What is Technical Communication?
The Society for Technical Communication defines Technical Communication as any communication exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics:
Communicating about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications, medical procedures, or environmental regulations.
Communicating by using technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites.
Providing instructions about how to do something, regardless of how technical the task is or even if technology is used to create or distribute that communication.
Technical Communication — or TC, as some of us affectionately call it — is a an interdisciplinary field, and technical communicators participate in a wide range of activities, depending on their specialty and work context. For me, this includes technical writing, information design, digital media, audience analysis, usability research, data gathering and analysis, and much more.
Underlying my praxis is a strong understanding of rhetoric and discourse, UX, cross-cultural communication, digital media theory, ethics, and documentation styles.
Who I am…
I am a technical communication professional. I strive to make meaning in a world of unintelligible gobbledygook.
Sometimes this means telling stories, sometimes this means making lists. The choice depends on what is most effective and appropriate to the context.
Currently, I’m the Director of the Content and Education team at Auctane, LLC. Our products include ShipStation, ShippingEasy, ShipWorks, and ShipEngine. My team creates the knowledge base articles, custom user guides, training content, and support resources used across multiple departments for all of these brands.
My number one priority is to always give my audience the information they need to get the job done efficiently and well.
Background…
My path to technical communication was not the usual one (if there even is such a path). I earned my BFA in Music and Sound Recording Technology, intending to go into post-production film work. However, my varied interests eventually led me to a career in communication.
Over the years I gathered a wide array of professional experiences: a recording studio intern, a technical support specialist, an ESL teacher, a bartender, a film reviewer, and a bookseller. Each experience taught me valuable lessons about people, communication, and customer experience.
It was my time as a bookseller that finally put me on the path to the MATC program at Texas State University and, eventually, to writing documentation for a living.
Through my work at ShipStation and affiliate brands, I’ve honed my craft and learned the practical value of UX and usability methodology. I strive each day to ensure my documentation strategy works in the service of our users and synchronizes with the work done at all levels of the company.
MY Purpose
Our world is flooded with information; I’m here to make sense out of it.
My motto
Context matters.
View my WORK
Interests
Documentation, communication, discourse & rhetoric, information design, data visualization, digital media theory, UX & usability, collaboration, Net Neutrality, copyright & Creative Commons, SFF, magical realism, film, cats, and dance.
Organizations
Society for Technical Communication (STC)
Write the Docs
Austin Homegrown API
Phi Kappa Phi
Sigma Tau Delta