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Orlando

Orlando. 2009. The “Plug and Play” Technical Communicator or “Even if I am not Employed, I still have a Job!!!” (Redux!). This is the seventh in a series…. The Plug and Play Technical Communicator.

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Orlando

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  1. Orlando 2009 The“Plug and Play”Technical Communicatoror“Even if I am not Employed, I still have a Job!!!”(Redux!)

  2. This is the seventh in a series… The Plug and Play Technical Communicator Plug and Play Technical Communicator in 2001 [-2003] or Just Because I Don’t Have a Job Does Not Mean I am Not Employed

  3. …that reflects one person’s view… Providing Value at all Stages of a Project Life Cycle Shoes and SOX – Getting aFoothold on Sarbanes-Oxley

  4. …of our professional world! Plug and Play Harmonic Convergence Planning for Single Sourcing – The Critical (and often forgotten) first step

  5. As mentioned, this is the seventh Plug and Play presentation. In putting them all together over the years, I have tried to include two motifs…

  6. Motif #1 Focus is on us as professionals, while keeping in mind that we are individuals! In other words, not everything presented here is “one size fits all!”

  7. Motif #2 The mix of ideas for your consideration here is strategic and tactical both! In other words, we can plan for our “tomorrows” but still have to take care of our “todays”!”

  8. Orlando 2009 “Act 1”“What the heck is going on ‘out there,’ and How is it impacting you???”

  9. “You can’t set the course for where you are going until you know where you are." • Unknown

  10. So what the heck is going on “out there”? It seems that the world is going through dramatic, chaotic adjustments.

  11. So what the heck is going on “out there”? The stock market has lost 50% overall… Is it fair to say that most people are at a loss as to what to do?

  12. So what the heck is going on “out there”? … so have home prices. Is it fair to say that most people are at a loss as to what to do?

  13. So what the heck is going on “out there”? Stalwart industries and companies are crumbling as value disintegrates. Unemployment is going, up, up, up...

  14. So what the heck is going on “out there”? It is fair to say that most people are at a loss as to what to do?

  15. How is it impacting you? It think that, at least partially, it is fair to say that most of us, including me, are at a loss about what to do at least partially about some of the these things.

  16. How is it impacting you? This conclusion is supported, perhaps, by the results of that most informal and unscientific survey that each of you filled out this evening (Thank you!)

  17. How is it impacting you? • Are you currently working for pay? 76% Yes • If yes, are you staying for reasons other than you arehappy with your job (such as keeping benefits or justkeeping employed? 47% Yes • Has your finance portfolio lost value over the past years? 76% Yes • Are you happy with your current career path? 62% Yes • Regarding 1-4, do you have a plan for addressingeach question for which you answered No? 52% Yes % Maybe • Are you optimistic about your future? 86% Yes • Overall, are you happy with your life? 86% Yes

  18. How is it impacting you? Why is this? The things we are talking about here – especially at a macro level – are things for which we do not have any control!

  19. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” • Reinhold Niebuhr

  20. Orlando 2009 “Act 2” “Where have we been?

  21. “If you want to know where you are going, you have to know where you have been!!!” • Dove Chocolate Label (not really )

  22. “By the year 2000, there will be no Q, X or Z in our everyday alphabet.” - Lady’s Home Journal, 1900

  23. “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

  24. “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.

  25. “I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.” - The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

  26. “Before man reaches the moon, your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to Australia by guided missiles.” - Arthur Summerfield, 1959, US Postmaster General

  27. “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out” - Decca Recording Co., rejecting the Beatles in 1962

  28. “But what…is it good for?” - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip

  29. “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” - Ken Olson, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977

  30. “640K ought to be enough for anybody.” - Bill Gates - Microsoft Corporation, in 1981, talking about RAM for a PC (Same say this quote is urban legend)

  31. “We must also prepare ourselves for the very real possibility that the outcome of this situation will be the total extinction of the entire human race.” - Cory Hamalaski, from 1998 DC Y2K Weather Report newsletter, reporting on January 1, 2000

  32. Not a Very Long Time on an Evolutionary Time Line!!! 1998 19571959 1981 19431949 1977 1968 1962 1900 10,000 BC

  33. But, in Fairness, it is a Long Time on a Technology Timeline! It seems the average life cycle of . . . well, every consumable continues to shrinkat a geometric pace!

