Title: RE: [TCP] STC Competition
One thing that is stressed to our judges is to use the "sandwich approach" when commenting.
 
Start out with something positive to say, then bring in the negative, and then follow that up with either a positive comment or suggestion.
 
Example:
"I really liked the use of color in this document.  It invited the reader to continue on deeper into the document.  However, the font size might be a bit small for older eyes.  I think that enlarging the font slightly would make this document usable for all age ranges."
 
I had a document that I judged last year that was absolutely stunning visually, the graphics were great... but the technical flaws were so numerous I couldn't recommend it for an award.  I hope that the submitter(s) took our comments and turned that document into the stellar piece which it truly had the potential to be.
 
Two years ago when our dept. last competed, we incorporated some of the comments we received, and we also took away design ideas from some of the other winning documents.  If anyone on the list has ever thought about entering but hasn't, I highly recommend it.  You can also enter in competitions outside of your chapter area -- we frequently get submissions from members in other states.
 
-Carla
 


From: Rhonda Bracey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 5:19 PM
To: Martinek, Carla; [email protected]
Subject: RE: [TCP] STC Competition

I was a Tech Pubs judge and coordinator for the Australia Chapter the past 3 years (not this year though). We received some 23 entries in one of these years just for Tech Pubs alone! Not bad for a Chapter that spans a continent and only has about 60 members who never meet. (To get some idea of the scope and number of entries, take a look at the results from the past few years: http://stc-aus.org.au/competitions_results.htm. This comp has only been going for maybe 5 or 6 years.)

I've entered the Australia Chapter Online Comp a few times (again, not this year).

Being a judge and an entrant is definitely a win-win for me. As an entrant, I get feedback on my work from peers (which, as a lone writer, is often very hard to come by!). The judges see things that I haven't seen - usually because as the lone writer I'm too close to it. I've used that feedback to improve not only the doco it referred to, but also as guidelines for all my doco. Of course, you can take or leave any judge's comment! But it is defnitely worth the price of entering just to get that sort of peer evaluation.

As a judge, I found it enlightening to read and review the work of others. Some entries I would never have seen under normal circumstances as they were proprietary to an organisation; others surprised me for the sheer beauty of their design and layout (the words were usually good too!). I got lots of great ideas and inspiration from some of the entries. Of course, the downside was that there were some entries that were borderline disgraceful... poor (or no) editing, illogical flow, writing that sucked (can't put it any other way!). Fortunately, there weren't too many of those. However, despite that, the entrants got feedback - the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. And the feedback was always written in a constructive way.

My Aussie 2 cents worth...

Rhonda


Rhonda Bracey
http://www.cybertext.com.au
AuthorIT Certified Consultant


 

- CONFIDENTIAL-

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may also be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, use, copy, or distribute this message. If you receive this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and then delete this email.

_______________________________________________

Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at 
www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT 
Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details.


Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at 
http://www.doc-u-motion.com Your 3D Documentation Community.
_______________________________________________

Technical Communication Professionals

To post a message to the list, send an email to [email protected]

To find out more about the list, including archives and your account options, 
visit http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com

If you need assistance with the list, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Reply via email to