Yes, friends, it is so nice to finally be able to put a label on one’s condition, isn’t it? I’ve long believed that in today’s world, you’re nobody if you don’t have a condition described by initials ending in DD. Mine is SMCDD. Never heard of it? Well, I added the DD (“Deficiency Disorder”) so I could join the party. But SMC stands for Sensory-Motor-Coupling. And I’ve had problems with this all my life. In some people, it can be disabling. In my case, it’s pretty light weight, a minor annoyance. But an annoyance, all the same…
Continue reading “I Finally Know What I Have!”Category: Report
Farewell to Technical Communication
Last May, I attended the STC Technical Communication Summit in Denver. It had been a couple of years since my last Summit, and it felt good to be there. I was among friends, on familiar ground, sharing expertise and tall tales, reveling in a kind of homecoming. But it was also a bittersweet occasion. At the end of my presentation on living in volatile contexts, I announced my farewell to technical communication.
Continue reading “Farewell to Technical Communication”Communication from Down Under
Greetings, Earthlings.
As I indicated in my last post, it has been hard to write. Things seem too bleak, or simply too overwhelming to explain.
At last, I have something to communicate and share with you, that is both simple and hopeful. I have been in Melbourne, Australia for the last two weeks, visiting with friends I haven’t seen in years, and attending the conference of the World Federation of Associations for Teacher Education – WFATE, or World FATE as they like to call it, with good reason.
This conference has been spectacular in many ways, but right now I’m just going to write about one. Today, we went out to the town of Sunshine, in the outskirts of Melbourne. They say it is the most diversified municipality in all Australia. We were there to visit an art gallery.
Continue reading “Communication from Down Under”The Latest From Our Research
Here’s the latest update on “Probing Our Future,” the current research project conducted by The Transformation Society with the collaboration and support of Adobe Technical Communication:
Our Guest Blog Post, “Blazing the Future TechComm Trail” by Ray Gallon and Neus Lorenzo is on line at TechComm Central by Adobe. It provides a first reflection on the other activities in the project, “not to research new technologies, tools, or delivery channels, but to understand how the evolution and ongoing use of these things affects our practice, our needs, and the needs of our users, so we can better understand our path.”
Recording of the Webinar “Probing Our Future” from October 4, 2016 on Adobe Events
Webinar slides “Probing Our Future” on SlideShare
Storify transcript from the live Twitter chat on October 6, 2016
Earlier post on this blog about the project
Watch for our white paper, coming soon.
Enjoy!
Probing Our Future
For some time, I’ve been mentioning The Transformation Society, a new organisation I co-founded with Dr. Neus Lorenzo. We are very excited about a project we will be doing at this year’s TCUK conference.
Four Years on the STC Board – A Review
Dear readers, I have just completed two terms as a director at large of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). I think those of you who are STC members deserve a review of what those four years have – and have not – accomplished.
When I first ran, I had a long list of issues that I wanted dealt with. I was going to insist that they be taken seriously, my intention was to be a real pain until the board looked at all of them. Much to my amazement, all the issues on my list got raised within the first six months of my board tenure, without my having to insist on anything! This despite the fact that from my first day, we were faced with the need to find a new Executive Director. Life on the STC board has been a series of surprises, obstacles, successes, and disappointments.
How the Humanist Nerd Approaches Software Tools
The Humanist Nerd explains how he approaches posts about software for technical communication, especially when he has a relationship with the company that publishes it.
In the last while, I have occasionally written something that resembles a review of technical communication editing tools. As we enter a new string of product releases, I’d like to take a moment to explain where I’m coming from, and why I do these the way I do. Continue reading “How the Humanist Nerd Approaches Software Tools”
Rant of a Humanist Nerd 