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Another one of those 2012 Tech Comm Years in Review? But it’s MINE…

MP900309664It’s December 31st, 2012, and the end of another long year has come. This is the time of year when everyone starts to see the year in review posts and articles all over every media source imaginable. I’m no different– I’ve already posted a Top Ten Posts of 2012 for TechCommGeekMom.  But this post is more about my reflection of the year–and what a year it’s been!

This is not to say that everything has been coming up roses for me this year. Upon reflection, there were a lot of good things that happened over the past year that were never expected and were really great. There were also things that were definitely not so great.

The not as great things included problems that my son was having at school that greatly affected his behavior, me getting pneumonia for a month last winter, losing my full-time job, and being laid off my part-time job. Just those things alone could easily make it a bad year, especially if you knew some of the details of the school problems my son was having.

But there were so many things that outweigh those negatives that for once, I can actually say that 2012 was a pretty good year for me. The first big thing was that I graduated from NJIT with my MSPTC. That was the result of two and a half years of blood, sweat and tears–sometimes literally–to get it finished. It was so much a part of what I did for a while that I actually miss it. The fact that I actually graduated, with honors no less, is surreal. I can’t believe that it’s all finished and done, when I feel like I should still be taking a class or doing something more, like writing up another paper.  I was very fortunate to have made several friends in the program, even through this virtual program, and make connections that I think will benefit me for life. The knowledge I gained from the program will also serve me for life as well, I am sure.  I know that NJIT was proud enough of my recent accomplishments enough to feature me as one of its “poster girls” for the Continuing Education program by featuring me in a promotional video for the school. I’m honored and still surprised that they picked me, but appreciate the nod of approval nonetheless.

The other part of what made this year exceptional was this blog. What began as a combination of a class assignment and something to do on a whim has taken on a life of its own. I don’t think anyone, especially me, would have expected anyone to be reading it with the gathering that I’ve collected over the past year. Social media has truly been key to many of the successes I’ve had this year.  I’m glad that I started to become more involved professionally with Twitter and Facebook especially, in order to connect with other technical communicators. Not only did I seek to learn from other technical communicators in the past year, but I used social media as a means of marketing this blog so that my voice could be heard amongst the many great voices out there. The amazing thing to me is that my voice was heard.

Now, I did have some unexpected help along the way. As I’ve explained in the past, it was an early post in which I vented my frustrations about learning tech comm software that someone heard me very loud and clear.  It was someone at Adobe, who not only heard me, but also wanted to help me.  That person was Parth Mukherjee.  It was very early in our contact that he wanted to help, and offered me a webinar. What, me? A webinar for someone just out of grad school? Yes, crazy as it sounded, that what he offered me and I took it. I’m glad I did. Along the way, I got to know Saibal Bhattacharjee, Maxwell Hoffman, Ankur Jain, and Tom Aldous at Adobe as well, and they constantly provided me with more opportunities and support throughout the year–many more than what are listed here. The biggest highlights of this relationship for me were doing the webinar in June that gained me initial greater exposure, and when I was invited to be one of Adobe’s guests at their “Adobe Day” pre-conference event at Lavacon. For a gal who is still new to the field to be invited to “run with the big boys and girls” was a thrill! I learned so much at the Adobe Day conference, and I had a chance to meet and get to know some of the people that I had not only gotten to know through social media, but people I revered and respect in the field.  There have been so many good things that happened to me thanks to Adobe, and I don’t think I can ever thank them enough. As I’ve also said many times before, I was a big fan of Adobe’s before the connection with Adobe’s Tech Comm team, but now they’ve allowed me to become truly loyal to the company with everything they’ve done for me personally that they didn’t have to do. Thank you so much!

I also had an opportunity this year to express my technical communications knowledge in a different way–I was able to teach a virtual class in business and technical writing to Microsoft Korea through the World Learning Company. It was a unique opportunity to present information not only so the students could understand the information, but I truly wanted my students to learn the information so they could use it more often in their everyday business communications. I got great feedback from the end-of-class surveys as well as directly from the students themselves that I made it easier to understand these complicated language nuances, especially since English was a second language for nine of the ten students I had! It was a great opportunity to flex my knowledge muscles to help other people become better writers, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

A big part of this year was all the people I met who helped me along the way. In addition to those at Adobe and NJIT, I met SO many individuals along the way that helped me through this first year of being an “official” technical communicator. I’m sure I’ll be missing someone from this list of tech comm and e-learning professionals, as there were so many, but off the top of my head, they include RJ Jacquez, Mayra Aixa Villar, Miriam Lottner, Toby Price, Barrie Byron, Jamie Gillenwater, Sharon Burton,  Christie Fidura, Shay Shaked, Marcia Riefer Johnston, Colum McAndrew, Renaldo Lawrence, Joe Ganci, Sarah O’Keefe, Val Swisher, Jackie Gerstein, Anita Horsley, Scott Abel, Chad Udell, Alyssa Fox, and Karen Mahon. Each person here, and many others whom I met through social media or in person, contributed to my knowledge base and growth not only as a technical communicator and e-learning specialist, but also as a person. I thank each and every one of you for your support in taking me under your wing, but also for your friendship.