  34. So, What are Some Things ThatHave Gone Obsolete in (At least some of) Our Lifetimes? • 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, vinyl, and turntables • VHS movies • Milk delivered at your home • Daisy printers through inkjet printers • Floppy diskettes • Doctor’s house calls • What else?

  35. What About . . . Job opportunities for technical communicators?

  36. What are Some Things whose“Days are Numbered”? • Eyeglasses • Chemical film photography (mostly gone already…) • Copper Wire - wire in general • DVD players (and movie rental places) • Newspapers • Printed documents (mostly gone already…) • What else?

  37. What About . . . Job opportunities for technical communicators?

  38. To this, I say NO! However . . . What we do, what we can do, and how we do what we do has changed dramatically over the history of technical communication!

  39. (. . . according to me!) To this, I say NO! Before we go any further along that line, let’s take a brief,informal look at the history of ourprofession . . .

  40. Which, by the way, is also not a Very Long Time on an Evolutionary Time Line!!! Dot-com Bubble Burst The Shelf Edge - Today Upsize, Downsize, Rightsize The Beginnings Will Write for Food! 2000-2008 Pseudo Growth The “Golden 80’s” 90’s Boom Times 10,000 BC

  41. The Beginnings . . . For Sake of Discussion, thisperiod in our profession stretchesfrom the end of World War IIthrough about 1980. • Book on Boat Assembly - 1946 - Jay R Gould • How to Keep your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot - 1969 - John Muir • Directions in Technical Writing and Communication - 1978 - Jay R Gould

  42. The Beginnings - Summary • Technical Communicators: Mostly Male - Mostly Engineers • Audience: Highly Technical, On Peer with Engineers • Deliverables: Typed and Copied; Graphics at a Premium • Technical Communications Groups: some departments emerging, but many completed writing as one of their responsibilities

  43. The “Golden” 80’s . . . This is the Reagan-Bush years,through the collapse of the SovietEmpire.

  44. The “Golden” 80’s - Summary • Technical Communicators: Men and Women - Many came from other professions, a few technical communication majors • Audience: Still strong technical, but emergence of less technical audience • Deliverables: Created on desktop publishing systems, graphics becoming more prevalent; still mostly paper • Technical Communications Groups: emergence of large departments with specialists in writing, editing, and graphics

  45. Upsize, Downsize, Rightsize . . .(early through mid 90’s) This transition sees the demise of the traditional “Corporate American Contract,” and the emerging of a redefinition of the global economy.

  46. Upsize, Downsize, Rightsize . . .(early through mid 90’s) Our Profession was among the hardest hit during this timeframe. Perhaps many wondered: “Is our profession becoming obsolete?” Of course, we knew the answer tothis was (and still is) NO!!!!

  47. Upsize, Downsize, Rightsize - Summary • Technical Communicators: More Women than Men - more and more technical communication majors; others have to get additional training; the less technical start to get squeezed out • Audience: Less technical audience begins to dominate as technology becomes inexpensive • Deliverables: Created on PCs equipped with full complement of applications; online deliverables, such as Help, compete with paper • Technical Communications Groups: large groups mostly disappear; technical communicators expected to be able to wear many hats; consultants become significant subset

  48. The 90’s Boom Times . . . The need for quality technical communicators grew astronomically!

  49. 90’s Boom Times - Summary • Technical Communicators: highly trained and skilled; have more business sense than ever; project oriented - everybody became “Senior-level” quickly • Audience: global, including an increasing number of illiterate, full range of individuals to reach • Deliverables: Created on PCs with increasingly sophisticated applications; multimedia and Web-based deliverables grow; one source usurps WYSIWYG • Technical Communications Groups: groups are growing, but in different ways; convergence of technical communications and technical education; salaries approach engineer levels

  50. 2000-2002 dot-com Bubble Burst Turns out you cannot be profitable if you give your products away for free. In some ways, we got hit harder, but more because the dot-com boom proportionately created more jobs in our areas and not because our value was not recognised.

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