCommNZ will be bestowing its very first lifetime Honorary Fellowship on broadcaster, self-confessed neophile (Google it), and technical communicator extraordinaire – Simon Morton.

Simon was chosen for the award because of his exceptional ability to explain complex subjects to the masses. His weekly show on National Radio, This Way Up , explores the things we use and consume. It has covered everything from bird watching, to sourdough bread baking, to KiwiSaver.

On his show, Simon translates the weird, wonderful and complex into language that his listeners can understand. In 2012, This Way Up won the NZ Radio award for Best Daily or Weekly Series. Regular listeners will know of Simon’s amazing ability to bring the mundane and the complicated to life.

Simon also broadcasts to an international audience as a contributor to the BBC World Service’s Click programme. He won Gold Medal for best social issues or current affairs programme at the New York Festival Radio Awards in 2012 for the programme Broken River. He has also written an award-winning non-fiction book for children – 100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa.

It’s this impressive portfolio that makes Simon Morton the ‘poster boy’ for technical communicators. The TechCommNZ Committee decided to award Simon a lifetime Honorary Fellow membership in recognition of his contribution to communicating complicated and potentially humdrum information in an interesting and engaging way. He is a technical communicator in all but job title.

Simon will be presented with his award at the TechCommNZ Conference Dinner on Monday 13 October.