Greetings all,
Prepare yourself for more than you ever wanted to know
about a newbie tech writer. As of mid-August, I am the first and
only tech writer at the company I work for. My position was
created due to fairly
rapid company growth necessitating a more formalized
documentation strategy; or a documentation strategy at all, for that
matter. The developers at my company have created a host of
proprietary tools to support and maintain websites for 79 local TV news stations
accross the country. (As a personal
side note, I generally have a rather strong aversion to local TV
news.) Our company also supported the NBC Olympics websites for the Winter
games this past winter as well as the '04 Summer Games in
Athens.
Besides the fact that the company needed a tech writer,
my switch from programming to tech writing was also a ploy on my part to be able
to take a job with me when my family and I moved from Minnesota to
Pennsylvania this summer so my husband can attend seminary. I now work from
home in Pennsylvania for a company in Minnesota and I also stay home with my two
wonderful children ages 3 and 1 while my husband is at
seminary.
I
don't really know what I'm doing as far as tech writing goes, but so far I seem
to be faking it well enough. I have no writing mentor in my current postion, so
I lurk on tech writing distribution lists, read your blogs, and try to read what
I can about writing when I have time. Since I am the only tech writer at my
company, it's a releif that I'm also the first because nobody really has any
expectations for me. Most of what I write is used internally and nobody really
cares what gets done when, they are just happy to have somebody writing
something and organizing what has already been written. Actually, because the
company has a very fast-paced environment and everyone is very busy, I get
very little feedback - so who
knows, maybe nobody even really cares about what I'm doing, but I'm having
fun , I'm learning, and I'm getting
paid!
I
have been in college seemingly forever. I started out at a military academy
(West Point) and after two years decided that the Army was not the life for
me. I have been
floundering around ever since acquiring credits in various degree programs at
various schools. I also got married
and had a couple kids which slowed things down a bit on the educational
front. I am currently 3 credits and a senior paper away from a B.A.
in Art History from the University of Minnesota (though I practically have enough
credits for 2 B.A. degrees now). I also have an Associates
Degree in Multimedia and Web Design. I hope to finish my degree as soon as
possible, but taking care of two young kids and working full time keeps a person
busy! Maybe graduate school is in my future, but for the next 3 years, the focus
for our family is getting my husband through seminary.
You may not hear from me much, but know that I am lurking and
appreciating your knowledge and
experience!
Gretchen
Maciolek
---------------------------------------------------------
Gretchen
Maciolek
Technical Writer
Internet Broadcasting | www.ibsys.com
1333 Northland Dr | Mendota Heights, MN 55120
Technical Writer
Internet Broadcasting | www.ibsys.com
1333 Northland Dr | Mendota Heights, MN 55120
570.280.5712
E-mail: gmaciolek@ibsys.com | AIM: ibsys
gretchen
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