I also want to thank Gary Woodill, who is one of the m-learning gods in my eyes, for retweeting my tweet promoting my Whitepaper, thus giving it his understated blessing. That was a big deal to me for you to acknowledge it and deem it worthy of retweeting the link.  Also many thanks to TechWhirl, especially Craig Cardimon, for promoting two of my blog posts in recent editions of the “Tech Writer This Week” feature on TechWhirl.com. For me, that was a huge indication that I have “arrived” in tech comm.

So, as you can see, 2012 was actually a very good year for me. Sure, I didn’t have a full-time job, and I had illness and issues that were beyond my control at home, but for me, this has ended up being one of the best years that I’ve had in a long time. My first full year of being a technical communicator hasn’t been without some bumps along the way, but through this blog, my school connections, and all the new social media connections I’ve made in the past year, I wouldn’t change a thing. What a whirlwind for a “newbie”! I can only hope that I will continue to have the support of all these wonderful people, and be able to truly practice what I’ve learned over the past year in my new adventures as a Web Publisher for BASF in 2013.

This was the year of building, and I’ve gained a fantastic foundation. Now is the time to continue to grow and move onwards and upwards! I’m anxious about 2013, but having this strong foundation, I have a feeling that it’s got the potential to be another great year.

What are my resolutions for 2013? Well, I don’t know about resolutions, but I know that some of the things that I hope to achieve, other than a firm establishment in the tech comm field, is to go to the STC Summit in May (I hope), and maybe some other conference as well, if I can afford it. I want to meet so many more people in tech comm, and absorb the  information given by the best and brightest in the field. This year, I was the new kid on the block, and in 2013, I want to be part of the next generation of technical communicators helping to take the field further.

Thank you to everyone reading this, and have an incredibly Happy New Year!

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Organizing Hard So Information Is Why?

See on Scoop.itM-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Organization: the final frontier …Continue reading →…

There’s been a great discussion about understanding content strategy that Val Swisher, Mark Baker and Marcia Riefer Johnston have engaged. Check out Marcia’s latest contribution to the conversation–which includes links to Val and Mark’s commentaries–for a great look at how technical communicators should be looking at content strategy, and how we can help others understand this complicated and complex topic in simpler terms.

-techcommgeekmom

See on howtowriteeverything.com

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Big News for TechCommGeekMom!

doctor-who-dance_o_GIFSoup_comWhy is the 11th Doctor (of Doctor Who) on the left dancing? Because I feel like dancing! “Why?” you may ask. Well, I’ll tell you.

I’m very excited to announce that…

I FINALLY GOT A JOB!

Yes, I think that’s a reason to feel like celebrating, don’t you think? I’ve been looking for a new full-time job for about a year now, and it’s taken this long to find something.  I will be working as a consultant doing web publishing work for the internal and external HR websites of the North American headquarters of a global chemical company.  Much of the position will be helping to organize their content management system, but it sounds like this assignment could blossom into something more.

I have to actually thank all the people I’ve connected to in the last nine months through social media, especially through Twitter and this blog. I’ve learned so much from all of you during this time that went beyond my recently earned Masters degree, and I have received such fantastic support in the process. Social media has given me a voice, and I’ve appreciated those who “listened” to my words. My goal in participating in social media was to not only learn, but to keep up with the issues and concerns of those in technical communications and e-learning so that I would have a better understanding of them should I find myself in the position I am now–about to embark on a new job soon. I learned so much in the process, and it lead to opportunities–especially thanks to Adobe’s Technical Communications Suite team–that I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of, and those opportunities empowered me during my interview.  I learned about structured content, the importance of proper translation and XML metrics, and the need to be able to roll out content for mobile devices just from going to the Adobe Day pre-conference event at Lavacon alone.  Articles and conversations on Twitter and Facebook furthered the cause. Even though this new position does not involve m-learning, the topic did come up twice during my interviews, and I think that my knowledge and competency of the subject actually helped boost my credibility immensely. There was not one aspect of what I’ve delved into via social media with all of you involved that didn’t come up during my interview, and that evidently gave me the edge. So many thanks to all of you in helping me grow and learn through your continual support. Oh, and just for the record, being a generalist/multi-specialist did help the cause as well. 😉

But does this mean the end of TechCommGeekMom? Heck no! First of all, this position doesn’t start for another month, so I have some time to still contribute to this blog. If anything, I am hoping that by being a more active participant in the technical communications field, I will be able to write more as time goes on. I might not write as often from time to time, but I think more information will come through as I continue on my path to learn more through this new, upcoming experience.

I hope you share my excitement and will celebrate with me.  It’s been a long road to get here, but it looks like I’m finally on the road going in the right direction. 🙂