Techincal writing is a major facet of nearly every industry today, and of course what better way to write than digital blog content right? Well, my Professor has asked that my class and I write about our experiences and what we learned in such a class. First things first though, technical writing can make alot of money as well as garner lots of attention on the web. Seeing as our major is Interactive Media Design, this class makes us able to write the white papers and marketing white papers associated with projects and tasks assigned to us, in addition to coming to a more defined understanding of what it means to be in our field.
White papers, as demanding of time as they may seem, serve to inform the reader(s) of new and upcoming technologies that may be implemented in a project one of us could be contracted out to do. The OWL @ Purdue has this to say on the subject:
“Typically, the purpose of a white paper is to advocate that a certain position is the best way to go or that a certain solution is best for a particular problem. When it is used for commercial purposes, it could influence the decision-making processes of current and prospective customers.” (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/546/01/)
As a class we also learned about translating such content as these white papers into easily digestible web content to be viewed by the masses. The purposes of this are clearly described in Cynthia Sadler’s blog:
“Rather than just being on the receiving end of information, it is important for technical people to contribute to the blogosphere. Are you excited about a new technology? Spread the love. Did you discover a new technique? You should share with the rest of the world. Did you spend hours troubleshooting a problem? You should write it down to save yourself (and others) the pain the next time that occurs. And for these reasons (and there are many more), if you are the type reading this blog, then you should have your own blog or contribute to a team blog.” (http://www.phurnace.com/blog/on-the-importance-of-blogging-for-technical-folks-2.html)
In addition, we discovered that the greatest way to get your name out in the field en mass, is to take a report we did in class (ours was on New Media Solutions, mine can be viewed here http://namiuo.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/dailymotionugcdailymotionugc) and convert it into a blog. Who knows? Someone may check out our blog and wish to hire us based on our intelligible blogs.
Basically the whole point of the class appeared to be breaking down content into chunks that are easily digested by general public, and posting these tidbits of information in a resentable manner online in order ot be best viewed by as many people as possible at all times. In addition, I would like to add that, not only is it more easily syndicated, it is also alot more ec-friendly than printing out a million copies on paper and using a million envelopes and stamps to send it all out.
-Jonathan Whetsell (http://www.greenplanetsearch.com)<—– check it out!!!!
Tags: new media, professional, White paper
