John Hedtke here. I've been a writer since about 1982 and was also a programmer for 5 years kinda overlapping that. My first gig was documenting accounting and tax preparation software for Accountants Microsystems Inc in the Greater Seattle area. I survived 3 layoffs but not 4 and, 2 years later, I was on the street looking for work. I started freelancing at Microsoft and a bunch of other places in and around Seattle. I wrote my first book in 1987 and had started my first Tech Pubs Manager job was in 1988 for a company that made pretty good database software. 7 years later, I had about a dozen books out, dozens of magazine articles, had been running a Pubs department with 24 writers in 5 locations and 3 countries. I ran another couple of Technical Publications departments in the late 90s, kept writing lots of books and magazine articles, and worked for all kinds of companies doing all kinds of things. (The score at the moment is 25 writing awards, 25 published books, a novel that I'm in the process of publishing, 35,000 of the next novel written, and over 100 magazine articles published. Not too shabby!)
In 2000, I met someone who'd been a Washington State Judge for a long time and who became a Federal Administrative Law Judge in 2001, a job that took her to Indiana. I followed. (NB: Following someone to Indiana is as true a measure of love as you've ever heard of.) We got married in 2002. She got a promotion to Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge (or "HOCALJ" for the obvious reason) in Eugene, OR, allowing us to escape Indiana at last. We bought a house here in Eugene, then built another one in 2006, where we live now. These days, I'm working captive remotely for a company in SoCal. My great boss left for a great job at MadCap Software a couple months ago and we were assigned a temporary boss the best thing about whom that can be said is that all the writers have a clear and unambiguous opinion of him. They're looking for a new Tech Pubs Manager now, thankfully, so we may staunch the flow as a result. In my copious free time, I'm wrapping up my third and final year on the STC's Board as the Region 7 Director (the very last one since Directors aren't tied to regions anymore). By an odd quirk, I'm now the senior Director on the Board, too, which means absolutely nothing but it sounds cool. :) I became an Associate Fellow of the Society in 2001 and a Fellow of the Society in 2004. I'm looking for more contract and magazine work in almost any venue... and heaven knows I've worked in just about all of them. You can check out the professional section of my website at http://www.hedtke.com/writing.htm for a quick look at the things I've done. Yours truly, John Hedtke Author/Consultant/Contract Writer www.hedtke.com <-- website Region 7 Director, STC 541-685-5000 (office landline) 541-554-2189 (cell) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (primary email) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (secondary email) ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
